Famous Proverbs

1] A golden key opens every door

2] Though the food is plain, stomach may be filled; though the cloth is coarse, one may be clad to a ripe old age

3] One is what one eats

4] An ill payer (or paymaster) never wants an excuse

5] He may find fault that cannot mend

6] At open doors, dogs come in

7] Do leaves sprout on rootless trees?

8] Silence is also speech

9] Will without reason is blind, and against reason, is mad

10] New brooms sweep clean

11] The rain of tears is necessary to the harvest of learning

12] A rich miser is poorer than a poor man

13] The wish is father to the thought

14] When Greek meets Greek, then comes the tug of war

15] What’s in a name?

16] With patience and time, the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown

17] Self do, self have

18] Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched

19] He knows which side his bread is buttered

20] The fire which warms us a distance will burn us when near

21] Safety lies in the middle course

22] The calmest husbands make the stormiest wives

23] Dogs that bark at a distance bite not at hand

24] Don’t teach your grandmother to suck eggs.

25] A discontented man knows not where to sit easy

26] God gave us the seed of every plant, but we must sow it.

27] Every man is his own worst enemy

28] Never was a cat or dog drowned, that could but see the shore

29] There is no royal road to learning

30] Take things as you find them

31] When two elephants struggle, it is the grass that suffers

32] It is as hard to please a knave as knight

33] One may change the place but not the mind.

34] Little by little and bit by bit.

35] If the father is a tiger, the son cannot be a dog.

36] Every tub must stand on its own bottom

37] He who waits for another man’s platter has a cold meal

38] A good conscience is a constant feast

39] Better an apple given than eaten

40] They also serve who only stand and wait

41] Take not a musket to kill a butterfly

42] Go to bed with the lamb, and rise with the lark

43] Who greases his way travels easily

44] First impressions are the most lasting

45] When you are an anvil, hold still; when you are an anvil, hold still; when you are a hammer, strike your fill.

46] Steer not after every mariner’s direction

47] For a web begun, God sends the thread

48] A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds

49] The company makes the feast

50] Custom reconciles us to everything

51] Better be first in a village than second at Rome

52] The road to hell is paved with good action

53] Drunkards and fools cannot lie.

54] Barking dogs seldom bite

55] True gold is not transformed by fire

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

57] Cowardice is afraid to be known or seen

58] Pride is at the bottom of all mistakes

59] From hearing, comes wisdom; from speaking, repentance

60] There are more ways of killing a cat than choking it with cream.

61] If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again

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

63] Jackdaw always perches by jackdaw.

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

65] Once a use and ever a custom

66] A good wife is a good prize

67] Don’t hide your light under a bushel

68] He that knows little often repeats it

69] In a clam sea, every man is a pilot

70] A friend is easier lost than found

71] Hungry bellies have no ears

72] A spear you can see can easily be avoided; a hidden arrows is difficult to guard against.

73] When we sing, everybody hears us; when sigh, nobody hears us

74] While the word is in your mouth, it is your own; when ‘tis another’s

75] Good wine needs no bush

76] The bigger they are, the harder they fall

77] You eat, I dreams, the custard of the day

78] No man is content with his lot

79] Blue are the far away hills

80] Some are wise and some are otherwise

81] It the counsel be good, no matter who gave it.

82] The Friar Preached against stealing and had a goose in his sleeve

83] Don’t burn the candle at both ends

84] There is none misfortune cannot reach

85] Dress up a stick and it does not appear to be a stick

86] One cannot love and be wise

87] Jesters do oft prove prophets

88] Hungry dogs will eat dirty puddings

89] You can’t clap with one hand

90] It is safer to hear and take counsel, than give it.

91] Calamity is the touchstone of a brave mind

92] Nothing is so certain as death

93] If you have no honey in your pot, have some in your mouth.

94] Fair is not fair, but that which pleases.

95] Nature does nothing in vain

96] The crow laughs at the pig for being black

97] Deliver your words not by number but by weight

98] You cannot skimp on the fodder and have an energetic horse.

99] A man can die but once

100] The devil dances in an empty pocket