Famous Proverbs

1] Old age doesn’t protect from folly

2] A house divided against itself cannot stand

3] No hair so small but has his shadow

4] You cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs

5] The cobbler’s children are always the worst shod

6] A burthen of one’s own choice is not felt

7] Children and chickens must be always picking

8] The ant had wings to her hurt

9] Eat to live and not live to eat.

10] All covet all lose.

11] He that once deceives, is ever suspected

12] Charity excuseth not cheating.

13] God rejoices when one beggar scratches another

14] War, hunting and love are as full of trouble as pleasure

15] Nothing so bad as not to be good for something

16] Some have been thought brave because they are afraid to run away

17] The devil tempts all, but the idle man tempts the devil

18] They that dance must pay the fiddler

19] He is a good friend that speaks well of us behind our backs

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

21] We don’t get something for nothing

22] Life means strife

23] He loves roast meat well that licks the spit.

24] When the word is out it belongs to another

25] A pound of care will not pay an ounce of debt.

26] Ill news comes apace.

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

28] There are more ways to the wood than one.

29] A good payer is master of another’s purse

30] To advise someone not to gamble is to win money for him

31] It is better to conceal one’s knowledge than to reveal one’s ignorance

32] He who sits in the well to observe the sky does not see very much.

33] Where there’s muck, there’s money

34] Even the lion must defend itself against flies

35] Learning is like sailing against the tide - if you don’t move forward, you go backward

36] Let not thy tongue run away with thy brains

37] Though a man lives for less than a hundred years, he burdens himself with the anxieties of a thousand years

38] The first step is the only difficulty

39] It is a poor kin that has neither whore nor thief in it

40] Moderation in all things

41] Vows made in storms are forgotten in calm

42] Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t

43] He who owes is in all the wrong

44] Fair is he that comes, but fairer is he that brings.

45] Keep some till further more come

46] He that burns most, shines most

47] Misfortune does not always come to injure

48] Many would be cowards, if they had courage enough

49] Don’t play with edged tools

50] Years know more than books

51] A forced kindness deserves no thanks

52] A mouse may help a lion

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

54] A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country and in his home

55] A cheerful wife is the joy of life

56] One must be a servant before one can be a master

57] The proof of the pudding lies in the eating

58] United we stand, divided we fall

59] A golden key opens every door

60] You cannot make bricks without straw

61] Those near the temple deride the gods

62] Gnaw the bone which is fallen to thy lot

63] Divine grace was never slow

64] There is a great difference between words and deeds

65] Habits are at first cobwebs, at last cables

66] What is worth doing is worth doing well

67] Desires are nourished by delays

68] Marriage halves our griefs, doubles our joys and quadruples our expenses

69] Pride goes before a fall

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

71] He who depends on another, dines ill and sups worse

72] Marriage makes or mars a man

73] Every bean has its black

74] Every dog is valiant at his won door

75] See a pin and let it lie, you’ll want a pin before you die

76] The end justifies the means

77] He that wants health wants all

78] Hope keeps man alive

79] Absence sharpens love, presence strengthens it

80] An honorable man would rather be a chicken’s beak than the rump of an ox.

81] A thing of beauty is a joy forever

82] Best is cheapest

83] It is lawful to learn even from an enemy

84] Sailors get their money like horses, and spend it like asses

85] He that would know what shall be, must consider what has been

86] The charitable give out at the door, and God puts in at the window

87] Faint heart never won fair lady

88] Anger managers everything badly.

89] In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king

90] Time and tide wait for no man

91] Better belly burst than good meat lost

92] By his deeds we know a man

93] A single filament of silk does not make a thread; a single tree does not make a forest

94] Share and share alike

95] Nothing is certain but the unforeseen

96] Be just before you are generous

97] Rust wastes more than use

98] Necessity is a powerful weapon

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

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