Famous Proverbs

1] The tide must be taken when it comes

2] Deliver your words not by number but by weight

3] A wise man is never less alone than when alone

4] One sheep follows another

5] You see a man’s face but not his heart.

6] He that tells his wife news, is but newly wed

7] He who peeps through a hole, may see what will vex him

8] He is wise who looks ahead

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

10] He that cannot pay in purse must pay in person

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

12] Virtue is its own reward

13] He that comes first to the hill, may sit where he will.

14] He that has nothing need fear to lose nothing

15] The money you refuse will never do you good

16] Experience must be bought

17] Beauty is potent but money is omnipotent

18] No naked man is sought after to be rifled

19] A man can do no more than he can

20] Everyone is a kin to the rich man

21] Beauty is in the face; grace is all over.

22] The cow knows not what her tail is worth till she has lost it

23] Needs must when the evil drives

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

25] Expectation is better than realisation

26] One cannot put back the clock

27] There is no smoke without fire

28] Pride dines on vanity, sups on contempt

29] When a man grows angry, his reason rides out.

30] Every little helps

31] A fool is ever dancing on the tip of his tongue

32] Even fools sometimes speak to the purpose

33] Don’t burn the candle at both ends

34] Though the left hand conquers the right, no advantage is gained

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

36] It is misery enough to have once been happy

37] One man sows and another reaps

38] Hard cases make bad law

39] Debt is an evil conscience

40] A straw will show which way the wind blows.

41] Man punishes the action but God the intention

42] No bees, no honey’, that sweetness will come in to the mouth

43] Learning is like sailing against the tide - if you don’t move forward, you go backward

44] I may not have tasted their flesh but I’ve seen enough to know how pigs walk

45] Bad excuses are worse than none.

46] Better go about than fall in to the ditch

47] The labour we delight in physics pain

48] Far fowls have fair feather

49] Every dog has his day

50] No wrong without a remedy

51] Though a lie be swift the truth overtakes it

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

53] Wrong has no warrant

54] Life begins only in success

55] Nothing is more contagious than a bad example

56] A single rose does not mean spring

57] Habit is second nature

58] Better wear out shoes than sheers.

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

60] One volunteer is worth two pressed men

61] Health is great riches

62] Every tub must stand on its own bottom

63] First creep, then walk

64] Anything will fit a naked man.

65] Silence is also speech

66] Remove an old tree and it will wither to death

67] Bad news travels fast

68] Medical plants from one’s own back-yard are no valued.

69] Choose thy company before thy drink

70] Spread the table, and contention will cease

71] Take the tone of the company you are in

72] An ill payer (or paymaster) never wants an excuse

73] There is no garden without its weeds

74] Example is better than precept

75] A man can die but once

76] Pitchers have ears

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

78] The greatest talkers are the least doers

79] A fool always rushes to the fore.

80] It is late to cover the well when the child is drowned.

81] The longer you look at it, the less you will like it

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

83] Wine unveils the words of the heart

84] If you have no honey in your pot, have some in your mouth.

85] Good merchandise finds a ready buyer

86] He who teaches learns

87] Half a word is enough for a wise man

88] You may know by a handful the whole sack

89] He that does most at once, does least

90] He is a fool that kisses the maid when he may kiss the mistress

91] Everyone to his taste

92] True gold is not transformed by fire

93] Spend and be free, but make no waste

94] If you gently touch a nettle, it’ll sting you for your pains; grasp it like a man of mettle, and it soft as silk remains.

95] Judge not, that ye be not judged

96] Pleasure has a sting in its tail

97] Acorns were good till bread was found

98] Some have been thought brave because they are afraid to run away

99] Win a good reputation, and sleep at your ease

100] Every light has its shadow