Famous Proverbs

1] Will is no skill

2] Finger were made before forks, and hands before knives

3] Kind hearts are soonest wronged

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

5] A watched pot never boils

6] Haste is of (or from) the devil

7] Submitting to one wrong brings on another.

8] He that travels far knows much

9] The goat must browse where she is tied

10] God tempers that wind to the shorn lamb

11] None can guess the jewel by the casket

12] Good ware makes quick market

13] Ill comes often on the back worse

14] Laugh before breakfast, you’ll cry before supper

15] Variety is charming

16] Forethought is easy, repentance hard

17] To fright a bird is not the way to catch her

18] It is a foolish sheep that makes the wolf his confessor

19] Big words seldom go with good deeds

20] A gentleman never remembers unkindness shown towards him

21] Much meat, much malady

22] In wine there is truth

23] You cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hounds

24] A thief passes for a gentle man when stealing has made him rich

25] Haste trips up (or over) its own heels

26] Through obedience learn to command.

27] Change of pasture makes fat calves

28] A good paymaster needs no surety

29] Variety takes away satiety

30] Cross the stream where it is shallowest

31] In haste is error

32] Take heed is a fair thing

33] Greedy eaters dig their graves with their teeth.

34] Hear twice before you speak once

35] One sword keeps another in the sheath

36] Wrong has no warrant

37] Every bean has its black

38] He who seizes the right moment is the right man

39] Claw me, and I’ll claw thee

40] However much the arm may swing out, the armpit is where it sticks

41] One good deed makes up for a thousand bad ones.

42] The word is far him who has patience

43] When you do not know what to do – wait.

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

45] Through hardship to the stars

46] The thing which is rare is dear

47] It is too late to husband when all is spent

48] If you can’t bite, never show your teeth.

49] A man of many trades, begs his bread on Sunday

50] None so deaf as those that will not hear

51] Bad luck often brings good luck

52] Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

53] Honesty is ill to thrive by

54] The bait hides the hook

55] There is death in the pot.

56] The bread never falls but on its buttered side

57] Many eyes upon the king

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

59] Hard words break no bones

60] A good name is a rich heritage

61] The rich man thinks of the future, the poor man thinks of today

62] It is not the burden but the overburden that kills the beast

63] There’s always room at the top

64] The first day a guest, the second day a guest, the third day a calamity

65] The squeaking wheel gets the grease

66] Care killed the cat

67] The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world

68] The more cost, the more honour

69] Hungry bellies have no ears

70] Accidents will happen

71] An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

72] The labour we delight in physics pain

73] The hero appears only when the tiger is dead

74] The tongue stings

75] Give him (or knaves) an inch and he (they) will take a yard (or mile)

76] Many kiss the hand they wish to cut off

77] Forewarned is forearmed

78] Hunger is the teacher of many

79] One may change the place but not the mind.

80] The king can do no wrong

81] The tongue ever turns to the aching tooth

82] Heaven helps those who help themselves

83] Little things please little minds

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

85] Envy eats nothing but it own heart

86] The value of money is having it.

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

88] Old vessels must leak

89] If you always say ‘No’, you’ll never get married

90] Better beg than steal.

91] Quietness is a great treasure

92] A lion may be beholden to a mouse

93] If you cannot bite never show your teeth

94] Wake not a sleeping lion

95] Of evil manners, spring good laws

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

97] Big fish eat little fish

98] As well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamp

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

100] Where there’s muck, there’s money