Famous Proverbs

1] As long lives a merry man as a sad

2] Many a true word is spoken in jest

3] The lone sheep is in danger of the wolf

4] Dogs that bark at a distance bite not at hand

5] The bee sucks honey out of the bitterest flowers

6] Wrong has no warrant

7] Better be the head of a dog than the tail of a lion

8] Wait’ is a hard word to the hungry.

9] The purse of the patient protracts the disease

10] Exchange (or Fair exchange) is no robbery

11] Harp not for ever on the same string

12] He who does not rise early never does a good day’s work

13] He knows most who speaks least

14] The absent party is always to blame.

15] A quarrelsome man has no good neighbours

16] Money is the root of all evil

17] Anything will fit a naked man.

18] He that will steal an egg, will steal an ox

19] There is no place like home

20] Art improves Nature

21] The golden age was never the present age

22] Every cock crows on his own dunghill

23] Don’t swap horses while crossing a stream

24] Every medal has two sides

25] There is nothing lost by civility

26] Think on the end before you begin

27] A useful trade is a mine of gold

28] Praises fill not the belly

29] Life means strife

30] Everything tempts the man who fears temptation. If you can’t be good, be careful.

31] Death devours lambs as well as sheep

32] A thief passes for a gentle man when stealing has made him rich

33] Out of the frying-pan into the fire

34] Like breeds like

35] All’s fish that comes to the net

36] Clothes do not make the man

37] Neglect will kill an injury sooner than revenge

38] A growing youth has a wolf in his belly

39] A word is enough to the wise

40] Ill news comes unsent for.

41] Good company on the road is the shortest cut

42] Call a spade a spade

43] An ill wound is cured, not an ill name

44] Curiosity is ill manners in another’s house

45] Hope is but the dream of those that wake

46] There is nothing like being on the safe side

47] The pot calls the kettle black

48] Those who live near water know the nature of fish; those who live near hills know the calls of birds

49] Hope is but the dream of those that wake

50] It is the beautiful bird which gets caged

51] Fine words dress ill deeds

52] He who hesitates is lost

53] Blood will have blood

54] Big words seldom go with good deeds

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

56] A gift much expected is paid, not given

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

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

59] A liar is not believed when he speaks the truth

60] The cow knows not what her tail is worth till she has lost it

61] Clean and whole makes poor clothes shine.

62] He that has a full purse never wanted a friend

63] Saying is one thing, and doing another

64] He that has a wife, has strife

65] A creaking gate (or door) hangs long

66] He is not laughed at the laughs at himself first

67] A secret fire is discovered by the smoke

68] He mediates revenge who least complains.

69] Don’t judge any man until you have walked two moons in his moccasins.

70] Failure teaches success

71] Giving much to the poor, doth enrich a man’s store.

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

73] An honorable man would rather be a chicken’s beak than the rump of an ox.

74] The cobbler should stick to his last

75] Petty laws breed great crimes

76] Forgive and forget

77] Don’t make a mountain out of molehill

78] He who seizes the right moment is the right man

79] Necessity knows no law

80] Make hay while the sun shines

81] A good husband makes a good wife

82] Appetite comes with eating

83] Friends are thieves of time

84] Old habits die hard

85] One sword keeps another in the sheath

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

87] No pot so ugly as not to find a cover

88] One volunteer is worth two pressed men

89] First thrive then wive

90] The blind man is not afraid of ghosts

91] Sometimes the best gain is to lose

92] Cease to hope and you will cease to fear.

93] A good wife makes a good husband

94] Worry is the interest we pay on trouble before it is due

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

96] All cats are grey in the dark

97] Dirty linen should be washed at home

98] He that talks much, errs much

99] He that has no money needs no purse

100] Time flees without a delay