Famous Proverbs

1] Where there is peace, God is

2] When it pleases not God, the saint can do little

3] He that dare not venture must not complain of ill luck

4] Necessity is mother of invention

5] Good clothes open all doors

6] A good name is sooner lost than won

7] III counsel mars all

8] Men are known by the company they keep.

9] Small is beautiful

10] One swallow does not make a summer

11] Eat an apple going to bed, make the doctor beg his bread.

12] Good goods are not cheap; cheap goods are not good

13] Nothing so bad as not to be good for something

14] The day obliterates the promise of the might

15] Step by step the ladder is ascended

16] Friends agree best at a distance

17] The end makes all equal

18] The bread never falls but on its buttered side

19] Who is worse shod than the shoemaker’s wife?

20] What is told in the ear of a man is often heard a hundred miles away

21] Better sit still than rise and fall

22] Every horse thinks its own pack heaviest

23] Hungry dogs will eat dirty puddings

24] Look after your money and don’t make your neighbour a thief

25] He who aims at the moon may hit the top of a tree; he who aims at the top of a tree is unlikely to get off the ground

26] Laws were made to be broke

27] He who would climb the ladder must begin at the bottom

28] Don’t cast your pearls before swine

29] A gentleman never remembers unkindness shown towards him

30] Work smart; don’t work hard

31] Naughty boys sometimes make good men.

32] Gnaw the bone which is fallen to thy lot

33] Take things as you find them

34] Corruption of the best becomes the worst

35] Never do evil that good may come of it

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

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

38] He who has seen little marvels much

39] Every advantage has its disadvantage

40] The early man ever borrows from the late man

41] Too much cunning undoes

42] Call no man happy till he is dead

43] Make haste slowly

44] When luck comes, who doesn’t; when luck doesn’t come, who does?

45] Live and Learn

46] Covetousness is always filling a bottomless vessel

47] Two things do prolong they life: a quiet heart and a loving wife

48] A soft answer turns away wrath

49] He that never ate flesh, thinks a pudding is a dainty

50] One beats the bush, and another catches the birds

51] Old habits die hard

52] There’s a time and place for everything

53] No one betrays himself by silence

54] Fear the Greeks (or Beware of Greeks) bearing gifts

55] First thrive then wive

56] Pride dines on vanity, sups on contempt

57] A good drink makes the old young

58] He daren’t say ‘boo’ to a goose

59] A man whose conscience is clear, of a knock at midnight has no fear

60] Numbers overcome the brave

61] Words have wings, and cannot be recalled

62] Law makers should not be law breakers

63] It is hard to sail over the sea in an egg-shell

64] Every medal has its reverse

65] Where there are reeds, there is water

66] Extremes meet

67] Work won’t kill but worry will.

68] Nothing crave, nothing have

69] One hand washes the other

70] High places have their precipices

71] Save a thief from the gallows and he’ll cut your throat

72] The eye that sees all things else sees not itself

73] Enough is enough

74] Pardoning the bad is injuring the good

75] Plain dealing is a jewel, but they that use it die beggars

76] Send a donkey to Paris, he’ll return no wiser than he went

77] The most high Good sees and bears; me neighbour knows, nothing, and yet is always finding fault.

78] Envy eats nothing but it own heart

79] He that has a full purse never wanted a friend

80] When the dog catches mice, it is meddling in the cat’s business.

81] If you cannot bite never show your teeth

82] Never buy a pig in a poke

83] He that comes first to the hill, may sit where he will.

84] Misery acquaints men with strange bedfellows

85] The devil dances in an empty pocket

86] Confess and be hanged

87] He that will thrive, must rise at five; he that has thriven, may lie till seven; but he that will never thrive may lie till eleven

88] Good fences make good neighbours

89] What soberness conceals, drunkenness reveals

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

91] Change brings life

92] He gives twice who gives quickly

93] Cheap is dear in the long run.

94] A man of many trades, begs his bread on Sunday

95] How forceful are right words

96] The best of friends must part

97] Don’t hallo (or shout, or whistle) until you are out of the wood

98] Many kiss the hand they wish to cut off

99] Good is good but better carries it

100] Nothing ventured, nothing gained