Famous Proverbs

1] An angry man opens his mouth and shuts his eyes.

2] Where ignorance is bliss, ‘tis folly to be wise

3] The more a man dreams, the less he believes

4] All men are mortal

5] Old foxes want no tutors

6] A man can do no more than he can

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

8] He that will steal an egg, will steal an ox

9] Love cannot be compelled

10] Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know

11] Fool’s haste is no speed

12] Laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him

13] Without diligence, no prize

14] A watched pot never boils

15] Eggs and oaths are easily broken

16] He that burns most, shines most

17] Crowns have cares

18] He who begins many things, finishes but few

19] It takes a wise man to be a fool

20] As soon as there is life there is danger

21] It is a poor kin that has neither whore nor thief in it

22] Poverty does not hurt him who has not been rich before

23] A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

24] Everyone puts his fault on the times.

25] Much science, much sorrow

26] All’s grist that comes to the mill.

27] Hope for the best and prepare for the worst

28] A clear conscience fears not false accusations

29] The time to come is no more ours than the time past

30] Submitting to one wrong brings on another.

31] It is ill striving (or swimming) against the stream (or tide)

32] Great oaks from little acorns grow

33] Pat any man and dust will fly

34] A fool always rushes to the fore.

35] If one sheep leaps over the ditch (or dyke), all the rest will follow

36] Learning is the eye of the mind

37] Afflictions are sent to us by God for our good

38] Wash your dirty linen at home

39] Rats desert (or forsake) a sinking ship

40] Keep something for a rainy day

41] Now is now, and then was then

42] Vice makes virtue shine

43] When misfortune sleeps, let no one wake her

44] The devil knows many things because he is old

45] You eat, I dreams, the custard of the day

46] He that is afraid of bad luck will never know good.

47] A man may lose more in an hour than he can get in seven

48] Lend never that thing you needed most

49] What is money to a cat?

50] He who would climb the ladder must begin at the bottom

51] The best wine comes from an old vessel

52] Poor men seek meat for their stomach; rich men stomach for their meat.

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

54] Share and share alike

55] Even the compelling beauty of the Diamond Mountain cannot be appreciated when the stomach is empty

56] Don’t bite the hand that feeds you

57] Truth is god’s daughter

58] No one ought to judge in his own cause

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

60] Save a thief from the gallows and he’ll cut your throat

61] Poverty is not a crime

62] The devil finds work for idle hands to do

63] Wives must be had, be they good or bad

64] When a fool is sent to market, the storekeepers rejoice

65] Cowards die often. He that fears death lives not

66] An honorable man would rather be a chicken’s beak than the rump of an ox.

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

68] He that loses anything and gets wisdom by it is a gainer by the loss

69] Misfortunes never come singly

70] Young colts will canter.

71] He that sings on Friday, will weep on Sunday

72] When wrath speaks, wisdom veils her face.

73] Travel broadens the mind

74] He that shows his purse, longs to be rid of it

75] Plain dealing is a jewel, but they that use it die beggars

76] God defend me from my friends; from enemies, I can defend myself.

77] Better sit still than rise and fall

78] Though the food is plain, stomach may be filled; though the cloth is coarse, one may be clad to a ripe old age

79] A word is enough to the wise

80] There grows no herb t heal a coward heart

81] He that fights and runs away may live to fight another day

82] He that has plenty of goods will have more

83] Do unto others as you would they should do unto you.

84] Every medal has its reverse

85] Kick a tone in anger, and you will hurt your own feet

86] That which Nature paints never fades

87] We shall lie all alike in our graves

88] Idleness (or An idle brain) is the devil’s workshop

89] A hungry man is angry man

90] Truth conquers all things

91] What must be must be

92] He who hesitates is lost

93] East or west, home is best

94] If each would sweep before his own door, we should have a clean city

95] The longest day must have an end

96] New brooms sweep clean

97] A man must plough with such oxen as he has

98] Woes unite foes

99] Many a true word is spoken in jest

100] Every commodity has its discommodity