Famous Proverbs

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

2] If the fingers of one hand quarrel, they cannot pick up food

3] The lone sheep is in danger of the wolf

4] It is useless to flog a dead horse

5] Out of the frying-pan into the fire

6] There’s a time and place for everything

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

8] Rats know the ways of rats

9] A white –wasted crow will not long remain white

10] The best wine comes from an old vessel

11] Keep no more cats than will catch mice

12] A man apt to promise, is apt to forget

13] It’s a silly fish that is caught twice with the same bait.

14] He that praises himself, spatters himself

15] Praise is a spur to the good, a thorn to the evil

16] No man better knows what good is than he who has endured evil

17] If you pay not a servant his wages, he will pay himself

18] Ale will make a cat speak

19] Full of courtesy, full of craft

20] All things that great men do are well done

21] One needs a full stomach to keep the precepts

22] Pleasure is due only when all duty’s done.

23] No, thank you’ has lost you many a good butter-cake

24] Truth is stranger than fiction

25] Far fowls have fair feather

26] Do not limp before the lame

27] Let not thy tongue run away with thy brains

28] Train the child in the way he should go.

29] Union is strength.

30] No man is his craft’s master the first day

31] Nearest the heart comes out first

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

33] If there were no clouds, we should not enjoy the sun

34] Who greases his way travels easily

35] What can you expect from a hog but a grunt?

36] Friends agree best at a distance

37] Unpaid debts are unforgiven sins

38] Bear with evil and expect good

39] Fair is not fair, but that which pleases.

40] A gift in hand is better than two promises.

41] A piece of churchyard fits every body

42] On an open plain, the rhododendron is a tall tree

43] In the end, things will mend

44] Prospect is often better than possession

45] He that peeps in at his neighbor’s window may chance to lose his eyes

46] Children should be seen and not heard

47] Love knows no limit

48] No pains, no gains

49] It is hard to wive and thrive both in a year

50] All’s fish that comes to the net

51] Whom god loves, his house is sweet to him

52] Kick a tone in anger, and you will hurt your own feet

53] The disinterested observer may perceive what is missed by those who are directly involved

54] The little cannot be great unless he devours many

55] Learn to see in another’s misfortune, the ills which you should avoid.

56] If you want a thing well done, do it yourself

57] Truth lies at the bottom of the well

58] To be discontented is to be like a snake trying to swallow an elephant

59] A long tongue is a sign of a short hand

60] Asking costs little

61] He that asks faintly begs a denial.

62] Dead men tell no tales

63] Be careful to whom you give

64] See which way the cat jumps

65] Though a man lives for less than a hundred years, he burdens himself with the anxieties of a thousand years

66] Neither a borrower nor a lender be.

67] A scalded cat fears hot water.

68] Tell a lie and stick to it.

69] So many countries, so many customs

70] Drops that gather one by one finally become a sea

71] Old foxes want no tutors

72] Have two strings to your bow

73] One good turn deserves another

74] A fair face may hide a foul heart.

75] You cannot make bricks without straw

76] Like breeds like

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

78] Bare walls make giddy housewives

79] The worst wheel of the cart creaks most

80] It is n time to stoop when the head is off.

81] Anger and haste hinder good counsel

82] A kind heart loseth nought at last.

83] Everyone to his taste

84] Weak things united become strong

85] All is vanity.

86] You may know by a handful the whole sack

87] One learns to know oneself best behind one’s back

88] Bold resolution is the favourite of providence

89] Blood is thicker than water

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

91] Hunger makes hard bean sweet

92] An enemy may chance to give good counsel

93] In a church, in an inn, and in a coffin, all men are equal

94] You can’t clap with one hand

95] Envy is the sorrow of fools.

96] Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow.

97] By his deeds we know a man

98] A monk can’t shave his own head

99] Bread is the staff of life.

100] Neither praise nor dispraise thyself; thy actions serve the turn