Famous Proverbs

1] The devil finds work for idle hands to do

2] You cannot have your cake and eat it

3] As you brew, so shall you drink.

4] Never make threats you cannot carry out.

5] Better to ask the way than go astray.

6] Saying is one thing, and doing another

7] A old poacher makes the best gamekeeper

8] Union (or Unity) is strength

9] Waste is not grandeur

10] Hope deferred makes the heart sick

11] It never rains it pours

12] Wise men silent, fools talk

13] Love is a disease, and the loved on is the only medicine

14] Rust wastes more than use

15] Other times, other manners

16] Good company on the road is the shortest cut

17] When in doubt, do nothing

18] He who would climb the ladder must begin at the bottom

19] Every flow must have its ebb

20] Like breeds like

21] All lay loads on a willing horse

22] An ill payer (or paymaster) never wants an excuse

23] We live by laws, not by examples

24] He that is down need fear no fall

25] What’s learnt in the cradle lasts till the tomb

26] Three helping one another, bear the burthen of six

27] Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.

28] Wise men learn by other men’s harms (or mistakes), fools, by their own

29] Beauty is in the face; grace is all over.

30] The worse luck now, the better another time

31] What’s in a name?

32] Kindle not a fire that you cannot extinguish

33] Catch your bear before you sell its skin

34] Little things please little minds

35] A man in debt is caught in a net

36] It is easy to bear the misfortunes of others

37] When the cat is away, the mice will play

38] He who comes first, grinds first.

39] Reputation is often got without merit, and lost without crime

40] Fool rush in where angels fear to trend

41] Sometimes clemency is cruelty, and cruelty clemency

42] A bad workman quarrels with his tools.

43] You cannot serve God and Mammon

44] Necessity is a powerful weapon

45] As soon as there is life there is danger

46] When the cat is away, the mice will play

47] It’s either not to begin or not to stop once you’ve begun

48] It is a foolish bird that soils (or defiles ) its own nest

49] A piece of churchyard fits every body

50] Wine uncloaks the words of the heart

51] In doing we learn.

52] Everyone leaps over the dyke where it is lowest

53] Erring is not heating

54] Her that is down need fear no fall

55] Everything is of use to a housekeeper

56] Idleness (or An idle brain) is the devil’s workshop

57] Children and fools cannot lie.

58] Comparisons are odious

59] Even reckoning makes long friends

60] Nearest the heart comes out first

61] Why play music for a deal man or dance for a blind man?

62] A bully is always a coward

63] A good Jack makes a good Jill.

64] First impressions are half the battle

65] A drowning man will clutch at a straw

66] He that obey cannot command

67] Know thyself

68] Union is strength.

69] Soon learnt, soon forgotten

70] It is good sheltering under an old hedge

71] Work expands so as to fill the time available

72] If you always say ‘No’, you’ll never get married

73] Dying men speak true

74] The hero appears only when the tiger is dead

75] Wiles help weak folk

76] There are spots even in the sun

77] Good fences make good neighbours

78] The pleasures of the mighty are the tears of the poor

79] Hunger is sharper than the sword

80] One hour today is worth two tomorrow

81] A barber learns to shave by shaving fools

82] A willful man will have his way

83] He that will steal a pin will steal a better thing

84] Every ass likes to hear himself bray

85] Every bean has its black

86] When you know there are tigers on the hills, don’t go there

87] An ill marriage is a spring of ill fortune

88] Good fame is better than a good face

89] He that has no shame has no conscience

90] The mouse that has but one hole is quickly taken

91] He that makes himself a sheep, shall be eaten by the wolf

92] A straw will show which way the wind blows.

93] He who seizes the right moment is the right man

94] A jest breaks no bones

95] The end justifies the means

96] He that pities another remembers himself

97] Why does one man’s yawning make another yawn?

98] The healthful man can give counsel to the sick

99] Honesty is the best policy

100] Either mend or end