Famous Proverbs

1] The rich man thinks of the future, the poor man thinks of today

2] If youth knew what age would crave. It would both get and save

3] If you have bread, don’t look for cake

4] Soft fire makes sweet malt

5] Better to ask the way than go astray.

6] Gold goes in at any gate except heaven’s

7] No man is infallible

8] Expectation is better than realisation

9] The more you have the more you want

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

11] He that will not have peace, God gives him war

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

13] He that hath a full purse never wanted (or lacked) a friend

14] It is equally an error to trust all men or no man

15] A man is valued as he makes himself valuable

16] A closed mouth catches no files

17] Wishes can never fill a sack

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

19] Idle folks have the least leisure

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

21] Truthfulness becomes the gentleman

22] It is easier to raise the devil than to lay him

23] Lovers’ quarrels are soon mended

24] Hope is the last thing to abandon the unhappy

25] Laws catch flies but let hornets go free

26] The rotten apple injures its neighbours.

27] Be careful to whom you give

28] Like mistress, like maid

29] Wine is the best broom for trouble

30] The poor sit on the front benches in Paradise

31] What’s yours is mine and what’s mine is my own

32] When a fool is sent to market, the storekeepers rejoice

33] He that will not be counseled, cannot be helped

34] Riches rather enlarge than satisfy appetites

35] All covet all lose.

36] Sorrow will pay no debt

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

38] Union is strength.

39] Adam’s ale is the best brew

40] A little help is worth a deal of pity

41] One fool praises another

42] Quarrels do not last long if the wrong is only on one side

43] There is nothing new under the sun

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

45] Whether the pitcher strikes the stone, or the stone the pitcher, it is bad for the pitcher

46] Work expands so as to fill the time available

47] Friends agree best at a distance

48] Since god has not bent the top of the palm tree, he has given a long neck to the giraffe

49] Adventures are to be adventurous

50] Fortune is blind

51] One drop of poison infects the whole tun of wine

52] The submitting to one wrong brings on another

53] Every cloud has a silver lining

54] Better a lean peace than a fat victory

55] Soon hot, soon cold

56] Gold will not buy everything

57] A man’s wealth is his enemy

58] Don’t wear out (or outstay) your welcome

59] No pains, no gains

60] Respect is greater from a distance

61] Desires are nourished by delays

62] Long absent, soon forgotten

63] Without knowing the force of words, it is impossible to know the man

64] Gold may be bought too dear

65] Blood cannot be washed out with blood

66] Bare walls make giddy housewives

67] If you can’t bite, never show your teeth.

68] The effect speaks, the tongue need not

69] Patience is the remedy of the world

70] A fault confessed is half redressed

71] A ragged colt may make a good horse.

72] Oaks may fall when reeds stand the storm

73] No pot so ugly as not to find a cover

74] Every beggar is descended from some king, and every king is descended from some beggar.

75] Nothing is as good as it seems before hand

76] Anything will fit a naked man.

77] Marry in haste, repent at leisure

78] Behind the smile, a dagger may be hidden

79] He who hesitates is lost

80] God rejoices when one beggar scratches another

81] If the cap fits, wear it

82] Words cut more than swords

83] Money makes the man

84] He that dare not venture must not complain of ill luck

85] He that commits a fault, thinks everyone speaks of it.

86] The fox may grow grey, but never good

87] Though the fox runs, the chicken has wings

88] The earthen pot must keep clear of the brass kettle

89] Lucky men need no counsel

90] Better a lean peace than a fat victory

91] The highest branch is not the safest roost

92] Every why has a wherefore

93] Danger makes men devout

94] Give him (or knaves) an inch and he (they) will take a yard (or mile)

95] He that compiles against his will, is of his own opinion still

96] The best things in life are free

97] Alms never make poor

98] Strength grows stronger by being tried

99] He that sows virtue reaps fame

100] What is worse than ill luck?