Famous Proverbs

1] He is a good friend that speaks well of us behind our backs

2] There’s no great loss without some gain

3] He that has nothing need fear to lose nothing

4] The time to come is no more ours than the time past

5] Don’t hallo (or shout, or whistle) until you are out of the wood

6] Sour, sweet, bitter and pungent flavours must all be tasted

7] Many a true word is spoken in jest

8] No man can serve two masters

9] You cannot make a crab walk straight

10] Burn not your house to fright the mouse away

11] A fool always rushes to the fore.

12] By doing nothing, we learn to do ill

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

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

15] He that would have the fruit, must climb the tree.

16] A word before is worth two behind

17] To take revenge is often to sacrifice oneself

18] Make yourself all honey and the flies will devour you

19] Kingdoms divided soon fall

20] Fair exchange is no robbery

21] Many drops make a shower

22] No one betrays himself by silence

23] Good wine needs no bush

24] Hazard not your wealth on a poor man’s advice

25] A good payer is master of another’s purse

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

27] The exception proves the rule

28] Friends agree best at a distance

29] Revenge is sweet

30] A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country and in his home

31] An account is an account, and a brother a brother.

32] Cut your coat according to your cloth

33] Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.

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

35] He that sleeps sound feels not the toothache

36] If Jack’s in love, he’s no judge of Jill’s beauty

37] The game is not worth the candle

38] A healthy man is a successful man

39] Children learn to creep ere they can go

40] Revenge never repairs an injury

41] Self-preservation is the first law of nature

42] We live by laws, not by examples

43] Why play the harp to a buffalo?

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

45] Money is power

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

47] Plain dealing is a jewel

48] The joy of the heart makes the face fair.

49] Success has many friends

50] No man is the worse for knowing the worst of himself

51] Money has no smell

52] Experience is a dear school, but fools learn in no other

53] No choice amongst stinking fish

54] Slow help is no help

55] He has not lost all who has one cast left

56] Dream of a funeral and you hear of a marriage

57] It is the bridle and spur that makes a good horse

58] When you do not know what to do – wait.

59] Give us the tools, and we will finish the job

60] A thief passes for a gentle man when stealing has made him rich

61] Confess and be hanged

62] Coming events cast their shadows before

63] Only a fool will make the doctor his heir

64] Envy never enriched any man.

65] It’s a long lane that has no turning

66] Charity covers a Multitude of sins

67] Where there is no trust there is no love

68] A good word for a bad one is worth much and costs little

69] One foot is better than two crutches

70] Procrastination is the thief of time

71] The absent party is always to blame.

72] Love sees no fault

73] Do leaves sprout on rootless trees?

74] He that stumbles twice over one stone, deserves to break his shin

75] The loftiest towers rise from the ground

76] He is lifeless that is faultless

77] Take things as you find them

78] An ounce of patience is worth a pound of brains

79] The proof of the pudding lies in the eating

80] Small gifts make friends, great ones make enemies

81] It is lawful to learn even from an enemy

82] Remove an old tree and it will wither to death

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

84] If you deal with a fox, think of his tricks

85] Habits are at first cobwebs, at last cables.

86] Enquire not what boils in another’s pot. ¶ Listeners seldom hear good of themselves

87] Some people will never learn anything because they understand everything too soon.

88] First impressions are half the battle

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

90] Honey is sweet, but the bee stings

91] White there’s life there’s hope

92] Cleanliness is next to godliness

93] He that obey cannot command

94] A soft answer turns away wrath

95] Exchange (or Fair exchange) is no robbery

96] The best things carried to excess are wrong

97] A crust is better than no bread.

98] Two things do prolong they life: a quiet heart and a loving wife

99] Care is no cure

100] Cowardice is afraid to be known or seen