Famous Proverbs

1] The mean is the best

2] A discontented man knows not where to sit easy

3] The first day a guest, the second day a guest, the third day a calamity

4] It is an ill bargain where no man wins

5] Many hands make light work

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

7] A penny weight of love is worth a pound of law

8] The noblest vengeance is to forgive

9] He who envies admits his inferiority

10] All doors open to courtesy

11] All are not thieves that dogs bark at

12] It is a shame to be shameless

13] Better to wear out than rust out

14] Crime does not pay

15] He that loses anything and gets wisdom by it is a gainer by the loss

16] Honesty is ill to thrive by

17] It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good

18] Dead dogs bark not

19] Every man is the architect of his own fortune

20] The earthen pot must keep clear of the brass kettle

21] Tune the harp strings to be neither too loose nor too taut

22] What the eye doesn’t see, the heart grieves not

23] Respect is greater from a distance

24] Everything in moderation.

25] Extremity of right is wrong

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

27] All is vanity.

28] To know the husband, observe the face of the wife

29] When things are at the worst, they begin to mend

30] Wise men do not argue with idiots

31] No cross, no crown

32] One is not smelt where all stink

33] Jack would be a gentleman if he had money

34] The heart soon forgets what the eye sees not

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

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

37] Point not at other’s spots with a foul finger

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

39] Advice when most needed is least heeded

40] Every man has his faults

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

42] Example is better than precept

43] Delays are not denials

44] If you have no honey in your pot, have some in your mouth.

45] The tongue is more venomous than a serpent’s sting

46] Bad excuses are worse than none.

47] The Pen is mightier than the sword

48] A wise man will learn something even from the words of a fool

49] It is easy to find a stick to beat a dog

50] A soft answer turns away wrath

51] Findings are keepings

52] Long life has long misery

53] A fool’s bolt is soon shot

54] All’s fish that comes to the net

55] We don’t get something for nothing

56] Good broth may be made in an old pot

57] The mob tramples on the coward

58] Better an apple given than eaten

59] They that dance must pay the fiddler

60] The eye that sees all things else sees not itself

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

62] Misfortune does not always come to injure

63] A man of courage never wants weapons

64] Though it rains gold and silver there, it’s a foreign land; though it rains daggers and spears here, it’s our own country

65] Curiosity is ill manners in another’s house

66] Drops that gather one by one finally become a sea

67] The sign brings customers

68] It’s a silly fish that is caught twice with the same bait.

69] Bold men have generous hearts

70] Water is a boon in the desert, but the drowning man curses it.

71] Win a good reputation, and sleep at your ease

72] The longer you look at it, the less you will like it

73] Wash your dirty linen at home

74] The more you have the more you want

75] If wishes were horses, beggars would ride (or might ride)

76] Nothing succeeds like success

77] Thrift is a great revenue

78] Advise none to marry or to go to war

79] Promises may make friends, but it is performances that keep them

80] What is the mother of industry

81] He that is long a-giving knows not how to give

82] Work smart; don’t work hard

83] Every tub must stand on its own bottom

84] You cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs

85] A good anvil does not fear the hammer

86] It is more pain to do nothing than something

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

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

89] Better wear out shoes than sheers.

90] There are spots even in the sun

91] You can’t teach an old dog new tricks

92] Clean and whole makes poor clothes shine.

93] Comparisons make enemies of our friends.

94] Don’t try to run before you walk

95] Repentance comes too late

96] One man’s loss is another’s gain

97] Great fortune brings with it great misfortune

98] Spend not where you may save, spare not where you must spend

99] Courtesy (Or Civility, or Politeness) costs nothing

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