Famous Proverbs

1] Good wine needs no bush

2] Man does what he can, and God what he will

3] Too many cooks spoil the broth

4] Do as say, not as I do

5] Grasp all, lose all

6] One of these days is none of these days

7] Silence never makes mistakes

8] Change of pasture makes fat calves

9] Water is the king of food

10] What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander

11] He that tells a secret, is another’s servant.

12] A man turned pig no longer fears filth

13] A bully never grows up.

14] Neither bribe, nor lose thy right

15] Sooner begun, sooner done

16] One thief will not rob another

17] Her that is down need fear no fall

18] A quarrelsome man has no good neighbours

19] The darkest place is under the candlestick

20] Tie a chicken with an elephant rope, and it will slip off; tie an elephant with a chicken-tether, and it will break away.

21] The envious grow thin at others’ prosperity

22] Mount Fuji itself is not So beautiful to one who is cold and hungry

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

24] Clean and whole makes poor clothes shine.

25] The best things in life are free

26] Jackdaw always perches by jackdaw.

27] The heart soon forgets what the eye sees not

28] A thousand cranes in the air are not worth one sparrow in the fist.

29] Don’t build the sty before the litter comes

30] A burnt child dreads the fire

31] Marriage makes or mars a man

32] Hasty climbers have sudden falls

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

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

35] You may force a man to shut his eyes but you can’t make him sleep

36] Books and friends should be few but good

37] When the weather is cold, there is not such thing as dirty clothing

38] You may know by a handful the whole sack

39] Let another’s shipwreck be you sea-mark.

40] Even the weariest river winds somewhere safe to sea

41] Who hath a good trade, through all waters may wade

42] Wink at small faults

43] Money is the sinew of affairs

44] The mill cannot grind with water that is past

45] No one is rich enough to do without his neighbours

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

47] A constant guest is never welcome

48] Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me

49] Good fences make good neighbours

50] Scatter with one hand, gather with two

51] Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow.

52] He who sits chatting about nothing loses his candle

53] Hard cases make bad law

54] It takes two to make a quarrel

55] Fool’s haste is no speed

56] Things are only worth one makes them worth

57] An honest good look covers many faults.

58] Seek and you shall find

59] If the fingers of one hand quarrel, they cannot pick up food

60] There is death in the pot.

61] The sign brings customers

62] Virtue has all things in itself

63] A good servant must have good wages

64] Example, is better than precept

65] He that has no rest at home is in the world’s hell

66] Wise is the man who never exposes himself to unnecessary danger

67] Those who are used to the signs of the dumb, understand them

68] Forewarned is forearmed

69] However much the arm may swing out, the armpit is where it sticks

70] It’s dogged that does it

71] What you don’t know can’t hurt you

72] God gives the grain, but we must make the furrow

73] All cats love fish but fear to wet their paws

74] Zeal without prudence is frenzy

75] There is no fool like an old fool

76] One is never too old to learn

77] If every man would sweep before his own door, the city would soon be clean

78] A good lather is half the shave

79] If you want a thing well done, do it yourself

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

81] He that would the daughter win, must with the mother first begin

82] Youth will have its course.

83] An ape’s an ape, a varlet’s a varlet, though they be clad in silk or scarlet

84] Better bend than break

85] Truth is god’s daughter

86] Files are easier caught with honey than with vinegar

87] Precepts may lead but examples draw

88] Crust is better than no bread

89] Fish and guests smell in three days

90] Fish begins to stink at the head

91] Better unborn than untaught

92] Death and life are in the power of the tongue

93] Idleness (or An idle brain) is the devil’s workshop

94] Art improves Nature

95] Come with the wind, got with the water

96] Dog does not eat dog

97] Love and business teach eloquence

98] To advise someone not to gamble is to win money for him

99] The dancing girl who could not dance, said that the hall was not big enough.

100] Petty laws breed great crimes