Famous Proverbs

1] There’s many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip

2] A hungry man is angry man

3] We do as we can, since we can’t do as we would

4] Woes unite foes

5] A willing helper does not wait until he is asked.

6] None are so fond of secrets as those who don’t mean to keep them

7] We live by laws, not by examples

8] The longest (or farthest) way round is the nearest (or shortest) way home.

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

10] Live and let live

11] Diseases are the price of ill pleasures

12] Good wine needs no bush

13] When the dog catches mice, it is meddling in the cat’s business.

14] Anger and haste hinder good counsel

15] Exchange (or Fair exchange) is no robbery

16] Knowledge humbles the great man, astonishes the common man and puffeth up the little man

17] An hour in the morning is worth two in the evening

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

19] Kinsman helps kinsman, and woe to him that has none

20] An ill marriage is a spring of ill fortune

21] He that lives wickedly can hardly die honestly

22] Never judge from appearances

23] He that will not have peace, God gives him war

24] When luck comes, who doesn’t; when luck doesn’t come, who does?

25] There is no place like home

26] It is a foolish bird that soils (or defiles ) its own nest

27] Quietness is a great treasure

28] The devil finds work for idle hands to do

29] Soon gotten, soon spent

30] Wise men learn by other men’s harm, fools, by their own

31] A lion may come to be beholden to a mouse

32] Money refused loses its brightness

33] Every light has its shadow

34] Ask a silly question and you’ll get a silly answer.

35] Worry is the interest we pay on trouble before it is due

36] Many irons in the fire, some must cool

37] There would be no great ones if there were no little ones

38] Discretion of speech is more than eloquence.

39] God’ s mill grids slow but sure

40] The higher you climb, the harder you fall

41] Time flees without a delay

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

43] Be just before you are generous

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

45] Example is better than precept

46] Corruption of the best becomes the worst

47] Good broth may be made in an old pot

48] Fair without, false within

49] The young will sow their wild oats

50] Confession of our fault is the next thing to innocence

51] A thief knows a thief knows a thief as a wolf knows a wolf

52] Work has a bitter root but sweet fruit.

53] There is no smoke without fire

54] A good name is better than riches

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

56] Open a book and you profit by what you read

57] Zeal without prudence is frenzy

58] No cross, no crown

59] Acorns were good till bread was found

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

61] Much law but little justice

62] He that praises himself, spatters himself

63] Nothing crave, nothing have

64] His own ingenuity pricks him.

65] Know when to spend and when to spare, and you need not be busy, you’ll never be bare

66] Waste makes wants

67] Small gifts make friends, great ones make enemies

68] The borrower is servant to the lender

69] God never sends mouths but he sent meat

70] Innocence is no protection

71] Failure teaches success

72] In my own house, I am king

73] Adversity is the touchstone of friendship

74] An ape’s an ape, a varlet’s a varlet, though they be clad in silk or scarlet

75] Every man is his own worst enemy

76] There are hills, and there are swamps as well.

77] Everything is of use to a housekeeper

78] Set a thief to catch a thief

79] He that hath a full purse never wanted (or lacked) a friend

80] He who does not kill hogs, ill not get black puddings

81] Pride dines on vanity, sups on contempt

82] Be not afraid of going slowly; be only afraid of standing still

83] Fair face, foul heart

84] Threatened folk live long

85] Tender-handed stroke a nettle, and it stings you for your pain: grasp it like a man of mettle, and it soft as silk remains

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

87] The devil knows many things because he is old

88] A liar is sooner caught than a cripple

89] Poison is poison though it comes in a golden cup.

90] A liar is sooner caught than a cripple

91] A hundred pounds of sorrow pays not one ounce of debt

92] Kind hearts are soonest wronged

93] He who does no good, does evil enough

94] The little cannot be great unless he devours many

95] The mean is the best

96] Never buy a pig in a poke

97] Though a lie be swift the truth overtakes it

98] Blood cannot be washed out with blood

99] Do as I say, not as I do

100] Honey is sweet, but the bee stings