Famous Proverbs

1] There is nothing new under the sun

2] Too many cooks spoil the broth

3] It is a poor (or sad) heart that never rejoices

4] Corn him well and he will work better

5] Men are known by the company they keep.

6] In the end, things will mend

7] He that burns most, shines most

8] It is easier to praise poverty than to bear it.

9] Only a fool will make the doctor his heir

10] Safety lies in the middle course

11] The tide must be taken when it comes

12] Manners and money make a gentleman

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

14] Prove your friend ere you have need

15] Advice when most needed is least heeded

16] If youth knew what age would crave. It would both get and save

17] A fox should not be of the jury at a goose’s trial

18] The rich knows not who is his friend

19] Every beggar is descended from some king, and every king is descended from some beggar.

20] Manners make the man

21] When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then a gentleman?

22] God gave us the seed of every plant, but we must sow it.

23] Sometimes clemency is cruelty, and cruelty clemency

24] Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!

25] All covet all lose.

26] Riches along make no men happy

27] It is the unexpected that always happens

28] Mustard is a good sauce, but mirth is better

29] Quietness is a great treasure

30] The poorer one is, the more devils one meets

31] Jesters do oft prove prophets

32] He who does not rise with the sun does not enjoy the day

33] Every advantage has its disadvantage

34] He is lifeless that is faultless

35] Patience under old injuries invites new ones

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

37] Mercy to the criminal may be cruelty to the people

38] Jack would be a gentleman if he had money

39] You may lead (or take) a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink

40] He that stumbles twice over one stone, deserves to break his shin

41] As long lives a merry man as a sad

42] Men are not angles

43] Joy and sorrow are next door neighbours.

44] Everyone to his taste

45] It’s a long lane that has no turning

46] Tigers and deer do not over.

47] It is a foolish sheep that makes the wolf his confessor

48] One sword keeps another in the sheath

49] Pursuits become habits

50] Ill weeds grow apace (or fast)

51] Finger were made before forks, and hands before knives

52] The bread never falls but on its buttered side

53] A wise man will learn something even from the words of a fool

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

55] Don’t burn the candle at both ends

56] A tiger that roars is not a man-eater

57] Exchange (or Fair exchange) is no robbery

58] Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face

59] A nod is as good as wink to a blind horse

60] When someone gives up a peach, return him a plum

61] He that sows thistles shall reap prickles.

62] Care brings grey hair.

63] Business is business

64] Good counsel has no price. Nothing is given so freely as advice.

65] He who can does. He who cannot teaches

66] All meat pleases not all mouths

67] Danger makes men devout

68] Afflictions are sent to us by God for our good

69] Young saint, old devil.

70] Spend not where you may save, spare not where you must spend

71] To be discontented is to be like a snake trying to swallow an elephant

72] Past experiences are the best guide for future undertakings

73] It is good sheltering under an old hedge

74] Nature will have her course

75] Years know more than books

76] Bread is the staff of life.

77] On an open plain, the rhododendron is a tall tree

78] A jack of all traders is master of none

79] A wise man changes his mind, a fool never.

80] Many a little makes a mickle

81] We shall beat our swords into ploughshares

82] As long as the old horse lives, his habits will not change

83] Money talks

84] Let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay.

85] Threatened folk live long

86] Tigers and deer do not over.

87] Virtue is the only true nobility

88] Keep conscience clear, then never fear

89] He that has a tongue in his head may find his way anywhere

90] A bad workman quarrels with his tools.

91] The greatest step is that out of doors

92] New things are fair

93] A man whose conscience is clear, of a knock at midnight has no fear

94] Content is more than a kingdom

95] The owl thinks her own young fairest

96] Men strain at gnats and swallow camels

97] What is worse than ill luck?

98] The tongue ever turns to the aching tooth

99] When the cat is away, the mice will play

100] The great would have none great, and the little all little