Famous Proverbs

1] Valour delights in the test

2] The tongue is not steel, yet it cuts

3] The wolf knows what the ill beast thinks

4] Good riding at two anchors, men have told, for if one breaks the other may hold

5] He who considers too much will perform little.

6] What costs little is little esteemed

7] He that compiles against his will, is of his own opinion still

8] Poor folk fare the best

9] False friends are worse than bitter enemies.

10] What one loses (or you lose) on the swings, one makes up (or you gain) on the roundabouts

11] Variety is the spice of life

12] Better a lean peace than a fat victory

13] The kind-hearted person has a heavy load.

14] Why keep a dog and bark yourself?

15] Good horses always get ridden; good men get imposed upon.

16] Accusing the times is but excusing ourselves.

17] The delay is good which makes the way the safer

18] Homer sometimes nods

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

20] A man turned pig no longer fears filth

21] There is no garden without its weeds

22] He who has a mind to beat his dog will easily find a stick.

23] If God does not give us what we want, He gives us what we need

24] It never rains it pours

25] It is an ill dog that deserves not a crust

26] Gold goes in at any gate except heaven’s

27] When good cheer is lacking, our friends will be packing

28] If you run after two hares, you will catch neither

29] Conscience is a thousand witnesses

30] The best throw of the dice is to throw them away

31] Light grows the burden which is well borne

32] No man ever becomes thoroughly bad all at once

33] Out of sight, out of mind

34] Real friendship does not freeze in winter

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

36] Gifts blind the eyes.

37] Necessity breaks iron

38] A living dog is better than a dead lion

39] A new broom sweeps clean, but the old brush knows all the corners

40] Much learning makes men mad

41] Conscience does make cowards of us all

42] He that does most at once, does least

43] Never hit a man when he’s down

44] Years know more than books

45] The darkest hour is that before the dawn

46] Truth may walk through the world unarmed

47] Better at home than a mile from it

48] When wrath speaks, wisdom veils her face.

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

50] Everything new is fine

51] Even if you wash a crow with rose- water, its feathers won’t become white.

52] Wisdom is neither inheritance nor legacy

53] He who sows, trusts in God

54] Threatened folk live long

55] Necessity and opportunity may make a coward valiant

56] What can you expect from a pig (or hog) but a grunt?

57] Never too late to learn

58] Let not the sun do down on your wrath

59] Heaven takes care of children, sailor and drunken men

60] A fool and his money are soon parted

61] Nothing is so bad but might have been worse

62] Good advice (or counsel) is beyond price

63] Lovers’ quarrels are soon mended

64] He that keeps not crust not crumb, shall ever want some

65] When meat is in anger is out

66] Little pitchers have big (or long) ears

67] The result justifies the deed

68] The fairest silk is soonest stained

69] Punishment is a cripple, but it arrives

70] See how the wind blows

71] Eavesdroppers never hear any good of themselves

72] He who would catch fish must not mind getting wet.

73] Diligence is the mother of good fortune

74] From the sublime to the ridiculous is only a step

75] Where grooms and householders are all alike great, very disastrous will it be for the houses and all that dwell in them

76] From word to deed is a great space

77] Tender-handed stroke a nettle, and it stings you for your pain: grasp it like a man of mettle, and it soft as silk remains

78] Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny

79] Great talkers are never great doers

80] Footprints on the sands of time are not made by sitting down

81] We live by laws, not by examples

82] He who can wait obtains what he wishes.

83] Let every pedlar carry his own burden

84] The great fish eat up the small

85] Envy eats nothing but it own heart

86] Patience is the remedy of the world

87] The dog that fetches, will carry.

88] Cut your coat according to your cloth

89] Silence is also speech

90] The road to hell is paved with good action

91] Calamity is the touchstone of a brave mind

92] A man’s studies pass in to his character

93] One good turn deserves another

94] All things are possible with god

95] Do not kick against the pricks

96] Woods that grows warped can never be straightened

97] If you wish to die young, make your physician your heir

98] The result justifies the deed

99] God’ s mill grids slow but sure

100] A curse will not strike out an eye unless a fist goes with it