Famous Proverbs

1] There’s a time and place for everything

2] Every beginning is hard

3] Misfortune arrives on horseback but departs on foot

4] There is no redemption from hell

5] To err is human

6] Other times, other manners

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

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

9] Shame in a kindred cannot be avoided

10] His bark is worse than his bite

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

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

13] It is more blessed to give than to receive

14] A quiet conscience sleeps in thunder

15] Eat a clove of garlic and you smell of garlic; eat two cloves and you smell the same.

16] Good hand, good hire

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

18] Do unto others as you would they should do unto you.

19] A good wife and health is a man’s best wealth

20] Rome was not built in a day

21] A dragon that is stranded in shallow water, becomes the butt of shrimps

22] He that is born a fool is never cured

23] Virtue has all things in itself

24] A good anvil does not fear the hammer

25] It is courage that wins, and not good weapons

26] It is ill sitting at Rome and striving against the pope

27] Truth has a good face but bad clothes

28] Green leaves enhance the charm of the peony flower

29] T’ is safest making peace with sword in hand

30] Put not the bucket too often in the well

31] A penny saved is a penny gained

32] Ill news comes often on the back of worse

33] Punishment is a cripple, but it arrives

34] The gods send nuts to those who have no teeth

35] Good riding at two anchors, men have told, for if one breaks the other may hold

36] The young will sow their wild oats

37] No like is the same.

38] A rich man can do nothing wrong

39] Life is not all beer and skittles

40] A man turned pig no longer fears filth

41] Cross the stream where it is shallowest

42] It is hard to wive and thrive both in a year

43] Why keep a dog and bark yourself?

44] Beware of no man more than himself

45] Second thoughts are best

46] Praises fill not the belly

47] Pardon one offence and you encourage many

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

49] Fortune does not stand waiting at any man’s door

50] It is useless to flog a dead horse

51] A word is enough to the wise

52] Sorrow will pay no debt

53] Do as you would be done by

54] Necessity turns a lion into a fox

55] Unpaid debts are unforgiven sins

56] The axe falls on a straight tree first

57] The king can make a knight, but not a gentleman

58] He who owes is in all the wrong

59] A man of gladness seldom falls into madness

60] Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

61] Too much curiosity lost paradise

62] Variety takes away satiety

63] Virtue is a jewel of great price.

64] He that has a fellow-ruler, has an over-ruler. ¶ There is no good accord, where every man would be a lord

65] It is misery enough to have once been happy

66] He who comes late must eat what is left

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

68] Of evil manners, spring good laws

69] No playing with a straw before an old cat.

70] Hypocrisy is a homage that vice pay to virtue

71] Talk of an angel and you’ll hear the fluttering of his wings

72] In indecision itself, grief is present.

73] He that would catch fish must venture his bait

74] Threatened folk live long

75] Bad luck often brings good luck

76] Don’t make a mountain out of molehill

77] The highest tree has the greatest fall

78] Be just before you are generous

79] Tender-handed stroke a nettle, and it stings you for your pain: grasp it like a man of mettle, and it soft as silk remains

80] If one sheep leaps o’er the dyke, all the rest will follow

81] When the horse has reached the brink of the precipice, it is too late to pull the reins.

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

83] Blood cannot be washed out with blood

84] The tailor makes the man

85] Better a husband without love than a jealous husband

86] It is easier to pour away water than to gather it.

87] Misfortune tells us what fortune is

88] Do unto others as they should do unto you

89] Three helping one another, bear the burthen of six

90] He who comes late must eat what is left

91] The sign brings customers

92] He conquers who endures

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

94] It is better (or more blessed) to give than to take

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

96] A good paymaster never wants workmen

97] Better be safe than sorry

98] Children learn to creep ere they can go

99] Don’t kick against the pricks

100] Don’t play with edged tools