Famous Proverbs

1] God comes at last when think he is farthest off

2] If you trust before you try, you may repent before you die

3] False friends are worse than bitter enemies.

4] No day so clear but has dark clouds

5] Wake not a sleeping lion

6] Kind hearts are soonest wronged

7] Shrouds have no pockets

8] The least boy always carries the greatest fiddle

9] It is easier to capture a tiger in the hills than to ask for favours from a man

10] Honest is the best policy

11] If he ball does not stick to the wall, it will at least leave a mark

12] He that has a good memory, gives few alms

13] It is as natural to die as to be born

14] All doors open to courtesy

15] Love can find a way

16] Friendship is a plant which must be often watered

17] An old dog barks not in vain

18] Good words are worth much and cost little

19] Afflictions are sent to us by God for our good

20] Kingdoms divided soon fall

21] You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours

22] He who touches pitch will be defiled

23] War, hunting and love are as full of trouble as pleasure

24] Water is a boon in the desert, but the drowning man curses it.

25] He that demands misses not, unless his demands be foolish

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

27] He that has a fellow-ruler, has an over-ruler. ¶ There is no good accord, where every man would be a lord

28] Joy and sorrow are next door neighbours.

29] Wise men learn by other men’s harm, fools, by their own

30] Cloudy mornings turn to clear afternoons

31] The borrower is servant to the lender

32] Though the fox runs, the chicken has wings

33] Little things please little minds

34] The world is full of fools

35] He who demands does not command

36] Be not too bold with your biggers or betters

37] When all men say you are an ass, it is time to bray

38] The devil sometimes speaks the truth

39] A crowd is not company

40] It is the unexpected that always happens

41] He that would know what shall be, must consider what has been

42] Pride dines on vanity, sups on contempt

43] A friend in need is a friend indeed

44] Young colts will canter.

45] A man can do no more than he can

46] All’s fish that comes to the net

47] After a storm comes a calm

48] Words have wings, and cannot be recalled

49] The child is father of the man

50] Hunger breaks stone walls

51] When the melon is ripe, it will drop by itself

52] Call a spade a spade

53] Point not at other’s spots with a foul finger

54] If Jack’s in love, he’s no judge of Jill’s beauty

55] Cowardice is afraid to be known or seen

56] Every man for himself, and God for us all.

57] Frugality is the mother of virtue

58] He freezes who does not burn

59] An Englishman’s home is his castle

60] The voice is the best music

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

62] Friends are thieves of time

63] He that commits a fault, thinks everyone speaks of it.

64] Keep no more cats than will catch mice

65] Every may be has a may not be

66] Judge not, that ye be not judged

67] What is a workman without his tools?

68] A jest breaks no bones

69] No playing with a straw before an old cat.

70] Dumb dogs are dangerous

71] The surest way to remain poor is to be an honest man

72] Punctuality is the politeness of kings.

73] He that cannot pay in purse must pay in person

74] Don’t have too many irons in the fire

75] Now is now, and then was then

76] It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good

77] Neither a borrower nor a lender be.

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

79] Death devours lambs as well as sheep

80] He that is afraid of bad luck will never know good.

81] Health is great riches

82] Poor men’s words have little weight

83] Precepts may lead but examples draw

84] Rip not up old sores

85] Never refuse a good offer

86] You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear

87] A thief knows a thief knows a thief as a wolf knows a wolf

88] Since god has not bent the top of the palm tree, he has given a long neck to the giraffe

89] He that mischief hatches mischief catches.

90] He that shows his purse, longs to be rid of it

91] A short cut is often a wrong cut

92] Even Homer sometimes nods

93] Every man must carry his own cross

94] The best wine comes from an old vessel

95] It is better to conceal one’s knowledge than to reveal one’s ignorance

96] Without diligence, no prize

97] Who suffers much is silent

98] As long as the old horse lives, his habits will not change

99] If wishes were horses, beggars would ride (or might ride)

100] The world is full of fools