Famous Proverbs

1] A foolish man knows not the art of forgiveness

2] A barber learns to shave by shaving fools

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

4] Nothing is more contagious than a bad example

5] Love your neighbour, yet pull not down your hedge

6] It at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again

7] The pitcher goes so often to me well that it is broken at last

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

9] The greatest step is that out of doors

10] Gossiping and lying go together

11] The best things in life are free

12] Home is where the heart is

13] Strike while the iron is hot

14] It is not the burden but the overburden that kills the beast

15] The Friar Preached against stealing and had a goose in his sleeve

16] The most high Good sees and bears; me neighbour knows, nothing, and yet is always finding fault.

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

18] He may find fault that cannot mend

19] More than enough is too much

20] Wrong never comes right

21] Dead dogs bark not

22] Hunger makes hard bean sweet

23] The company makes the feast

24] Lend, and lose the loan or gain an enemy

25] The absent party is always to blame.

26] Praise no man till he is dead.

27] Idle folks have the least leisure

28] Trust not the many-minded populace

29] Nature is conquered by obeying her

30] Prosperity makes friends, adversity tries them

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

32] A lion may be beholden to a mouse

33] Pat any man and dust will fly

34] Much meat, much malady

35] He that ventures not fails not.

36] Eat a clove of garlic and you smell of garlic; eat two cloves and you smell the same.

37] Not good is it to harp on the on the frayed string

38] An hour in the morning is worth two in the evening

39] Blessings brighten as they take their flight

40] Ready money is ready medicine

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

42] How ever much you learn, you won’t know how to raise the dead

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

44] The more you have the more you want

45] There is a great difference between words and deeds

46] A fool says what he knows, and a wise man knows what he says.

47] The devil sometimes speaks the truth

48] Conscience is a thousand witnesses

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

50] God (or Providence) is always on the side of big battalions

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

52] A hungry man is angry man

53] Adam’s ale is the best brew

54] Wait’ is a hard word to the hungry.

55] The beaten road is the safest

56] Wife and Children are bills of charges

57] Better an open enemy than a false friend

58] Nature will have her course

59] We live by laws, not by examples

60] Pursuits become habits

61] He is a gentleman that has gentle conditions

62] The hasty leaps over his opportunities

63] Mischief comes by the pound and goes away by the ounce

64] Grief pent up will break the heart

65] Death does not recognize strength

66] Many words, many buffets

67] Content is the philosopher’s stone that turns all it touches in to gold

68] A scalded cat fears hot water.

69] Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, and half shut afterwards

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

71] With wealth, you are as grand as a dragon; without wealth you are as insignificant as a worm.

72] Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains.

73] A willing helper does not wait until he is asked.

74] Better be born lucky than wise.

75] No man is the worse for knowing the worst of himself

76] Accusing the times is but excusing ourselves.

77] Life is short and time is swift

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

79] He that will steal an egg, will steal an ox

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

81] If you can’t bite, never show your teeth.

82] What’s the good of thatching someone else’s roof?

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

84] Silence is also speech

85] Don’t cast your pearls before swine

86] The tongue is not steel, yet it cuts

87] Children and fools have merry lives

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

89] Every ass thinks himself worthy to stand with the kings horses.

90] He that forecasts all perils will never sail the sea

91] Better late than never

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

93] If it were not for hope, the heart would break

94] A thousand cranes in the air are not worth one sparrow in the fist.

95] He that has a full purse never wanted a friend

96] If there were no receivers, there would be no thieves

97] Money would be gotten if there were money to get it with

98] It is profound ignorance that inspires the dogmatic tone

99] Half the world knows not how the other half lives

100] Good merchandise finds a ready buyer