Famous Proverbs

1] The best things come in small packages

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

3] The lion had need of the mouse

4] All lay loads on a willing horse

5] Lightning never strikes twice in the same place

6] Better a lean peace than a fat victory

7] Dirty water does not wash clean.

8] God gives us the milk, but not the pail

9] A good name is a rich heritage

10] Rain water leaks through the roof-top

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

12] Example is better than precept

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

14] Put not the bucket too often in the well

15] Expectation is better than realisation

16] Findings are keepings

17] Cleanliness is next to godliness

18] Love is without reason

19] All covet all lose.

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

21] He that has no shame has no conscience

22] Too long burden makes weary bones

23] He that would catch fish must venture his bait

24] An old ox makes a straight furrow

25] God tempers that wind to the shorn lamb

26] One swallow does not make a summer

27] All is vanity.

28] You cannot make a crab walk straight

29] A bad workman quarrels with his tools.

30] Laugh and the world laughs with you; weep and you weep alone

31] Out of the frying-pan into the fire

32] He that has no rest at home is in the world’s hell

33] It is easier to capture a tiger in the hills than to ask for favours from a man

34] The longest way round is the shortest way home

35] Bread is the staff of life.

36] Wise men propose, and fools determine

37] A good heart conquers ill fortune

38] When the weather is cold, there is not such thing as dirty clothing

39] He thinks not well that thinks not again

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

41] The first blow is half the battle

42] A man of knowledge increaseth strength

43] In a church, in an inn, and in a coffin, all men are equal

44] Dying men speak true

45] He that desires but little has no deed of much

46] You cannot have it both ways

47] Poverty is not a crime

48] It is the bridle and spur that makes a good horse

49] Give him an inch and he’ll take a yard

50] He that fights and runs away may live to fight another day

51] No answer is also an answer

52] Pride is at the bottom of all mistakes

53] Never too late to repent

54] There is safety in numbers

55] That fish will soon be caught that nibbles at every bait

56] Absence diminished little passions and increases great ones

57] If you don’t make mistakes, you don’t make anything

58] The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak

59] Look after your money and don’t make your neighbour a thief

60] The last drop makes the cup run over

61] Two blacks do not make a white

62] Everything is of use to a housekeeper

63] Poverty is no sin

64] Water is a boon in the desert, but the drowning man curses it.

65] Give credit where credit is due

66] The worth of a thing is best known by the want of it

67] That which is easily done is soon believed

68] Money is power

69] Better to be safe than sorry.

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

71] Deeds are fruits; words are but leaves

72] There’s many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip

73] A burdened conscience will never need a hangman

74] Fire is a good servant a bad master

75] Appearances are deceptive

76] Small is the seed of every greatness

77] Better to ask the way than go astray.

78] Where there is peace, there is blessing

79] Where bad’s the best, bad must be the choice

80] Fall not into the fire when you try to avoid smoke

81] He who comes first, grinds first.

82] Men count up the faults of those who keep them waiting

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

84] Even a worm will turn

85] Precept begins, examples accomplish

86] Those who sell dog-meat often display a lamb’s head

87] Woes unite foes

88] Everything new is fine

89] If you can’t ride two horses at once, you shouldn’t be in the circus

90] No news is good news

91] Circumstances alter cases

92] Think on the end before you begin

93] Success makes a fool seem wise.

94] With wealth, you are as grand as a dragon; without wealth you are as insignificant as a worm.

95] Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains.

96] A straight stick is crooked in water

97] Man punishes the action but God the intention

98] A good word stills great anger

99] All cats are grey in the dark

100] She’s her father’s (or mother’s) daughter