Famous Proverbs

1] He that asks faintly begs a denial.

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

3] Little fishes slip through nets, but great fishes are taken

4] As you make your bed, you must lie on it

5] A prophet is without honour in his own country

6] Keep no more cats than will catch mice

7] It is an ill sign to see a fox lick a lamb

8] A little too late, is much too late

9] An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden

10] Great actions speak minds

11] Who hath a good trade, through all waters may wade

12] The fowler’s pipe sounds sweet till the bird is caught.

13] Weak things united become strong

14] Who lives by hope will die in hunger

15] He who demands does not command

16] He who carries the burden knows the weight of it.

17] When two men look after a horse, it will surely be thin; when two families keep a boat, it will surely leak

18] If we have not the world’s wealth, we have the world’s ease

19] What is shown by example, men think they may justly do

20] All is vanity.

21] What is a workman without his tools?

22] Long roads test the horse; long dealings test the friend

23] Dying men speak true

24] An old ox makes a straight furrow

25] Red ink gives what it touches a pink glow; black ink gives what it touches a dirty stain.

26] The loftiest towers rise from the ground

27] Much travel is needed to ripen a man’s rawness

28] We can live without our friends, but not without our neighbours

29] Striving to better, often we mar what’s well.

30] He is a gentleman that has gentle conditions

31] What the fool does in the end, the wise man does at the beginning

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

33] A good heart cannot lie.

34] Don’t make a mountain out of molehill

35] Nothing is so bad but might have been worse

36] Punctuality is the politeness of kings.

37] Kindness to the good is better investment than kindness to the rich.

38] Among the blind, the one-eyed man is king

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

40] A quiet conscience sleeps in thunder

41] The highest tree has the greatest fall

42] The dancing girl who could not dance, said that the hall was not big enough.

43] Knowledge is power

44] No wrong without a remedy

45] Better an open enemy than a false friend

46] Old foxes want no tutors

47] He who squeezes in between the onion and the peel, picks up its stink.

48] Love your friend with his fault

49] Like father, like son

50] Speech is silver, silence is golden

51] Every oak has been an acorn

52] More have repented speech than silence

53] Plain dealing is a jewel

54] Love will find a way

55] Love turns pimples

56] Fortune does not stand waiting at any man’s door

57] Children and chickens must be always picking

58] Fish begins to stink at the head

59] It is a great victory that comes without blood

60] Fools live poor to die rich

61] One man eats the jackfruit, another gets his hands sticky

62] If the father is spotted, the son will be speckled

63] Better be alone than in bad company

64] Idleness is the root of all evil

65] Four eyes see more than two

66] The tailor makes the man

67] It is a blind goose that comes to the fox’s sermon

68] We always weaken whatever we exaggerate

69] The labour we delight in physics pain

70] We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.

71] One speak of rat droppings will spoil a whole pan of rice

72] Shame in a kindred cannot be avoided

73] Catch not at the shadow and lose the substance

74] No man is infallible

75] Many kiss the hand they wish to cut off

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

77] A good reaper deserves a good sickle.

78] Never catch a falling knife or a falling friend

79] He who wills the end, Wills the means

80] Children speak only words they have heard.

81] Revenge is sweet

82] Judge not, that ye be not judged

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

84] Morning dreams come true

85] He is wise who looks ahead

86] Never do evil that good may come of it

87] The longest journey starts with a single step

88] He who pays the piper calls the tune

89] Don’t stitch your seam before you’ve tacked it.

90] Union (or Unity) is strength

91] The gods send nuts to those who have no teeth

92] If one sheep leaps over the ditch (or dyke), all the rest will follow

93] When you drink water from the stream, don’t forget that the source of it is the spring

94] Time flees without a delay

95] God’s lambs will play.

96] Possibilities are infinite

97] Virtue has all things in itself

98] Talk of the devil, and he is bound to appear

99] He that is afraid of bad luck will never know good.

100] Wise men silent, fools talk