Famous Proverbs

1] Haste trips up (or over) its own heels

2] A traveller may lie with authority

3] Hope is but the dream of those that wake

4] There’s a black sheep in every flock

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

6] The more a man dreams, the less he believes

7] Years know more than books

8] He is an ill husband who is not missed

9] Better learn late than never

10] Hope springs eternal in the human heart

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

12] Well begun is half done.

13] He who is afraid of asking is ashamed of learning

14] Standing pools gather fifth

15] Much meat, much malady

16] Keep your eyes open: a sale is a sale

17] Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.

18] Venture a small fish to catch a great one.

19] Discretion of speech is more than eloquence.

20] Blood cannot be washed out with blood

21] Self do, self have

22] A word spoken is past recalling

23] Misery acquaints men with strange bedfellows

24] Covetousness breaks the sack

25] He who rouses a sleeping tiger exposes himself to danger

26] Promises are like pie-crust, made to be broken

27] Time stays not for the fool’s leisure

28] Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow.

29] The garment worn determines how one is served

30] God comes with leaden feet, but strikes with iron hands

31] One sheep follows another

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

33] A drowning man will clutch at a straw

34] Water far away will not extinguish a fire that is nearby; relatives far from you are not as good as neighbours close to you.

35] Forgiveness is perfect when the sin is not remembered

36] Poor men go to heaven as soon as rich

37] The result justifies the deed

38] Company in misery makes it light

39] One speak of rat droppings will spoil a whole pan of rice

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

41] Pleasing ware is half sold

42] Where grooms and householders are all alike great, very disastrous will it be for the houses and all that dwell in them

43] Fingers were made before forks

44] The cat shuts its eyes while it steals cream

45] Every advantage has its disadvantage

46] He that cannot ask, cannot live

47] Common fame is a liar

48] There is no royal road to learning

49] He who owes is in all the wrong

50] Hoist your sail when the wind is fair

51] If there were no clouds, we should not enjoy the sun

52] Extremes meet

53] The best wine comes from an old vessel

54] Lovers’ quarrels are soon mended

55] Through obedience learn to command.

56] From a foolish judge, a quick sentence

57] Better wear out shoes than sheers.

58] Only a fool will make the doctor his heir

59] The envious man shall never want woe

60] Don’t quarrel with your bread and buffer

61] Every deed is to be judges by the doer’s intention.

62] God defend me from my friends; from enemies, I can defend myself.

63] Even silence may be eloquent

64] Mirth without measure is madness

65] It is a foolish bird that soils (or defiles ) its own nest

66] Nothing venture (or ventured), nothing gain (or gained)

67] Waste not, want not

68] Zeal without prudence is frenzy

69] Wives must be had, be they good or bad

70] Facts are more eloquent than oratory

71] Every law has a loophole

72] Poverty is not a crime

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

74] Idle folks have the least leisure

75] Nothing befalls any man which he is not fitted to endure

76] Our own opinion is never wrong

77] Necessity and opportunity may make a coward valiant

78] He who envies admits his inferiority

79] Catch not at the shadow and lose the substance

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

81] More haste, less speed

82] All our pomp the earth covers

83] A man of knowledge increaseth strength

84] Poverty is not a crime

85] Who is worse shod than the shoemaker’s wife?

86] Things are seldom what they seem.

87] A man without a wife is but half a man

88] If there is no wind, the trees will not move

89] Kindness lies in one side of the house

90] It is a sorry flock where the ewe bears the bell

91] He that touches pitch shall be defiled

92] Liars should have good memories

93] Every man is his own worst enemy

94] Quietness is a great treasure

95] God gives the grain, but we must make the furrow

96] It signifies nothing to play well if you lose.

97] Knowledge humbles the great man, astonishes the common man and puffeth up the little man

98] Pardon one offence and you encourage many

99] Much babbling is not without offence

100] Life means strife