Famous Proverbs

1] Keep conscience clear, then never fear

2] Nothing venture (or ventured), nothing gain (or gained)

3] Keep some till further more come

4] An ill payer (or paymaster) never wants an excuse

5] Better never begin than never make an end

6] Petty laws breed great crimes

7] Wise men learn by other men’s harm, fools, by their own

8] Either mend or end

9] There’s no place like home

10] Catch your bear before you sell its skin

11] If one will not, another will

12] Appearances are deceptive

13] He that has a tongue in his head may find his way anywhere

14] Early sow, early mow

15] He freezes who does not burn

16] There’s small choice in rotten apples.

17] God is always on the side of the big battalions

18] Better be safe than sorry

19] All are not thieves that dogs bark at

20] He that follows Nature , is never out of his way

21] Great oaks from little acorns grow

22] The best go first

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

24] Better a lean peace than a fat victory

25] There are more ways of killing a cat than choking it with cream.

26] Misfortune tells us what fortune is

27] Don’t stitch your seam before you’ve tacked it.

28] Kingdoms divided soon fall

29] There is death in the pot.

30] It never rains it pours

31] Money isn’t everything

32] When two tigers fight, one is sure to be hurt

33] On an open plain, the rhododendron is a tall tree

34] As soon as man is born, he begins to die

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

36] If fools went not to market, bad wares would not be sold.

37] God arms the harmless

38] There is nothing lost by civility

39] No man is content with his lot

40] Hasty work, double work,

41] Example is better than precept

42] The great would have none great, and the little all little

43] God’s help is better than the early rising

44] First come, first served

45] An angry man opens his mouth and shuts his eyes.

46] Ugly women finely dressed, are the uglier for it.

47] No pain, no cure

48] It takes a wise man to be a fool

49] There is a time to speak and a time to be silent

50] Have two strings to your bow

51] Empty vessels make the most noise

52] Better late than never

53] Like mother, like daughter

54] You never know what you can do till you try

55] Like mistress, like maid

56] The apples on the other side of the wall are the sweetest

57] Patience under old injuries invites new ones

58] Do as most men do, then most men well speak well of you

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

60] Desperate diseases need (or must have) desperate cures

61] Poison is poison though it comes in a golden cup.

62] Forecast is better than work-hard

63] Every why has a wherefore

64] It is as well to know which way the wind blows

65] Better no doctor at all than three.

66] The ant had wings to her hurt

67] Custom takes the taste from the most savoury dishes

68] Jack would be a gentleman if he could speak French

69] Vast chasms can be filled, but the heart of man never

70] Let the buyer beware

71] Once you have been bitten by a snake, even a piece of cord will frighten you.

72] Extremes meet

73] Handsome is as handsome does

74] Worse things happen at sea

75] A good lawyer must be a great liar

76] Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches

77] Nothing is so popular as kindness.

78] Stolen sweets are sweeter

79] Virtue and happiness are mother and daughter

80] No honest man ever repented his honesty

81] The devil knows many things because he is old

82] Wisdom is neither inheritance nor legacy

83] All meat pleases not all mouths

84] Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

85] What children hear at home, soon files abroad

86] Business is business

87] Patch by patch is good housewifery, but patch upon patch is plain beggary

88] The more laws, the more offenders

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

90] Will iron become fine gold, however often refined?

91] Success has many friends

92] Dreams are lies

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

94] Pat any man and dust will fly

95] Don’t teach your grandmother how to suck eggs

96] A man apt to promise, is apt to forget

97] Great gain makes easy work

98] What’s done cannot be undone

99] Long looked for, comes at last

100] The falling drops hollow the stone