Famous Proverbs

1] It’s a silly fish that is caught twice with the same bait.

2] Diligence is the mother of good fortune

3] Men are blind in their own cause

4] Because he would not eat it, the food got maggoty

5] If there is no wind, the trees will not move

6] Ask a silly question and you’ll get a silly answer.

7] What’s yours is mine and what’s mine is my own

8] Better an apple given than eaten

9] Ill – gotten goods never prosper

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

11] He that is afraid of bad luck will never know good.

12] Dogs that bark at a distance bite not at hand

13] Flesh is frail

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

15] A fool believes everything

16] Distance lends enchantment to the view

17] Fortune knocks once at every man’s door

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

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

20] There is nothing permanent except change

21] Vice makes virtue shine

22] Like will to like

23] Make not your sauce, before you have caught the fish.

24] We have all been once in our life

25] Now is now, and then was then

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

27] Nothing is easy to the unwilling

28] A secret fire is discovered by the smoke

29] Words bind men

30] It is easy to do what one’s own self wills

31] He who last, laughs longest.

32] Better be a fool than a knave

33] Clothes do not make the man

34] He conquers who endures

35] A bad workman always blames his tools

36] Might overcome right.

37] High places have their precipices

38] Flesh is frail

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

40] The death of the wolves is the safety of the sheep

41] Local ginger is never as hot as imported ginger

42] Gold will not buy everything

43] When the horse has reached the brink of the precipice, it is too late to pull the reins.

44] Some are wise and some are otherwise

45] Don’t bargain for fish which are still in the water

46] Better never begin than never make an end

47] Calamity is man’s true touchstone

48] Fortune favours fools

49] Waste not, want not

50] No sweet without sweat

51] There is plenty of sound in an empty barrel

52] The bee sucks honey out of the bitterest flowers

53] A man’s wealth is his enemy

54] A man can do no more than he can

55] Use the means, and God will give the blessings

56] First creep, then walk

57] He who gives fair words feds you with and empty spoon

58] One cannot put back the clock

59] Better to ask the way than go astray.

60] Death alone can kill hope

61] Never look a gift horse in the mouth.

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

63] Be not too bold with your biggers or betters

64] What costs little is little esteemed

65] Care brings grey hair.

66] Let us do evil that good may come

67] Everyone to his taste

68] The fairest silk is soonest stained

69] Boys will be boys

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

71] Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.

72] Still waters run deep

73] Self do, self have

74] It is a sorry flock where the ewe bears the bell

75] He that once deceives, is ever suspected

76] Think on the end before you begin

77] What will not money do?

78] New lords, new laws

79] There is honour among thieves

80] Choose your neighbour before your house and your companion before the road.

81] If one will not, another will

82] The beaten road is the safest

83] It is a good tongue that says no ill, and a better heart that thinks none

84] Words are but wind

85] A good beginning is half the battle.

86] A child can have too much of his mother’s blessings

87] We have all been once in our life

88] Little fishes slip through nets, but great fishes are taken

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

90] Dog does not eat dog

91] Wine does not intoxicate men; men intoxicate themselves

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

93] No news is good news

94] Pardon makes offenders

95] If there were no receivers, there would be no thieves

96] Light grows the burden which is well borne

97] You cannot serve God and Mammon

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

99] It is too late to lock the stable when the horse has been stolen

100] What children hear at home, soon files abroad