Famous Proverbs

1] If things were to be done twice, all would be wise.

2] He that dwells next door to a cripple, will learn to halt

3] Desires are nourished by delays

4] Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow.

5] Mercy to the criminal may be cruelty to the people

6] Accidents will happen in the best regulated families

7] An empty sack cannot stand upright

8] Lend never that thing you needed most

9] Where there is no might, right loses itself

10] Everybody’s business is nobody’s business

11] When angry, count a hundred

12] A crust is better than no bread.

13] There is none misfortune cannot reach

14] Every Jack must have his Jill

15] Ill news comes often on the back of worse

16] Truth has no need of rhetoric

17] Even though one’s aunt sells the cakes, one will not buy unless they are cheap.

18] God defend me from my friends; from enemies, I can defend myself.

19] Clean and whole makes poor clothes shine.

20] Three helping one another, bear the burthen of six

21] An hour in the morning is worth two in the evening

22] No playing with a straw before an old cat.

23] Out of sight, out of mind

24] Light burden I heavy if far borne

25] Least said, soonest mended

26] The strong man and the waterfall channel their own path

27] Change brings life

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

29] Good is good but better carries it

30] Seldom seen, soon forgotten

31] Work won’t kill but worry will.

32] All things that great men do are well done

33] Men are known by the company they keep.

34] A traveller may lie with authority

35] Facts are stubborn things

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

37] Slow help is no help

38] One may change the place but not the mind.

39] Many irons in the fire, some must cool

40] Health and money go far

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

42] Corruption of the best becomes the worst

43] The balance distinguishes not between gold and lead

44] By his deeds we know a man

45] Plain dealing is best

46] Local ginger is never as hot as imported ginger

47] A man without a wife is but half a man

48] Lightning never strikes twice in the same place

49] Knowledge humbles the great man, astonishes the common man and puffeth up the little man

50] Blood is thicker than water

51] Corruption of the best becomes the worst

52] Everyone is a kin to the rich man

53] He should have (or He needs) a long spoon who sups with the devil

54] The best things come in small packages

55] Neither a borrower nor a lender be.

56] Precepts may lead but examples draw

57] Venture a small fish to catch a big one

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

59] The remedy for injuries is not to remember them

60] He that has good money, gives few alms

61] True doctrines require no miracles

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

63] Golden lads and girls all must, as chimney-sweepers, come to dust

64] Empty vessels make the most noise

65] Pride is the mask of one’s own faults

66] A light purse makes a heavy heart

67] Better belly burst than good meat lost

68] The best things in life are free

69] There are as good fish in the sea as ever came out of it

70] Little pitchers have big (or long) ears

71] Walls have ears

72] The more you get, the more you want

73] Old cattle breed not

74] Beauty is potent but money is omnipotent

75] Good fences make good neighbours

76] What’s the good of thatching someone else’s roof?

77] A good conscience is a soft pillow

78] Mischief comes by the pound and goes away by the ounce

79] Do unto others as you would they should do unto you.

80] Virtue is praised by all, but practiced by few

81] A man’s wealth is his enemy

82] He that forecasts all perils will never sail the sea

83] He that borrows must pay again with shame or loss

84] Long tarrying takes all the thanks away

85] One hand washes the other

86] A wounded reputation is seldom cured

87] An obedient wife commands her husband

88] While there is life, there is hope

89] Nature hates all sudden changes

90] The unexpected always happens.

91] The crow laughs at the pig for being black

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

93] An old man’s sayings are seldom untrue

94] He that will steal a pin will steal a better thing

95] Saying is one thing, and doing another

96] The death of the wolves is the safety of the sheep

97] A man of gladness seldom falls into madness

98] A closed mouth catches no files

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

100] A man must plough with such oxen as he has