Famous Proverbs

1] The more a man dreams, the less he believes

2] Burn not your house to fright the mouse away

3] No news is good news

4] Keep some till further more come

5] It is too late to husband when all is spent

6] Better ask the way than go astray

7] Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, and half shut afterwards

8] A strong town is not won in an hour

9] The worth of a thing is best known by the want of it

10] Precepts may lead but examples draw

11] Hoist your sail when the wind is fair

12] Let not thy tongue run away with thy brains

13] One pair of heels is often worth two pairs of hands

14] He that hath a wife and children hath given hostages to fortune

15] Greedy eaters dig their graves with their teeth.

16] What’s learnt in the cradle lasts till the tomb

17] If you do not enter a tiger’s den, you cannot get its cubs

18] Good to begin well, better to end well.

19] Hard words break no bones

20] Wine and wenches empty men’s purses

21] Marriage is a lottery

22] He who teaches learns

23] Corruption of the best becomes the worst

24] He that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow

25] Beggars must not be choosers

26] Out of the frying-pan into the fire

27] Time lost cannot be recalled

28] No remedy but patience

29] Ill news comes often on the back of worse

30] One hour today is worth two tomorrow

31] Every bean has its black

32] Diamond cuts diamond

33] There are more men threatened than stricken

34] An honest good look covers many faults.

35] A watched pot never boils

36] What is a workman without his tools?

37] Hunger is sharper than the sword

38] The bigger they are, the harder they fall

39] All must be as God will

40] Of thy sorrow be not too sad, of thy joy be not too glad

41] Coming events cast their shadows before

42] Don’t hide your light under a bushel

43] Excessive politeness is often a cloak for insincerity

44] Hunger drives the wolf out of the wood

45] Don’t cry before you are hurt

46] Work won’t kill but worry will.

47] A fault once denied is twice committed

48] If the lad goes to the well against his will, either the can will break or the water will spill

49] Naturally the same beans from the same bin.

50] You cannot make a crab walk straight

51] Saving one man’s life is better than building a seven- storied temple.

52] He that boasts of his own knowledge proclaims his ignorance

53] Six feet of earth make all men equal

54] Charity begins at home.

55] Where there is no trust there is no love

56] Ill luck is good for something

57] First come, first served

58] Good company on the road is the shortest cut

59] Every man is the architect of his own fortune

60] Enough is enough

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

62] It is as natural to die as to be born

63] Anger begins with folly and ends with repentance.

64] No feast lasts forever.

65] God arms the harmless

66] Three helping one another, bear the burthen of six

67] A kind heart loseth nought at last.

68] No garden without its weeds.

69] A knave and a fool never take thought

70] He that will not have peace, God gives him war

71] Gold is tried in the fire

72] Often and little eating makes a man fat

73] Numbers overcome the brave

74] It is no use crying over spilt milk

75] Little things are great to little men

76] With wealth, you are as grand as a dragon; without wealth you are as insignificant as a worm.

77] It is more blessed to give than to receive

78] Jesters do oft prove prophets

79] If one sheep leaps over the ditch (or dyke), all the rest will follow

80] Laugh and the world laughs with you; weep and you weep alone

81] Who greases his way travels easily

82] Words are but wind

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

84] The bull must be taken by the horns

85] Ill weeds grow apace (or fast)

86] Children speak only words they have heard.

87] Better die a beggar than live a beggar

88] Look at the bright side

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

90] Live and Learn

91] He that has an ill name is half hanged

92] There is no smoke without fire

93] A man in debt is caught in a net

94] No playing with a straw before an old cat.

95] How who makes no mistakes, makes nothing.

96] It is easy to be wise after the event

97] When the cat is away, the mice will play

98] The best is often the enemy of the good

99] God rejoices when one beggar scratches another

100] You cannot get ivory from a dog’s mouth