Famous Proverbs

1] Naughty boys sometimes make good men.

2] Friendship should not be all on one side

3] Example, is better than precept

4] Forecast is better than work-hard

5] He that once deceives, is ever suspected

6] Ambition makes people diligent

7] One can’t help many, but many can help one

8] Mirth without measure is madness

9] He is lifeless that is faultless

10] Every medal has its reverse

11] All meat No dish pleases all palates alike pleases not all mouths

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

13] Red ink gives what it touches a pink glow; black ink gives what it touches a dirty stain.

14] A thousand cranes in the air are not worth one sparrow in the fist.

15] Gold will not buy everything

16] Once bitten, twice shy.

17] Facts are stubborn things

18] Even the grubs in the rocks manage to survive

19] Money gives a bold front: it doesn’t talk – it screams

20] Good riding at two anchors, men have told, for if one breaks the other may hold

21] Share and share alike

22] There is a black sheep in every flock

23] What costs little is little esteemed

24] Trust not the many-minded populace

25] You cannot skimp on the fodder and have an energetic horse.

26] A dragon that is stranded in shallow water, becomes the butt of shrimps

27] Keep not ill men company, lest you increase the number

28] Little things are pretty

29] It is easier to raise the devil than to lay him

30] Where grooms and householders are all alike great, very disastrous will it be for the houses and all that dwell in them

31] Every family has a skeleton in the cupboard

32] Where there’s muck, there’s money

33] None can guess the jewel by the casket

34] He who has seen little marvels much

35] We shall beat our swords into ploughshares

36] Trust not the many-minded populace

37] Had I fish’ was never good with garlic

38] A mill cannot grind with water that is past

39] The highest branch is not the safest roost

40] Why play music for a deal man or dance for a blind man?

41] The young will sow their wild oats

42] A merchant that gains not, loses

43] In the land of hope there is never any winter

44] Nothing is more contagious than a bad example

45] The money you refuse will never do you good

46] First things first

47] The greatest talkers are the least doers

48] What is brought by the wind will be carried away by the wind

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

50] All things that great men do are well done

51] Love your neighbour, yet pull not down your hedge

52] Better the foot slip than the tongue

53] In a church, in an inn, and in a coffin, all men are equal

54] He who touches pitch will be defiled

55] The hen that lays the eggs knows the pain

56] A willful man will have his way

57] Everything is good in its season

58] Soft fire makes sweet malt

59] An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

60] Haste is of (or from) the devil

61] Early sow, early mow

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

63] Care brings grey hair.

64] Extreme justice is extreme injustice.

65] No man so good but another may be as good as he

66] Of two evils choose the lesser

67] Empty vessels make the most noise

68] Clean and whole makes poor clothes shine.

69] The owl thinks her own young fairest

70] Rome was not built in a day

71] Necessity breaks iron

72] Slender cannot make a good man bad; when the water recedes, the stone is still there.

73] To know the husband, observe the face of the wife

74] Who repairs not his gutter, repairs his whole house

75] Example is better than precept

76] Dirty linen should be washed at home

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

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

79] Hungry dogs will eat dirty puddings

80] Good advice is often annoying, bad advice never.

81] Sour, sweet, bitter and pungent flavours must all be tasted

82] Take things as they come

83] Hope often deludes the foolish man

84] A useful trade is a mine of gold

85] He is rich that has few wants

86] A true friend is forever a friend

87] The coward threatens only when he is safe

88] Pleasant hours fly past

89] There is plenty of sound in an empty barrel

90] There’s no such thing as free as a free lunch

91] Will without reason is blind, and against reason, is mad

92] He knows the water best who has waded through it

93] Sickness shows us what we are

94] Far from eye, far from heart

95] A good conscience is a sure card

96] Beauty is but skin-deep

97] Good ware makes quick market

98] When you are an anvil, hold still; when you are an anvil, hold still; when you are a hammer, strike your fill.

99] Calamity is the touchstone of a brave mind

100] You cannot catch old birds with chaff