Famous Proverbs

1] If you have known one, you have known them all

2] He stands not surely that never slips

3] Better wear out shoes than sheers.

4] Fools rush in where angles fear to tread

5] Grasp all, lose all

6] When you know there are tigers on the hills, don’t go there

7] He wants both the flour and the cake that it makes

8] Don’t bite the hand that feeds you

9] The envious man shall never want woe

10] A lion may come to be beholden to a mouse

11] Rome was not (or cannot be) built in a day

12] Man cannot live by bread alone

13] Every man is the architect of his own fortune

14] Love turns pimples

15] Anger begins with folly and ends with repentance.

16] Good broth may be made in an old pot

17] The worth of a thing is what it will bring

18] A trouble shared is a trouble halved.

19] When fortune smiles, embrace her.

20] Don’t have too many irons in the fire

21] It is best to be on the safe side

22] He that asks faintly begs a denial.

23] Too many cooks spoil the broth

24] A man’s in his own mouth stinks

25] It is easier to capture a tiger in the hills than to ask for favours from a man

26] Forewarned, forearmed; to be prepared is half the victory

27] He who makes no mistakes makes nothing

28] The young will sow their wild oats

29] It is never too late to mend

30] The longest (or farthest) way round is the nearest (or shortest) way home.

31] The thing which is rare is dear

32] Too much curiosity lost paradise

33] Curiosity killed the cat.

34] One man’s loss is another’s gain

35] The unexpected always happens.

36] It needs more skill than I can tell to play the second fiddle well

37] Dead men tell no tales

38] Laugh and grow fat

39] Make haste slowly

40] Better unborn than untaught

41] Plain dealing is best. Plain dealing is a jewel

42] If you agree to carry the calf, they’ll make you carry the cow.

43] A dragon that is stranded in shallow water, becomes the butt of shrimps

44] Advice when most needed is least heeded

45] Anger without power is folly

46] God sends cold after Clothes

47] Reputation is often got without merit, and lost without crime

48] A tree often transplanted, bears not much fruit

49] Old habits die hard

50] One learns to know oneself best behind one’s back

51] The rotten apple injures its neighbours.

52] No man is wise at all times

53] The best things carried to excess are wrong

54] Desire beautifies what is ugly

55] Every man is the architect of his own fortune

56] Poor men go to heaven as soon as rich

57] All griefs with bread are less

58] They that value not praise, will never do anything worthy of praise

59] Dying is as natural as living

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

61] Either mend or end

62] Where god will help, nothing does harm

63] To teach is to learn twice over

64] In vain they rise early that used to rise late

65] He who peeps through a hole, may see what will vex him

66] You must grin and bear it

67] You can be head a man but you can’t shut his mouth

68] As you make your bed, you must lie on it

69] Small is beautiful

70] A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country and in his home

71] The leopard cannot change its spots

72] Wise men learn by other men’s harms (or mistakes), fools, by their own

73] He that praises himself, spatters himself

74] A whip for a fool, and a rod for a school, is always in good seasons

75] Full of courtesy, full of craft

76] Everything is of use to a housekeeper

77] The best of friends must part

78] The camel never sees its own hump, but that of its brother is always before its eyes

79] One is not smelt where all stink

80] He that has a good memory, gives few alms

81] Honour is the reward of virtue

82] He learned timely to beg that could not say ‘Nay’

83] Love is without reason

84] It is as hard to please a knave as knight

85] Great trees keep down the little ones

86] The gods send nuts to those who have no teeth

87] Love is blind

88] Better an apple given than eaten

89] Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown

90] Don’t pour out the dirty water before you have cleaned

91] A word before is worth two behind

92] Love knows hidden paths

93] The dog that fetches, will carry.

94] The weakest goes to the wall

95] Make hay while the sun shines

96] He should have a long spoon who sups with the devil.

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

98] If you gently touch a nettle, it’ll sting you for your pains; grasp it like a man of mettle, and it soft as silk remains.

99] There is honour among thieves

100] Only with a new ruler do you realize the value of the old