Famous Proverbs

1] The last straw breaks the camel’s back

2] Even a worm will turn

3] Great alms-giving lessens no man’s living

4] Beauty is potent but money is omnipotent

5] The tongue breaks bone, and herself has none

6] Truth may walk through the world unarmed

7] The devil is not as black as he is painted

8] If the wise erred not, it would go hard with fools.

9] Think on the end before you begin

10] A straight stick is crooked in water

11] Better bend than break

12] A curse will not strike out an eye unless a fist goes with it

13] The great fish eat up the small

14] He loved mutton well that licked where the ewe lay

15] The game is not worth the candle

16] Don’t build the sty before the litter comes

17] Habits are at first cobwebs, at last cables

18] It is better (or more blessed) to give than to take

19] A thief knows a thief knows a thief as a wolf knows a wolf

20] No man is indispensable

21] A good name is better than a golden girdle

22] All’s fish that comes to the net

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

24] Marriage is a lottery

25] When it pleases not God, the saint can do little

26] Green leaves enhance the charm of the peony flower

27] A wise man cares not for what he cannot have

28] All good things must come to an end

29] It is a great victory that comes without blood

30] Words bind men

31] Better a good cow than a cow of a good kind

32] Go while the going is good

33] Gold goes in at any gate except heaven’s

34] Those who live near water know the nature of fish; those who live near hills know the calls of birds

35] If the thorn falls, the leaf is pierced; if the leaf falls the leaf is pierced

36] It is good fishing in troubled waters

37] After a dream of a wedding, comes a corpse

38] Diseases are the price of ill pleasures

39] It is ill striving against the stream

40] Put too much lemon-grass into the curry and you’ll spoil the flavour

41] No choice amongst stinking fish

42] Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched

43] The crow laughs at the pig for being black

44] The dancing girl who could not dance, said that the hall was not big enough.

45] Wrong never comes right

46] Lookers-on see more than players

47] One speak of rat droppings will spoil a whole pan of rice

48] Wrong has no warrant

49] Experience must be bought

50] It is never too late to mend

51] Naturally the same beans from the same bin.

52] Distance lends enchantment to the view

53] Better never begin than never make an end

54] Do as you would be done by

55] A wise man is never less alone than when he is alone

56] Unpaid debts are unforgiven sins

57] Books and friends should be few but good

58] Much travel is needed to ripen a man’s rawness

59] Union (or Unity) is strength

60] You cannot make a crab walk straight

61] He mediates revenge who least complains.

62] Hope deferred makes the heart sick

63] Corn him well and he will work better

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

65] Custom reconciles us to everything

66] Whatever man has done, man can do

67] Good fences make good neighbours

68] They bow to you when borrowing; you bow to them when collecting

69] Wise men silent, fools talk

70] Charity covers a Multitude of sins

71] Death and life are in the power of the tongue

72] Tell a lie and stick to it.

73] A bad shearer never had a good sickle

74] A fool believes everything

75] No one ought to judge in his own cause

76] Wives must be had, be they good or bad

77] Let bygones be bygones

78] Misery loves company.

79] He that never ate flesh, thinks a pudding is a dainty

80] It is easier to pour away water than to gather it.

81] Honesty is the best policy

82] Remember, you are but a man

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

84] The best remedy against an ill man, is much ground between

85] Drive thy business or it will drive thee.

86] Every bean has its black

87] Death does not recognize strength

88] The dog that fetches, will carry.

89] Acorns were good till bread was found

90] Better to be safe than sorry.

91] What’s done is done

92] Beware of him who makes thee presents

93] Learn not and know not

94] He mediates revenge who least complains.

95] He who excuses himself accuses himself

96] Long tarrying takes all the thanks away

97] Old foxes want no tutors

98] Sour, sweet, bitter and pungent flavours must all be tasted

99] Make haste slowly

100] All that glitters is not gold