Famous Proverbs

1] With seven nurses, the child loses its eye

2] A man of courage never wants weapons

3] Hypocrisy is a homage that vice pay to virtue

4] Water is a boon in the desert, but the drowning man curses it.

5] Better at home than a mile from it

6] An honest good look covers many faults.

7] You cannot serve God and Mammon

8] Dogs bark as they are bred.

9] He that asks faintly begs a denial.

10] He that sleeps sound feels not the toothache

11] When a man is happy, he does not hear the clock strike

12] The word is far him who has patience

13] Lend only that which you can afford to lose

14] Don’t hide your light under a bushel

15] Even the lion must defend itself against flies

16] Give a loan and buy quarrel

17] The last suitor wins the maid

18] Never look a gift horse in the mouth.

19] If the wise erred not, it would go hard with fools.

20] In all the weeding cake, hope is the sweetest plum.

21] A good conscience is a constant feast

22] Don’t take a bull in to a china shop.

23] Sooner will men hold fore in the mouth than keep a secret

24] Light grows the burden which is well borne

25] Haste is of (or from) the devil

26] Beauty is potent but money is omnipotent

27] A hedge between keeps friendship green

28] There’s small choice in rotten apples.

29] The garment worn determines how one is served

30] The pitcher goes so often to me well that it is broken at last

31] Through indecision, opportunity is often lost.

32] Barking dogs seldom bite

33] Rats know the ways of rats

34] What’s learnt in the cradle lasts till the tomb

35] A single filament of silk does not make a thread; a single tree does not make a forest

36] If you wish good advice, consult an old man

37] Of the ten fingers, some are long and some are short.

38] Children and fools cannot lie.

39] He who cannot bear misfortune is truly unfortunate.

40] Wait’ is a hard word to the hungry.

41] After dinner sit a while, after supper walk a mile.

42] Well begun is half done.

43] Before you marry, be sure of a house wherein to tarry

44] The wisest of the wise may err.

45] As soon as there is life there is danger

46] A successful man is seldom at ease; a life of ease does not breed success

47] They are never alone that are accompanied with noble thoughts

48] Quarrels do not last long if the wrong is only on one side

49] Debt is an evil conscience

50] Better late than never, but better never late

51] Judge not of men and things at first sight

52] Nothing is so bad but might have been worse

53] Company in misery makes it light

54] Books and friends should be few but good

55] Speech is silver, silence is golden

56] A fool may give a wise man counsel

57] All work and no play makes jack a dull boy

58] No man better knows what good is than he who has endured evil

59] Cloudy mornings turn to clear afternoons

60] Come with the wind, got with the water

61] Success has many friends

62] Corn him well and he will work better

63] Had I fish’ was never good with garlic

64] Never was a cat or dog drowned, that could but see the shore

65] Valour would fight, but discretion would run away

66] He who can wait obtains what he wishes.

67] Precept begins, examples accomplish

68] The buyer needs a hundred eyes, the seller but one

69] Lend, and lose the loan or gain an enemy

70] It is ill striving against the stream

71] Half a loaf is better than do bread

72] Once a knave, always a knave

73] Never put off till tomorrow what may be done today

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

75] The dancing girl who could not dance, said that the hall was not big enough.

76] Hasty work, double work,

77] The peacock has fair features, but foul feet.

78] You never know your luck

79] Man does what he can, and God what he will

80] It the counsel be good, no matter who gave it.

81] To err is human; to forgive, divine

82] One can’t go to bed when a visit or stays late

83] Trouble brings experience and experience brings wisdom

84] As you plant wild grass, you won’t get a crop of rice.

85] Take heed is a fair thing

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

87] Let people laugh, as long as I am warm

88] An ill marriage is a spring of ill fortune

89] A man’s best fortune, or his worst, is a wife

90] Fortune knocks once at everyone’s door (or gate)

91] The young will sow their wild oats

92] A mouse may help a lion

93] The faulty stands on his guard

94] Do as say, not as I do

95] Misfortune tells us what fortune is

96] You cannot catch old birds with chaff

97] Sow thin and mow thin

98] A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country and in his home

99] Hunger is the teacher of many

100] A rolling stone gathers no moss