Famous Proverbs

1] A man of knowledge increaseth strength

2] Does sound come from an unstruck drum?

3] Beggars must not be choosers

4] Drinking water neither makes a man sick, nor in debt, nor his wife a widow

5] The orange that is too hard squeezed yields a bitter juice

6] Keep thy shop and thy shop will keep thee.

7] Like mistress, like maid

8] Little things are great to little men

9] The hole calls the thief

10] Old habits die hard

11] Wait’ is a hard word to the hungry.

12] Files are easier caught with honey than with vinegar

13] Thieves and rogues have the best luck, if they do but escape hanging

14] One of these days is none of these days

15] Wise men are caught in wiles

16] Do not halloo till you are out of the wood

17] A jug that has been mended lasts two hundred years

18] Much babbling is not without offence

19] Hunger breaks stone walls

20] Praises fill not the belly

21] A good name is better than a golden girdle

22] He that desires but little has no deed of much

23] A black hen lays a white egg

24] Like mother, like daughter

25] Good fences make good neighbours

26] It is a great victory that comes without blood

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

28] It is more blessed to give than to receive

29] What you don’t know can’t hurt you

30] Slender cannot make a good man bad; when the water recedes, the stone is still there.

31] It is more pain to do nothing than something

32] A good friend is my nearest relation

33] She’s her father’s (or mother’s) daughter

34] The worse the evil, the calmer we face it.

35] The belly carries the legs

36] A cheerful wife is the joy of life

37] A secret fire is discovered by the smoke

38] Lend, and lose the loan or gain an enemy

39] Ill news comes unsent for.

40] Of evil manners, spring good laws

41] Garbage in, garbage out

42] A ragged coat may cover an honest man.

43] Safety lies in the middle course

44] The fine pullet shows its excellence from the egg.

45] Paddle your own canoe

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

47] Wishes can never fill a sack

48] Where there is a question, there must be an answer

49] Love your neighbour, yet pull not down your hedge

50] We can live without our friends, but not without our neighbours

51] Mirth is the sugar of life

52] Exceptional bravery is often hidden under a cloak of timidity

53] Old cattle breed not

54] Necessity breaks iron

55] Choose thy company before thy drink

56] Never buy a pig in a poke

57] From small beginnings come great things

58] Weak things united become strong

59] Stolen goods never thrive

60] The weeds overgrow the corn.

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

62] Great fortune brings with it great misfortune

63] The disinterested observer may perceive what is missed by those who are directly involved

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

65] Cruelty is more cruel, if we defer the pain

66] Where there are reeds, there is water

67] All cats are grey in the dark

68] Patience surpasses learning

69] All good things must come to an end

70] The devil knows many things because he is old

71] Money makes the man

72] We are all Adam’s children

73] The pot calls the kettle black

74] It is better to be a coward for a minute than dead for the rest of your life

75] Vice is often clothed in virtue’s habit

76] He loses his thanks who promises and delays

77] Love your neighbour, yet pull not down your hedge

78] The ass loaded with gold still eats thistles

79] Take the will for the deed

80] The orange that is too hard squeezed yields a bitter juice

81] Every cock crows on his own dunghill

82] You never know your luck

83] He is rich that has few wants

84] He freezes who does not burn

85] Of two evils choose the lesser

86] Learn not and know not

87] No naked man is sought after to be rifled

88] Alms never make poor

89] Half the world knows not how the other half lives

90] Happy is the country (or nation) that has no history

91] The sun is never the worse for shining on a dunghill

92] Safety lies in the middle course

93] Don’t wash your dirty linen in public

94] He that wants health wants all

95] Silence never makes mistakes

96] Facts are more eloquent than oratory

97] The eye that sees all things else sees not itself

98] Success has many friends

99] An old man’s sayings are seldom untrue

100] Who errs and mends, to god himself commends