Famous Proverbs

1] He should have a long spoon who sups with the devil.

2] You cannot sell the cow and sup (or drink) the milk

3] Though it rains gold and silver there, it’s a foreign land; though it rains daggers and spears here, it’s our own country

4] You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours

5] Blessings brighten as they take their flight

6] You must grin and bear it

7] Point not at other’s spots with a foul finger

8] Absence sharpens love, presence strengthens it

9] A cheerful wife is the joy of life

10] Shrouds have no pockets

11] The poor suffer all the wrong

12] Two dogs fight for a bone, and a third runs away with it.

13] Take away fuel, take away flame

14] Everything is good in its season

15] The morning hour has gold in its mouth

16] He learned timely to beg that could not say ‘Nay’

17] Though a lie be swift the truth overtakes it

18] Grief pent up will break the heart

19] Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches

20] A little too late, is much too late

21] Black will take no other hue

22] Extreme justice is extreme injustice.

23] A scalded cat fears hot water.

24] It needs more skill than I can tell to play the second fiddle well

25] Wise is the man who never exposes himself to unnecessary danger

26] Every man is his own worst enemy

27] Money has no smell

28] If things were to be done twice, all would be wise.

29] Children and chickens must be always picking

30] Would you know what money is, got borrow some

31] No misfortune will go on forever

32] They say so’ is half a lie

33] What must be must be

34] The tongue ever turns to the aching tooth

35] Heaven helps those who help themselves

36] He that will not have peace, God gives him war

37] Enquire not what boils in another’s pot. ¶ Listeners seldom hear good of themselves

38] A house divided against itself cannot stand

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

40] He is a fool that makes a hammer of his fist

41] An old ox makes a straight furrow

42] Without diligence, no prize

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

44] Who receives a gift, sells his liberty

45] A good word stills great anger

46] Dreams go by contraries

47] Even dust, when piled up, may form a hill

48] Patience surpasses learning

49] Dirty water does not wash clean.

50] What’s done cannot be undone

51] Solitude is the best nurse of wisdom

52] Money talks

53] Learning is a treasure which accompanies its owner everywhere.

54] Nature hates all sudden changes

55] Discontent is the first step in progress

56] Hard words break no bones

57] Habit is second nature

58] He that lends, gives

59] No like is the same.

60] Fortune knocks once at everyone’s door (or gate)

61] As soon as there is life there is danger

62] The reason of the strongest is always the best.

63] We must not look for a golden life in an iron age

64] The greater the kindred, the less the kindness.

65] One barber shaves another gratis

66] Friends agree best at a distance

67] When all men say you are an ass, it is time to bray

68] What costs little is little esteemed

69] Youth will have its course.

70] After dinner sit a while, after supper walk a mile.

71] There are spots even in the sun

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

73] There are two sides to every question

74] The tongue breaks bone, and herself has none

75] Change brings life

76] Hunger is the teacher of many

77] Promises may make friends, but it is performances that keep them

78] Dying men speak true

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

80] Marriage makes or mars a man

81] Only with a new ruler do you realize the value of the old

82] Cheap is dear in the long run.

83] It is well to live that one may learn

84] Calamity is man’s true touchstone

85] Like question, like answer.

86] Good ware makes quick market

87] A beggar pays a benefit with a louse

88] Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

89] Better children weep than old men

90] Through obedience learn to command.

91] Better an egg in peace than an ox in war

92] You never know what you can do till you try

93] A wounded reputation is seldom cured

94] A cotton dress wants to be alongside a silk one

95] Call a spade a spade

96] Though it rains gold and silver there, it’s a foreign land; though it rains daggers and spears here, it’s our own country

97] Garbage in, garbage out

98] Self-preservation is the first law of nature

99] Counsel must be followed, not praised.

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