Famous Proverbs

1] A pot that belongs to many is ill stirred and worse boiled

2] He preaches well (or best) that lives well (or best).

3] He that blows best, bears away the horn

4] Adversity is the touchstone of friendship

5] When the boat reaches the middle of the river, it is too late to repair the leak

6] A hungry man smells meat afar off

7] The bread never falls but on its buttered side

8] He that is long a-giving knows not how to give

9] Ill news comes apace.

10] Pat any man and dust will fly

11] Neglect will kill an injury sooner than revenge

12] He that speaks not, God hears not

13] Follow love and it will flee thee; flee love and it will follow thee

14] Dry bread at home is better than roast meat abroad

15] He that is absent is soon forgotten

16] He who sits in the well to observe the sky does not see very much.

17] Empty vessels make the most sound

18] Kindle not a fire that you cannot extinguish

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

20] Come with the wind, got with the water

21] No man is content with his lot

22] Be careful to whom you give

23] They are rich who have true friends

24] An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

25] No man is infallible

26] He that promises too much means nothing

27] Poverty is not a shame, but the being ashamed of it is

28] The exception proves the rule

29] Bells call others, but themselves enter not in to the church

30] Before you marry, be sure of a house wherein to tarry

31] A fault once denied is twice committed

32] He that has no money needs no purse

33] Do not limp before the lame

34] What children hear at home, soon files abroad

35] Life is short and time is swift

36] Man does what he can, and God what he will

37] How seldom in life is the moon directly overhead

38] Travel with open eyes and you will become a scholar

39] Don’t bite the hand that feeds you

40] The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence

41] A rose by any other name would smell as sweet

42] New brooms sweep clean

43] Who lives by hope will die in hunger

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

45] Nothing is more contagious than a bad example

46] There is no time like the present

47] Exchange (or Fair exchange) is no robbery

48] Tigers and deer do not over.

49] The hunchback does not see his own hump, but his companion’s

50] Where there is a question, there must be an answer

51] Of the ten fingers, some are long and some are short.

52] Better be the head of a dog than the tail of a lion

53] If you have known one, you have known them all

54] Kinsman helps kinsman, and woe to him that has none

55] You cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs

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

57] The best things carried to excess are wrong

58] Don’t ride the high horse

59] There is plenty of sound in an empty barrel

60] A good anvil does not fear the hammer

61] East or west, home is best

62] Learn to walk before you run

63] Destroy the lion while he is yet but a whelp

64] Armies are maintained for years to be used on a single day.

65] Custom takes the taste from the most savoury dishes

66] The voice is the best music

67] Nothing seek, nothing find

68] He that will not be counseled, cannot be helped

69] Where the dam leaps over, the kid follows

70] The devil lurks behind the cross

71] Union is strength.

72] Call no man happy till he is dead

73] A deaf husband and a blind wife are always a happy couple

74] When things are at the worst, they begin to mend

75] The noblest vengeance is to forgive

76] A contented mind is a perpetual feast

77] He who peeps through a hole, may see what will vex him

78] A knave and a fool never take thought

79] A monk can’t shave his own head

80] Even Homer sometimes nods

81] Virtue is its own reward

82] He that wants health wants all

83] Home is home though it be never so homely

84] Self-praise is no recommendation

85] Without luck, it is better not to be born

86] Misfortunes never come singly

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

88] A fool at forty is a fool indeed

89] He who sows, trusts in God

90] He who does no good, does evil enough

91] Marriage halves our griefs, doubles our joys and quadruples our expenses

92] Affection blinds reason

93] He who does not heed the good advice of an experienced person will soon find himself suffering for his stubbornness.

94] The world is full of fools

95] All doors open to courtesy

96] The mills of God grind slowly but they grind exceedingly small

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

98] He who would catch fish must not mind getting wet.

99] Forewarned, forearmed; to be prepared is half the victory

100] There’s no great loss without some gain