Famous Proverbs

1] Distance lends enchantment to the view

2] Keep no more cats than will catch mice

3] Nature hates all sudden changes

4] Every one thinks his own sack heaviest

5] Nothing costs so much as what is given us

6] Plain dealing is a jewel, but they that use it die beggars

7] Throw out a sprat to catch a mackerel

8] If each would sweep before his own door, we should have a clean city

9] A liar is sooner caught than a cripple

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

11] The least boy always carries the greatest fiddle

12] Diamond cuts diamond

13] Virtue is its own reward

14] The charitable give out at the door, and God puts in at the window

15] He that desires but little has no deed of much

16] Words bind men

17] All work and no play makes jack a dull boy

18] Every beginning is hard

19] Everything is of use to a housekeeper

20] In my own house, I am king

21] Health without money is half an ague

22] Gold brings gold; lack of gold, a headache

23] Our neighbour’s ground yields better corn than ours

24] Beauty is eloquent even when silent

25] He that sows virtue reaps fame

26] A man’s best fortune, or his worst, is a wife

27] A bow long bent at last waxes weak

28] A banana tree won’t bear fruit twice.

29] Either mend or end

30] No like is the same.

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

32] In vain they rise early that used to rise late

33] If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again

34] Only a fool will make the doctor his heir

35] Sooner begun, sooner done

36] A penny saved is a penny gained

37] A bad excuse is better than none at all

38] Rich folk have many friends

39] It is best to be on the safe side

40] The more laws, the more offenders

41] Self do, self have

42] Better a lean peace than a fat victory

43] The proof of the pudding lies in the eating

44] The truest jests sound worst in guilty ears

45] Put not the bucket too often in the well

46] Do as most men do, then most men well speak well of you

47] When good cheer is lacking, our friends will be packing

48] Give me fire and I’ll give you light

49] All doors open to courtesy

50] Don’t bargain for fish which are still in the water

51] Great trees keep down the little ones

52] Some have been thought brave because they are afraid to run away

53] An arrow shot upright falls on the shooter’s head

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

55] Even fools sometimes speak to the purpose

56] It is easy to bear the misfortunes of others

57] Many words, many buffets

58] Nothing seek, nothing find

59] Dogs that bark at a distance bite not at hand

60] Love is lawless.

61] The good is often the enemy of the best

62] Every man must carry his own cross

63] The healthful man can give counsel to the sick

64] He that the devil drives, feels no lead at his heels

65] Friends agree best at a distance

66] Whatever is made by the hand of man, by the hand of man by overturned

67] Never say die

68] Go to bed with the lamb, and rise with the lark

69] Never look a gift horse in the mouth.

70] Two things do prolong they life: a quiet heart and a loving wife

71] Patience is a plaster for all sores

72] Keep some till further more come

73] A contented mind is a perpetual feast

74] Wine is one thing; drunkenness another

75] Hope is but the dream of those that wake

76] Of two evils choose the lesser

77] What is not even scabies, he makes out to be an ulcer

78] It is too late to husband when all is spent

79] In the land of hope there is never any winter

80] He that loveth danger shall perish therein

81] He’s his father’s (or mother’s) son

82] Only a fool will make the doctor his heir

83] Good fences make good neighbours

84] Dangerous foreseen are soonest prevented

85] The biter is sometimes bit

86] Every commodity has its discommodity

87] Jam tomorrow and jam yesterday – but never jam today

88] A fault once denied is twice committed

89] Great minds think alike

90] You win some, you lose some

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

92] A short cut is often a wrong cut

93] Envy eats nothing but it own heart

94] Covetousness brings nothing home

95] He wants both the flour and the cake that it makes

96] With seven nurses, the child loses its eye

97] Use makes mastery

98] Wisdom is neither inheritance nor legacy

99] An angry man is not fit to pray

100] He who envies admits his inferiority