Famous Proverbs

1] Words bind men

2] They brag most who can do least

3] Corruption of the best becomes the worst

4] There’s always room at the top

5] Nothing is easy to the unwilling

6] Harsh words cut wounds that fester like cankerous sores

7] Love and business teach eloquence

8] One swallow does not make a summer

9] He who sows, trusts in God

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

11] Sailors get their money like horses, and spend it like asses

12] Zeal without prudence is frenzy

13] Don’t cry stinking fish

14] Much would have more

15] There is plenty of sound in an empty barrel

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

17] Well done is better than well said

18] Past experiences are the best guide for future undertakings

19] Necessity knows no law

20] Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth

21] In vain they rise early that used to rise late

22] It foolish sheep that makes the wolf his confessor

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

24] It is misery enough to have once been happy

25] True gold is not transformed by fire

26] Too much cunning undoes

27] No garden without its weeds.

28] All’s well that ends well

29] The early bird catches the worm

30] We live by laws, not by examples

31] When wine sinks, words swim

32] Children speak only words they have heard.

33] Don’t teach your grandmother to suck eggs.

34] Laws were made to be broke

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

36] A gentleman never remembers unkindness shown towards him

37] Where there is no trust there is no love

38] Mischief comes by the pound and goes away by the ounce

39] Don’t meet trouble half-way

40] A cat may look at a king

41] Pride goes before a fall

42] Help a lame dog over a stile

43] Knowledge is the mother of all virtue; all vice proceeds from ignorance

44] Give and take is fair play

45] Tomorrow never comes

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

47] If you want peace, prepare for war

48] It is best to be on the safe side

49] Four eyes see more than two

50] Fish begins to stink at the head

51] Respect is greater from a distance

52] Nature abhors a vacuum

53] The more you get, the more you want

54] Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face

55] Make the best of a bad bargain

56] Blue are the far away hills

57] Appearances are deceptive

58] None can guess the jewel by the casket

59] Give credit where credit is due

60] A good heart conquers ill fortune

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

62] Better a bare foot than none

63] It is good fishing in troubled waters

64] The devil’s children have the devil’s luck

65] Better a husband without love than a jealous husband

66] Had I fish’ was never good with garlic

67] Light grows the burden which is well borne

68] Even the tiger will appear if you talk about him

69] Words have wings, and cannot be recalled

70] Our own opinion is never wrong

71] No misfortune will go on forever

72] It is not easy to steal when the landlord is a thief

73] When things are at the worst, they begin to mend

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

75] A cat has nine lives

76] The thief doth fear each bush an offer

77] With seven nurses, the child loses its eye

78] Only with a new ruler do you realize the value of the old

79] Catch your bear before you sell its skin

80] It is the first step that is troublesome

81] Remember, you are but a man

82] Better a louse in the pot than no flesh at all

83] One is not smelt where all stink

84] Some people will never learn anything because they understand everything too soon.

85] He who says what he likes shall hear what he does not like

86] Discontent is the first step in progress

87] Nothing comes from nothing

88] Well begun is half done.

89] First impressions are most lasting

90] Give a lie a twenty-four-hour start, and you can never overtake it.

91] The end justifies the means

92] Little wealth, little care

93] Be just before you are generous

94] One sword keeps another in the sheath

95] There’s no great loss without some gain

96] Great hopes make great men

97] Much science, much sorrow

98] He that would the daughter win, must with the mother first begin

99] A prophet is without honour in his own country

100] The sun is never the worse for shining on a dunghill