Famous Proverbs

1] The devil lurks behind the cross

2] A fault once denied is twice committed

3] Better are small fish than an empty dish

4] Like master, like man

5] The bait hides the hook

6] First impressions are the most lasting

7] No man is wise at all times

8] Though the food is plain, stomach may be filled; though the cloth is coarse, one may be clad to a ripe old age

9] Kindness to the good is better investment than kindness to the rich.

10] Every dog has his day

11] One drop of poison infects the whole tun of wine

12] One sword keeps another in the sheath

13] Envy never enriched any man.

14] A gift in hand is better than two promises.

15] Opportunity seldom knocks twice

16] Rich folk have many friends

17] Whatever man has done, man can do

18] There are spots even in the sun

19] Despair gives courage to a coward

20] Pardoning the bad is injuring the good

21] Exchange (or Fair exchange) is no robbery

22] Better a good cow than a cow of a good kind

23] Money talks

24] First things first

25] Children and chickens must be always picking

26] Silence is a woman’s best garment

27] He mediates revenge who least complains.

28] Dress up a stick and it does not appear to be a stick

29] Water far away will not extinguish a fire that is nearby; relatives far from you are not as good as neighbours close to you.

30] Do not wear out your welcome

31] Anger begins with folly and ends with repentance.

32] Money refused loses its brightness

33] It is profound ignorance that inspires the dogmatic tone

34] The goat must browse where she is tied

35] Let bygones be bygones

36] Eat to live and not live to eat.

37] Covetousness is the root of all evil

38] He who comes first, grinds first.

39] Hard cases make bad law

40] Young colts will canter.

41] Experience without learning is better than learning without experience

42] The day obliterates the promise of the might

43] When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then a gentleman?

44] Fortune knocks once at every man’s door

45] Nothing is given so freely as advice

46] What everybody says must be true

47] The lion had need of the mouse

48] A good beginning is half the battle.

49] A fox should not be of the jury at a goose’s trial

50] Ready money is ready medicine

51] Creditors have better memories than debtors

52] Never put off till tomorrow what may be done today

53] First creep, then walk

54] If you would know the value of a ducat, try to borrow one

55] Good hand, good hire

56] It is ill striving (or swimming) against the stream (or tide)

57] His bark is worse than his bite

58] Bad luck often brings good luck

59] Why play the harp to a buffalo?

60] Care killed the cat

61] The young will sow their wild oats

62] Who chatters to you, will chatter of you.

63] Love is a disease, and the loved on is the only medicine

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

65] Barking dogs seldom bite

66] All is vanity.

67] Solitude is the best nurse of wisdom

68] He who begins many things, finishes but few

69] All are not thieves that dogs bark at

70] Forewarned, forearmed; to be prepared is half the victory

71] A rich man’s joke is always funny

72] Bear and forbear

73] Goodness is better than beauty

74] Necessity knows no law

75] Misfortune makes foes of friends

76] If you walk in the sun, you will know the blessedness of being in the shade

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

78] A man’s in his own mouth stinks

79] Fortune does not stand waiting at any man’s door

80] A wicked man is his own hell

81] Nature is content with little.

82] The proof of the pudding lies in the eating

83] Every man is the architect of his own fortune

84] Comparisons make enemies of our friends.

85] Pinch the right thigh and the left will feel the pain too.

86] It is a good tongue that says no ill, and a better heart that thinks none

87] Drunkards and fools cannot lie.

88] A good lather is half the shave

89] Give and spend, and God will send

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

91] The weakest goes to the wall

92] Every flow must have its ebb

93] Money breeds (or makes, or begets) money

94] Idleness is the root of all evil

95] He that is in poverty is still in suspicion

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

97] Wife and Children are bills of charges

98] Who suffers much is silent

99] When the melon is ripe, it will drop by itself

100] Virtue is its own reward