Famous Proverbs

1] An old cart well used may outlast a new one abused

2] Procrastination is the thief of time

3] Look before you leap

4] Do not cut down the tree that gives you shade

5] Who is worse shod than the shoemaker’s wife?

6] Light grows the burden which is well borne

7] You cannot catch old birds with chaff

8] Some are wise and some are otherwise

9] Moderation in all things

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

11] It is a shame to be shameless

12] Great oaks from little acorns grow

13] They brag most who can do least

14] A straight stick is crooked in water

15] History repeats itself

16] The king can make a knight, but not a gentleman

17] Dry bread at home is better than roast meat abroad

18] It is a good horse that never stumbles, and a good wife that never grumbles

19] Many a little makes a mickle

20] The difficult is done at once; the impossible takes a little longer

21] Weapons breed peace

22] Joy and sorrow are next door neighbours.

23] The fairest silk is soonest stained

24] We live laws, not by examples

25] Beware of no man more than himself

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

27] No misfortune will go on forever

28] If you would wed fitly, wed in your station

29] It is a great victory that comes without blood

30] Every one thinks his own cross is heaviest

31] Adversity makes strange bedfellows

32] Words bind men

33] All things are difficult before they are easy

34] Burn not your house to rid it of the mouse.

35] He is an ill husband who is not missed

36] Dying men speak true

37] When a friend asks, there is not tomorrow

38] Diseases are the price of ill pleasures

39] Of one ill come many

40] It is a hard-fought field where no man escapes unkilled

41] Say as men say, but think to yourself.

42] The voice is the best music

43] Jack is as good as his master

44] He that is afraid of bad luck will never know good.

45] Love is blind

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

47] What is not even scabies, he makes out to be an ulcer

48] Better a husband without love than a jealous husband

49] He is not fit to command others, that cannot command himself

50] He knows the water best who has waded through it

51] A bad workman quarrels with his tools.

52] From a foolish judge, a quick sentence

53] If you do not enter a tiger’s den, you cannot get its cubs

54] Wrong has no warrant

55] Beauty is only skin deep

56] Silence is a woman’s best garment

57] A pound of care will not pay an ounce of debt.

58] Don’t cry stinking fish

59] No day so clear but has dark clouds

60] In the land of hope there is never any winter

61] Misery acquaints men with strange bedfellows

62] Crust is better than no bread

63] Actions speak louder than words

64] Keep conscience clear, then never fear

65] One reason is as good as fifty

66] A wicked man is his own hell

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

68] Adam’s ale is the best brew

69] Luck for fools and chance for the ugly

70] A little help is worth a deal of pity

71] There’s small choice in rotten apples.

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

73] Honesty is ill to thrive by

74] Laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him

75] It is easier to get a favour from fortune than to keep it

76] Give a fool (or a thief) enough rope and he will hang himself

77] At a good bargain thinks twice

78] The garment worn determines how one is served

79] He that shows his purse, longs to be rid of it

80] Call no man happy till he is dead

81] A scalded cat fears hot water.

82] Evil to him who evil thinks.

83] What is shown by example, men think they may justly do

84] After dinner sit a while, after supper walk a mile.

85] Two wrongs do not make a right

86] Manners make the man

87] Every path has a puddle

88] Mettle is dangerous in a blind horse

89] He that hath a full purse never wanted (or lacked) a friend

90] There are two sides to every question

91] Destroy the lion while he is yet but a whelp

92] An obedient wife commands her husband

93] It is good to follow the old fox

94] Poor men go to heaven as soon as rich

95] Give him an inch and he’ll take a yard

96] He that falls today may rise tomorrow

97] Good counsel never comes amiss

98] Every commodity has its discommodity

99] Honesty is the best policy

100] Time lost cannot be recalled