Famous Proverbs

1] Kindle not a fire that you cannot extinguish

2] Prove your friend ere you have need

3] A man without a smiling face must not open a shop

4] All’s fair in love and war

5] A lion may come to be beholden to a mouse

6] Four eyes see more than two

7] If wishes were horses, beggars would ride (or might ride)

8] Do as I say, not as I do

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

10] The highest tree has the greatest fall

11] Learning is a treasure which accompanies its owner everywhere.

12] When children stand quiet, they have done some ill.

13] The eye of the master will do more work than both his hands

14] Be just before you are generous

15] Quickly come, quickly go

16] The envious grow thin at others’ prosperity

17] After dinner sit a while, after supper walk a mile.

18] If the devil finds a man idle, he’ll set him to work

19] A fool believes everything

20] Unless the vessel is clean, what you pour in to it turns sour.

21] When two tigers fight, one is sure to be hurt

22] Submitting to one wrong brings on another.

23] A wicked man is his own hell

24] Set a wolf to keep the sheep

25] It is ill jesting with edged tools

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

27] The pitcher goes so often to me well that it is broken at last

28] One can’t help many, but many can help one

29] Plain dealing is a jewel, but they that use it die beggars

30] Don’t cry before you are hurt

31] He that hopes not for good, fears not evil.

32] Hasty work, double work,

33] A great calligrapher isn’t choosy about his brushes.

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

35] As is the mould, so will the cake be.

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

37] Adam’s ale is the best brew

38] A clear conscience fears not false accusations

39] Liars should have good memories

40] Work won’t kill but worry will.

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

42] Misfortune tells us what fortune is

43] The least boy always carries the greatest fiddle

44] He who has a mind to beat his dog will easily find a stick.

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

46] Confide in an aunt and the world will know

47] Kick a tone in anger, and you will hurt your own feet

48] Silence and thinking can no man offend

49] Drive thy business or it will drive thee.

50] Everything tempts the man who fears temptation. If you can’t be good, be careful.

51] Fling dirt enough, and some will stick

52] They that value not praise, will never do anything worthy of praise

53] A watched pot never boils

54] The borrower is servant to the lender

55] The great would have none great, and the little all little

56] As soon as man is born, he begins to die

57] It is as natural to die as to be born

58] Don’t cry stinking fish

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

60] A man may lose more in an hour than he can get in seven

61] Even the compelling beauty of the Diamond Mountain cannot be appreciated when the stomach is empty

62] Children and chickens must be always picking

63] Once bitten, twice shy.

64] If you would be well served, serve yourself

65] All things require skills but an appetite

66] Fools rejoice at promises

67] Pleasure has a sting in its tail

68] Naughty boys sometimes make good men.

69] When the ear will not listen, the heart escapes sorrow

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

71] We must not look for a golden life in an iron age

72] The unexpected always happens.

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

74] Nothing seek, nothing find

75] Nothing is so certain as death

76] Young colts will canter.

77] He knows on which side his bread is buttered

78] Every man is his own worst enemy

79] The darkest hour is that before the dawn

80] The thread breaks where it is weakest

81] A merchant that gains not, loses

82] Half a loaf is better than do bread

83] Ask a silly question and you’ll get a silly answer.

84] A child can have too much of his mother’s blessings

85] Share and share alike

86] Promises may make friends, but it is performances that keep them

87] Diligence is the mother of good fortune

88] A straw will show which way the wind blows.

89] Every bean has its black

90] A man with no hands is given a ring.

91] Repentance comes too late

92] Penny wise, pound foolish

93] One cannot put back the clock

94] Don’t bite the hand that feeds you

95] Fortune favours the brave (or bold).

96] He that is fallen cannot help him that is down

97] Friends agree best at a distance

98] No man is infallible

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

100] An ounce of mother is worth a ton of priest