Famous Proverbs

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

2] A goose quill is more dangerous than a lion’s paw

3] If you pile up enough sand, you make a pagoda

4] A fault once denied is twice committed

5] A great calligrapher isn’t choosy about his brushes.

6] He that has an ill name is half hanged

7] When good cheer is lacking, our friends will be packing

8] If you deal with a fox, think of his tricks

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

10] 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

11] It is easier to raise the devil than to lay him

12] Of the ten fingers, some are long and some are short.

13] When bitterness reaches its extreme, sweetness will follow

14] Life would be too smooth, if it has no rubs in it.

15] Give a clown your finger, and he will take your hand

16] A burnt child dreads the fire

17] Every dog is a lion at home

18] Cleanliness is next to godliness

19] Almost’ never killed a fly.

20] The more cost, the more honour

21] He that goes a borrowing goes a-sorrowing

22] Sooner begun, sooner done

23] Well done is better than well said

24] There is no fool like an old fool

25] All truths are not to be told

26] Blessings brighten as they take their flight

27] Many drops make a shower

28] You cannot serve God and Mammon

29] Oaks may fall when reeds stand the storm

30] The best fish swim near the bottom

31] There’s always room at the top

32] You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear

33] United we stand, divided we fall

34] If you have known one, you have known them all

35] Think of ease, but work on.

36] It is well to live that one may learn

37] A parrot will only say what it is taught

38] Good luck beats early rising

39] You must grin and bear it

40] Money talks

41] A single filament of silk does not make a thread; a single tree does not make a forest

42] He who holds the ladder is as bad as the thief

43] Go while the going is good

44] The faulty stands on his guard

45] Half a loaf is better than do bread

46] A good wife is a good prize

47] The orange that is too hard squeezed yields a bitter juice

48] An ill tongue may do much

49] The first time, a novice the second time, an adept

50] Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones

51] He who does no good, does evil enough

52] Where there’s muck, there’s money

53] Courtesy on one side never lasts long

54] The worse luck now, the better another time

55] The rich knows not who is his friend

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

57] First catch your hare

58] A prophet is without honour in his own country

59] Bad excuses are worse than none.

60] After the extreme of cold comes spring

61] Take time by the forelock

62] He that desires but little has no deed of much

63] Self-praise is no recommendation

64] The best wine comes from an old vessel

65] Files are easier caught with honey than with vinegar

66] Seeing is believing

67] Numbers overcome the brave

68] Of three main roads, take the middle one

69] It is hard to sail over the sea in an egg-shell

70] A man has choice to begin love, but not to end it.

71] Pride goes before a fall

72] All griefs with bread are less

73] Repentance is a bitter physic

74] An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden

75] The best things carried to excess are wrong

76] Soft fire makes sweet malt

77] Tell a lie and stick to it.

78] Set a beggar on horse back and he’ll ride to the devil

79] Praise no man till he is dead.

80] In your anxiety to avoid losing a drop, you spill the whole lot

81] That which proves too much proves nothing

82] Ready money is a ready remedy

83] Facts are stubborn things

84] If one sheep leaps o’er the dyke, all the rest will follow

85] A bad workman quarrels with his tools.

86] They bow to you when borrowing; you bow to them when collecting

87] Destroy the lion while he is yet but a whelp

88] Don’t ride the high horse

89] Even the weariest river winds somewhere safe to sea

90] It is better to be a coward for a minute than dead for the rest of your life

91] A fool may sometimes speak to the purpose

92] Don’t quarrel with your bread and buffer

93] Honest is the best policy

94] It is good to follow the old fox

95] Footprints on the sands of time are not made by sitting down

96] A rose by any other name would smell as sweet

97] If there is no wind, the trees will not move

98] A fool at forty is a fool indeed

99] Riches rather enlarge than satisfy appetites

100] He who does not rise with the sun does not enjoy the day