Famous Proverbs

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

2] Borrowed garments never fit well

3] He that blows best, bears away the horn

4] If an ass goes a – traveling, he’ll not come home a horse

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

6] Fools rejoice at promises

7] The best things come in small packages

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

9] The good die young.

10] He that would have eggs must endure the cackling of hens

11] Love sees no fault

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

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

14] Precept begins, examples accomplish

15] Talk of an angel and you’ll hear the fluttering of his wings

16] A spear you can see can easily be avoided; a hidden arrows is difficult to guard against.

17] Rome was not (or cannot be) built in a day

18] The fairest silk is soonest stained

19] It is too late to lock the stable when the horse has been stolen

20] Little things please little minds

21] Can we ever too much of a good thing?

22] Fortune knocks once at everyone’s door (or gate)

23] He that is in poverty is still in suspicion

24] Even Buddha has a limit to what he can tolerate

25] It takes all sorts to make a world

26] Don’t quarrel with your bread and buffer

27] Only a fool will make the doctor his heir

28] The thing which is rare is dear

29] Work won’t kill but worry will.

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

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

32] At a good bargain thinks twice

33] Love is without reason

34] Good advice (or counsel) is beyond price

35] Cowards die many times before their deaths

36] The good die young.

37] An old ox will find a shelter for himself

38] Friendship cannot stand always on one side

39] Many would be cowards, if they had courage enough

40] One reason is as good as fifty

41] First creep, then walk

42] A man can die but once

43] Every man has his price

44] In a gambling house, there are no fathers and sons.

45] Anger without power is folly

46] Slow but sure wins the race

47] It’s hard to get one’s own sword back when it’s in someone else’s scabbard

48] Long absent, soon forgotten

49] Advise none to marry or to go to war

50] When the boat reaches the middle of the river, it is too late to repair the leak

51] Hasty work, double work,

52] Men make houses, women make homes

53] True gold is not transformed by fire

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

55] You can’t teach an old dog new tricks

56] Adversity makes strange bedfellows

57] Ill luck is good for something

58] Live and Learn

59] He is a gentleman that has gentle conditions

60] He who has seen little marvels much

61] Diamond cuts diamond

62] To forget a wrong is the best revenge

63] The bird is known by his note, the man by his words

64] Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof

65] Evil often triumphs but never conquers.

66] Much would have more

67] He that has a tongue in his head may find his way anywhere

68] He that sings on Friday, will weep on Sunday

69] One fool praises another

70] Where there is whispering there is lying

71] He that brings good news, knocks hard

72] The devil’s children have the devil’s luck

73] Nothing is so bad but might have been worse

74] You can’t take it with you when you die

75] The tongue is more venomous than a serpent’s sting

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

77] A hedge between keeps friendship green

78] What is the mother of industry

79] Better wear out shoes than sheers.

80] Business is business

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

82] You never know what you can do till you try

83] Saying is one thing, and doing another

84] Nothing befalls any man which he is not fitted to endure

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

86] Give a servant a rod, and he’ll beat his master

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

88] Men strain at gnats and swallow camels

89] Courtesy is the inseparable companion of virtue

90] The least boy always carries the greatest fiddle

91] No man can serve two masters

92] If you have no honey in your pot, have some in your mouth.

93] Marriage makes or mars a man

94] It is too late to grieve when the chance is past

95] Where the dam leaps over, the kid follows

96] Homer sometimes nods

97] Poor men seek meat for their stomach; rich men stomach for their meat.

98] The great fish eat up the small

99] Patience is a virtue

100] The tree that god plants, no wind hurts it