Famous Proverbs

1] Joy and sorrow are next door neighbours.

2] He that touches pitch shall be defiled

3] The wise forget an insult, as the ungrateful a kindness

4] There are more men threatened than stricken

5] Good horses always get ridden; good men get imposed upon.

6] Children should be seen and not heard

7] Take heed is a fair thing

8] Send a donkey to Paris, he’ll return no wiser than he went

9] Share and share alike

10] Like father, like son

11] Sparrows who emulate peacocks are likely to break a thigh

12] An old man’s sayings are seldom untrue

13] Money refused loses its brightness

14] Common fame is seldom to blame

15] When wrath speaks, wisdom veils her face.

16] A man has choice to begin love, but not to end it.

17] III counsel mars all

18] Covetousness brings nothing home

19] Never try to prove what nobody doubts

20] The kind-hearted person has a heavy load.

21] Like mother, like daughter

22] Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth

23] Whatever is made by the hand of man, by the hand of man by overturned

24] A good friend is my nearest relation

25] Put not the bucket too often in the well

26] A guilty conscience feels continual fear

27] A good dog deserves a good bone

28] Bad news travels fast

29] He who would catch fish must not mind getting wet.

30] It is ill striving against the stream

31] What can’t be cured must be endured

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

33] The longest journey starts with a single step

34] Necessity and opportunity may make a coward valiant

35] He who does not kill hogs, ill not get black puddings

36] Crowns have cares

37] If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain.

38] True doctrines require no miracles

39] Give a loan and buy quarrel

40] Youth will have its course.

41] God helps those who help themselves

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

43] Love conquers all

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

45] No man is content with his lot

46] What costs little is little esteemed

47] Zeal is fit only for wise men, but is found mostly in fools

48] First creep, then walk

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

50] All things that great men do are well done

51] Laugh before breakfast, you’ll cry before supper

52] Wise men are caught in wiles

53] He is not poor that has little, but he that desires much

54] He conquers who endures

55] Every lot is to be overcome by endurance

56] Do leaves sprout on rootless trees?

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

58] There’s no fence against ill fortune.

59] To teach is to learn twice over

60] Children and fools cannot lie.

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

62] There are more ways to kill a dog than hanging it.

63] Truth conquers all things

64] He is not laughed at the laughs at himself first

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

66] Medical plants from one’s own back-yard are no valued.

67] The longest way round is the shortest way home

68] A good conscience is a constant feast

69] Happy is the country (or nation) that has no history

70] Judge not the tree by its bark

71] Kingdoms divided soon fall

72] Children and fools must not play with edged tools

73] Green leaves enhance the charm of the peony flower

74] There’s a time and place for everything

75] Though a lie be swift the truth overtakes it

76] All things are difficult before they are easy

77] There are spots even in the sun

78] He has not lost all who has one cast left

79] The labourer is worthy of his hire

80] Exceptional bravery is often hidden under a cloak of timidity

81] Every medal has its reverse

82] It is no use crying over spilt milk

83] Our neighbour’s ground yields better corn than ours

84] Good words are worth much and cost little

85] New meat begets a new appetite

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

87] Only a fool will make the doctor his heir

88] One good deed makes up for a thousand bad ones.

89] Nothing is given so freely as advice

90] Friendship cannot stand always on one side

91] He that the devil drives, feels no lead at his heels

92] Little wealth, little care

93] With constancy of purpose, you can file a steel rod in to the needle you need

94] Do as I say, not as I do

95] He loved mutton well that licked where the ewe lay

96] Laws catch flies but let hornets go free

97] Learn weeping and you shall gain laughing

98] No man can serve two masters

99] Appearances are deceptive

100] Fair exchange is no robbery