Famous Proverbs

1] He that mischief hatches mischief catches.

2] Beware of a silent man and still water

3] The borrower is servant to the lender

4] It is good sheltering under an old hedge

5] Keep no more cats than will catch mice

6] The longest night will have an end

7] Good advice is often annoying, bad advice never.

8] Where god will help, nothing does harm

9] A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country and in his home

10] The eye is bigger than the belly

11] A golden key opens every door

12] You cannot skimp on the fodder and have an energetic horse.

13] Spit to the heavens, and spittle falls on your own nose

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

15] A liar can go round the world but cannot come back

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

17] Never judge from appearances

18] A child can have too much of his mother’s blessings

19] Time lost cannot be recalled

20] We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.

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

22] It is ill waiting for dead men’s shoes

23] Have but few friends, though many acquaintances

24] A mouse may help a lion

25] The fairest silk is soonest stained

26] He who handles a nettle tenderly is soonest stung

27] The crow laughs at the pig for being black

28] You cannot unscramble eggs

29] Don’t kick against the pricks

30] A kind heart loseth nought at last.

31] The earthen pot must keep clear of the brass kettle

32] Dead men tell no tales

33] When Greek meets Greek, then comes the tug of war

34] No honest man ever repented his honesty

35] Example, is better than precept

36] Wise men do not argue with idiots

37] Fine feathers make fine birds.

38] As you plant wild grass, you won’t get a crop of rice.

39] It at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again

40] Patch by patch is good housewifery, but patch upon patch is plain beggary

41] The game is not worth the candle

42] One man’s means another man’s poison

43] A loveless life is a living death

44] Out of the frying-pan into the fire

45] Every flow must have its ebb

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

47] Divine grace was never slow

48] East or west, home is best

49] How forceful are right words

50] A clear conscience fears not false accusations

51] Never judge from appearances

52] A bad shearer never had a good sickle

53] Sometimes clemency is cruelty, and cruelty clemency

54] Who greases his way travels easily

55] No tie can oblige the perfidious

56] His bark is worse than his bite

57] Men do more things through habit than reason

58] An empty sack cannot stand upright

59] Old habits die hard

60] All things are easy, that are done willingly

61] He that will thrive, must rise at five; he that has thriven, may lie till seven; but he that will never thrive may lie till eleven

62] Patience is a flower that grows not in everyone’s garden

63] Promises may make friends, but it is performances that keep them

64] Work won’t kill but worry will.

65] Content is more than a kingdom

66] To err is human

67] One man’s loss is another’s gain

68] Fling dirt enough, and some will stick

69] No answer is also an answer

70] The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world

71] What is shown by example, men think they may justly do

72] Early sow, early mow

73] There is no time like the present

74] The best horse needs breaking, and the aptest child needs teaching

75] If you would wed fitly, wed in your station

76] In peace, prepare for war

77] An ill marriage is a spring of ill fortune

78] Old cattle breed not

79] All truths are not to be told

80] An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth

81] Intimacy lessens fame

82] Know your own faults before blaming others for theirs.

83] Learn to walk before you run

84] A thief knows a thief knows a thief as a wolf knows a wolf

85] Patience under old injuries invites new ones

86] Too long burden makes weary bones

87] Deeds are fruits; words are but leaves

88] None so deaf as those that will not hear

89] Good merchandise finds a ready buyer

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

91] Cut your coat according to your cloth

92] You cannot teach an old dog new tricks

93] The quarrel of lovers is the renewal of love

94] What must be must be

95] Seeing is believing

96] Fools rejoice at promises

97] They can do least two boast loudest

98] Words and feathers the wind carries away

99] Self-preservation is the first law of nature

100] Death alone can kill hope