Famous Proverbs

1] What is worse than ill luck?

2] Children and fools cannot lie.

3] The cobbler’s children are always the worst shod

4] He who waits for another man’s platter has a cold meal

5] We are all Adam’s children

6] Like will to like

7] Bad luck often brings good luck

8] One drop of poison infects the whole tun of wine

9] Every man praises his own wares

10] He who envies admits his inferiority

11] Muck and money go together

12] It is too late to call back yesterday

13] He who handles a nettle tenderly is soonest stung

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

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

16] The worth of a thing is best known by the want of it

17] Sooner begun, sooner done

18] If you pay not a servant his wages, he will pay himself

19] What is a workman without his tools?

20] You are never too old to learn

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

22] Young colts will canter.

23] Harsh words cut wounds that fester like cankerous sores

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

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

26] The first step is the hardest

27] You cannot teach an old dog new tricks

28] Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

29] Blood cannot be washed out with blood

30] Faint heart never won fair lady

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

32] Trouble brings experience and experience brings wisdom

33] Judge not the tree by its bark

34] Live and Learn

35] He that mischief hatches mischief catches.

36] Avoid a questioner, for he is also a tattler

37] Old vessels must leak

38] That fish will soon be caught that nibbles at every bait

39] Hunger finds no fault with the cookery

40] Good broth may be made in an old pot

41] You cannot sell the cow and sup (or drink) the milk

42] The thief doth fear each bush an offer

43] He has to do what is foul, never comes away clean

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

45] A contented mind is a perpetual feast

46] Drops that gather one by one finally become a sea

47] The quarrel of lovers is the renewal of love

48] Rome was not (or cannot be) built in a day

49] Many dishes make many diseases

50] One good turn deserves another

51] You cannot catch old birds with chaff

52] Bind the sack before it be full

53] He who can wait obtains what he wishes.

54] The resolved mind has no cares

55] Affection blinds reason

56] He who does not heed the good advice of an experienced person will soon find himself suffering for his stubbornness.

57] Fair play’s a jewel

58] Submitting to one wrong brings on another.

59] Have but few friends, though many acquaintances

60] Books and friends should be few but good

61] It is better to have done something great than to have never been successful

62] First things first

63] Don’t try to run before you walk

64] Wine does not intoxicate men; men intoxicate themselves

65] Far fowls have fair feather

66] God’s lambs will play.

67] The reason of the strongest is always the best.

68] The longest night will have an end

69] Choose thy company before thy drink

70] Excessive politeness is often a cloak for insincerity

71] Never grieve for what you cannot help

72] The game is not worth the candle

73] While the word is in your mouth, it is your own; when ‘tis another’s

74] Death and life are in the power of the tongue

75] There is nothing lost by civility

76] If you would be well served, serve yourself

77] Rule youth well and age will rule itself

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

79] Tomorrow is another day

80] Sorrow will pay no debt

81] Pinch the right thigh and the left will feel the pain too.

82] Great alms-giving lessens no man’s living

83] A clear conscience fears not false accusations

84] Kindle not a fire that you cannot extinguish

85] Beware of him who makes thee presents

86] Better be safe than sorry

87] The last suitor wins the maid

88] We live laws, not by examples

89] You cannot serve God and Mammon

90] Laugh and grow fat

91] Tie a chicken with an elephant rope, and it will slip off; tie an elephant with a chicken-tether, and it will break away.

92] The longest journey starts with a single step

93] When in Rome, do as the Romans do

94] Don’t change horses in mid-stream

95] Ill gotten, ill spent

96] Expectation is better than realisation

97] Pleasure is due only when all duty’s done.

98] A cat may look at a king

99] The slowest barker is the surest biter

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