Famous Proverbs

1] Quickly come, quickly go

2] The kind-hearted person has a heavy load.

3] You cannot have it both ways

4] Even silence may be eloquent

5] He daren’t say ‘boo’ to a goose

6] It foolish sheep that makes the wolf his confessor

7] Many kiss the hand they wish to cut off

8] One man’s loss is another’s gain

9] The first day a guest, the second day a guest, the third day a calamity

10] God heals, and the physician takes the fee

11] Too much hope deceives

12] A man whose conscience is clear, of a knock at midnight has no fear

13] To fright a bird is not the way to catch her

14] A cat may look at a king

15] The first step is the only difficulty

16] Spread the table, and contention will cease

17] His bark is worse than his bite

18] Hitch your wagon to a star

19] He that speaks well, flights well

20] Harp not for ever on the same string

21] Necessity knows no law

22] In indecision itself, grief is present.

23] You can’t tell a book by its cover

24] A man’s best fortune, or his worst, is a wife

25] The child is father of the man

26] He that praises himself, spatters himself

27] Not even Hercules could contend against two

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

29] One hand washes the other

30] He that keeps not crust not crumb, shall ever want some

31] Don’t empty (or throw) the baby out with the bath water

32] A thousand cranes in the air are not worth one sparrow in the fist.

33] Men are blind in their own cause

34] A light purse makes a heavy heart

35] Of two evils choose the lesser

36] First impressions are the most lasting

37] Rats know the ways of rats

38] The falling drops hollow the stone

39] The tongue stings

40] Dying men speak true

41] Hope is but the dream of those that wake

42] Like question, like answer.

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

44] Once a knave, always a knave

45] Names and natures do often agree

46] What the eye doesn’t see, the heart grieves not

47] They also serve who only stand and wait

48] Past experiences are the best guide for future undertakings

49] Diligence is the mother of good fortune

50] Beauty fades like a flower.

51] At a good bargain thinks twice

52] Drops that gather one by one finally become a sea

53] After a dream of a wedding, comes a corpse

54] The grapes are sour’, as the fox said when he could not reach them

55] All meat No dish pleases all palates alike pleases not all mouths

56] The last drop makes the cup run over

57] Union (or Unity) is strength

58] A burdened conscience will never need a hangman

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

60] Laugh and grow fat

61] He who demands does not command

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

63] A bribe will enter without knocking

64] What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander

65] He preaches well (or best) that lives well (or best).

66] God forgives sins, otherwise heaven would be empty.

67] A loveless life is a living death

68] Law cannot persuade where it cannot punish

69] Every horse thinks its own pack heaviest

70] Send a fool to France and he’ll come back a fool

71] A barber learns to shave by shaving fools

72] There is no rose without a thorn

73] Hope keeps man alive

74] Good is good but better carries it

75] If you don’t have good weapons, it is better for you to submit

76] Never spur a willing horse

77] A good beginning makes a good ending.

78] No good building without a good foundation.

79] The perfect good is the exercise of virtue

80] One man eats the jackfruit, another gets his hands sticky

81] Time and tide wait for no man

82] One volunteer is worth two pressed men

83] If you pile up enough sand, you can make a pagoda

84] Set a beggar on horse back and he’ll ride to the devil

85] It is more blessed to give than to receive

86] Well done is better than well said

87] A liar is sooner caught than a cripple

88] What is a workman without his tools?

89] It needs more skill than I can tell to play the second fiddle well

90] It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest

91] He that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved

92] The difficult is done at once; the impossible takes a little longer

93] Praise makes good men better and bad men worse

94] He who does not kill hogs, ill not get black puddings

95] To beat a tiger, one must have a brother’s help.

96] The young will sow their wild oats

97] Children and fools cannot lie.

98] If the thorn falls, the leaf is pierced; if the leaf falls the leaf is pierced

99] A straight stick is crooked in water

100] Self-praise is no recommendation