Famous Proverbs

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

2] Things past cannot be recalled

3] Four eyes see better than two.

4] He that is born a fool is never cured

5] More have repented speech than silence

6] He who is afraid of asking is ashamed of learning

7] It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest

8] A guilty conscience needs no accuser

9] Words fly, writings remain

10] The last straw breaks the camel’s back

11] Where bad’s the best, bad must be the choice

12] Better do a kindness near home than go to a temple far away to burn incense.

13] He stands not surely that never slips

14] What must be must be

15] Every one thinks his own sack heaviest

16] Everyone is a kin to the rich man

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

18] He who does not kill hogs, ill not get black puddings

19] You can’t clap with one hand

20] Novelty always appears handsome

21] A man’s in his own mouth stinks

22] He that tells a secret, is another’s servant.

23] Better be born lucky than wise.

24] When one door shuts, another opens

25] No honest man ever repented his honesty

26] No road is long with good company

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

28] A joke never gains over an enemy, but often loses a friend

29] Learn weeping and you shall gain laughing

30] The road to hell is paved with good action

31] No man is born wise or learned

32] If you want a thing well done, do it yourself

33] He that tells his wife news, is but newly wed

34] Though a lie be swift the truth overtakes it

35] Men make houses, women make homes

36] Facts are stubborn things

37] The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world

38] Law makers should not be law breakers

39] Ill comes often on the back worse

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

41] Wise men propose, and fools determine

42] Do not halloo till you are out of the wood

43] Despair gives courage to a coward

44] Beauty fades like a flower.

45] He is not fit to command others, that cannot command himself

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

47] Whether the pitcher strikes the stone, or the stone the pitcher, it is bad for the pitcher

48] Conscience is a thousand witnesses

49] More haste, less speed

50] Weeds need no sowing

51] Courtesy is the inseparable companion of virtue

52] Master easy, servant slack

53] No, thank you’ has lost you many a good butter-cake

54] Creditors have better memories than debtors

55] He is a good friend that speaks well of us behind our backs

56] Health is not value till sickness comes

57] In wine there is truth

58] When we sing, everybody hears us; when sigh, nobody hears us

59] A single arrow is easily broken, but not ten in a bundle.

60] A fool is ever dancing on the tip of his tongue

61] Laugh and grow fat

62] Nature is conquered by obeying her

63] A man must plough with such oxen as he has

64] Bear and forbear

65] Good advice (or counsel) is beyond price

66] No tie can oblige the perfidious

67] Many would be cowards, if they had courage enough

68] Full of courtesy, full of craft

69] It is easier to praise poverty than to bear it.

70] Better be first in a village than second at Rome

71] Hunger is the teacher of many

72] Never tell your enemy that your foot aches

73] Forgiveness is perfect when the sin is not remembered

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

75] Give him (or knaves) an inch and he (they) will take a yard (or mile)

76] Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!

77] The devil finds work for idle hands to do

78] Love is sweet torment

79] Do not triumph before the victory

80] Evil to him who evil thinks.

81] The hunchback does not see his own hump, but his companion’s

82] We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.

83] A house divided against itself cannot stand

84] You cannot catch old birds with chaff

85] Dry bread at home is better than roast meat abroad

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

87] Better to wear out than rust out

88] Burn not your house to rid it of the mouse.

89] Make haste slowly

90] So many countries, so many customs

91] Shame arises more from fear of men than of God

92] Calamity is the touchstone of a brave mind

93] She’s her father’s (or mother’s) daughter

94] Little and often fills the purse

95] The soldier who retreated fifty paces laughed at the one who had fallen back a hundred paces

96] Variety takes away satiety

97] Example is the greatest of all seducers

98] If you pile up enough sand, you can make a pagoda

99] When the ear will not listen, the heart escapes sorrow

100] Dreams go by contraries