Famous Proverbs

1] The envious grow thin at others’ prosperity

2] In fair weather prepare for foul

3] Dead men tell no tales

4] Sow thin and mow thin

5] The cat shuts its eyes while it steals cream

6] A little too late, is much too late

7] A hungry man is angry man

8] Great trees keep down the little ones

9] He who rides on a tiger can never dismount

10] Take time by the forelock

11] Crime does not pay

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

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

14] Give us the tools, and we will finish the job

15] Precepts may lead but examples draw

16] Little birds that can sing and won’t sing should be made to sing

17] Not even Hercules could contend against two

18] Every beginning is hard

19] Misfortune tells us what fortune is

20] Necessity is mother of invention

21] Light burden I heavy if far borne

22] Expectation is better than realisation

23] Men count up the faults of those who keep them waiting

24] More have repented speech than silence

25] When children stand quiet, they have done some ill.

26] There’s no such thing as free as a free lunch

27] A man of many trades, begs his bread on Sunday

28] All meat No dish pleases all palates alike pleases not all mouths

29] Ill comes often on the back worse

30] Death alone can kill hope

31] Mercy surpasses justice

32] A merchant that gains not, loses

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

34] A man in debt is caught in a net

35] If you would make an enemy, lend a man money and ask it of him again

36] He who owes is in all the wrong

37] His own ingenuity pricks him.

38] Care killed the cat

39] Gold will not buy everything

40] A mill cannot grind with water that is past

41] Every man has the defects of his own virtues (or qualities)

42] Names are debts

43] The garment worn determines how one is served

44] Black will take no other hue

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

46] The worth of a thing is what it will bring

47] It is an ill dog that deserves not a crust

48] Rome was not (or cannot be) built in a day

49] Of evil manners, spring good laws

50] A parrot will only say what it is taught

51] If you run after two hares, you will catch neither

52] Great talkers are never great doers

53] He that will not go over the stile, must be thrust through the gate

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

55] Practice what you preach

56] It is a sad house where the hen crows louder than the cock

57] You never miss the water till the well runs dry

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

59] Dying is as natural as living

60] Where there are reeds, there is water

61] Precepts may lead but examples draw

62] Absence sharpens love, presence strengthens it

63] Love me, love the crows on my roof

64] Hard cases make bad law

65] One good deed makes up for a thousand bad ones.

66] You cannot serve God and Mammon

67] Health and money go far

68] Of thy sorrow be not too sad, of thy joy be not too glad

69] Good broth may be made in an old pot

70] Fair without, false within

71] Thrift is a great revenue

72] He who would hang his dog gives out first that it is mad

73] Adversity is the touchstone of friendship

74] God makes the back for the burden

75] New meat begets a new appetite

76] Never try to prove what nobody doubts

77] Kill two birds with one stone

78] In a clam sea, every man is a pilot

79] Wise men propose, and fools determine

80] No road is long with good company

81] Don’t hallo (or shout, or whistle) until you are out of the wood

82] A man of gladness seldom falls into madness

83] Like mistress, like maid

84] A jug that has been mended lasts two hundred years

85] A man may say too much, even up on the best subjects

86] A goose quill is more dangerous than a lion’s paw

87] Example is better than precept

88] Past experiences are the best guide for future undertakings

89] Too far east is west

90] Don’t cut the bough you are standing on

91] Let the buyer beware

92] Time has wings

93] Catch not at the shadow and lose the substance

94] Friends agree best at a distance

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

96] They that dance must pay the fiddler

97] Cheats never prosper

98] Take away fuel, take away flame

99] A good servant should never be in the way and never out of the way

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