Famous Proverbs

1] Mount Fuji itself is not So beautiful to one who is cold and hungry

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

3] Thatch your roof before the rain begins

4] A watched pot never boils

5] Dying is as natural as living

6] Take things as you find them

7] Where there’s muck, there’s money

8] If your can’t help friend with money, help him at least with a sigh

9] Dirty linen should be washed at home

10] Have patience with a friend rather than lost him forever.

11] A good beginning makes a good ending.

12] Keep your mouth shut and your ears open

13] Bold men have generous hearts

14] There is a great difference between words and deeds

15] Honey is sweet, but the bee stings

16] Better children weep than old men

17] He is a fool that makes a hammer of his fist

18] They say so’ is half a lie

19] The great would have none great, and the little all little

20] A closed mouth catches no files

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

22] One volunteer is worth two pressed men

23] Mercy to the criminal may be cruelty to the people

24] New brooms sweep clean

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

26] Be careful to whom you give

27] Half an egg is better than empty shell

28] He that borrows must pay again with shame or loss

29] It costs more to do ill than to do well

30] A fool may give a wise counsel. A fool’s bolt may sometimes hit the mark.

31] He who can does. He who cannot teaches

32] If wishes were horses, beggars would ride (or might ride)

33] It is too late to husband when all is spent

34] Catch your bear before you sell its skin

35] Those who are used to the signs of the dumb, understand them

36] A jug that has been mended lasts two hundred years

37] Never try to prove what nobody doubts

38] Of thy sorrow be not too sad, of thy joy be not too glad

39] As soon as man is born, he begins to die

40] Penny and penny laid up will be many

41] He that has nothing need fear to lose nothing

42] The pot calls the kettle black

43] The course of true love never did run smooth

44] He that serves every body is paid by nobody

45] An honest good look covers many faults.

46] He that falls today may rise tomorrow

47] That which Nature paints never fades

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

49] Give us the tools, and we will finish the job

50] Full of courtesy, full of craft

51] Desert and reward seldom keep company

52] If one sheep leaps o’er the dyke, all the rest will follow

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

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

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

56] You cannot put an old head on young shoulders.

57] Good fences make good neighbours

58] Even the grubs in the rocks manage to survive

59] A good conscience is a soft pillow

60] Soon hot, soon cold

61] By doing nothing, we learn to do ill

62] He that loveth danger shall perish therein

63] Fear of death is worse than death itself

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

65] Divine grace was never slow

66] Words bind men

67] A pound of care will not pay an ounce of debt.

68] It is more blessed to give than to receive

69] When we have gold, we are in fear; when we have none we are in danger

70] Don’t wash your dirty linen in public

71] Poverty is not a crime

72] After the extreme of cold comes spring

73] He that serves well need not be afraid to ask his wages

74] What is worth doing is worth doing well

75] The cowl does not make the monk.

76] Mirth is the sugar of life

77] Everything must have a beginning

78] The poorer one is, the more devils one meets

79] He freezes who does not burn

80] A spear you can see can easily be avoided; a hidden arrows is difficult to guard against.

81] Kill two birds with one stone

82] A house divided against itself cannot stand

83] Do not triumph before the victory

84] The flesh is aye fairest that is farthest from the bone

85] Content lodges oftener in cottages than palaces

86] A horse that will not carry a saddle must have no oats.

87] Love is never without jealousy

88] We can live without our friends, but not without our neighbours

89] It is easy to get a thousand prescriptions but hard to find a cure.

90] Rats desert (or forsake) a sinking ship

91] He who teaches learns

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

93] Light grows the burden which is well borne

94] Sorrow will pay no debt

95] Wherever an ass falls, there will he never fall again

96] When bitterness reaches its extreme, sweetness will follow

97] Envy eats nothing but it own heart

98] A great calligrapher isn’t choosy about his brushes.

99] Every dog is a lion at home

100] A hungry man is angry man