Famous Proverbs

1] Necessity and opportunity may make a coward valiant

2] Youth and age will never agree

3] For a web begun, God sends the thread

4] It is too late to lock the stable when the horse has been stolen

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

6] A piece of churchyard fits every body

7] If wishes were butter cakes, beggars might bite

8] When we have gold, we are in fear; when we have none we are in danger

9] Let not thy tongue run away with thy brains

10] Cheats never prosper

11] It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive

12] Frugality is the mother of virtue

13] A little is better than none

14] Covetousness breaks the sack

15] All are not thieves that dogs bark at

16] Too far east is west

17] All things require skills but an appetite

18] Mercy surpasses justice

19] The exception proves the rule

20] What’s in a name?

21] Where grooms and householders are all alike great, very disastrous will it be for the houses and all that dwell in them

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

23] Industry is fortune’s right hand, and frugality her left

24] Youth and age will never agree

25] A change is as good as rest

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

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

28] The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence

29] Good horses always get ridden; good men get imposed upon.

30] A ragged coat may cover an honest man.

31] The slowest barker is the surest biter

32] He that promises too much means nothing

33] Opportunity seldom knocks twice

34] Pat any man and dust will fly

35] There is safety in numbers

36] Of one ill come many

37] The tongue talks at the heads cost

38] What is new cannot be true

39] The devil tempts all, but the idle man tempts the devil

40] Small is the seed of every greatness

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

42] Cut your coat according to your cloth

43] First impressions are the most lasting

44] While there is life, there is hope

45] Look after your money and don’t make your neighbour a thief

46] Pride goes before a fall

47] Self-praise is no recommendation

48] The owl thinks her own young fairest

49] A deaf husband and a blind wife are always a happy couple

50] Those who are used to the signs of the dumb, understand them

51] If you would know the value of a ducat, try to borrow one

52] Better never begin than never make an end

53] When children stand quiet, they have done some ill.

54] It is too late to grieve when the chance is past

55] 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.

56] An old ox will find a shelter for himself

57] Even dust, when piled up, may form a hill

58] The devil sometimes speaks the truth

59] The best things come in small packages

60] Don’t cry stinking fish

61] A contented mind is a perpetual feast

62] Learn not and know not

63] Every path has a puddle

64] Hope is but the dream of those that wake

65] Bad news travels fast

66] If the father is a tiger, the son cannot be a dog.

67] Point not at other’s spots with a foul finger

68] The devil finds work for idle hands to do

69] Out of sight, out of mind

70] It is more blessed to give than to receive

71] In all the weeding cake, hope is the sweetest plum.

72] When the melon is ripe, it will drop by itself

73] Pitchers have ears

74] Wine and wenches empty men’s purses

75] Forgive and forget

76] Learning is the eye of the mind

77] Catch not at the shadow and lose the substance

78] Only with a new ruler do you realize the value of the old

79] Don’t have too many irons in the fire

80] Old habits die hard

81] Eaten bread is soon forgotten

82] The leopard cannot change its spots

83] Never grieve for what you cannot help

84] The longest way round is the shortest way home

85] Harp not for ever on the same string

86] The devil dances in an empty pocket

87] If you don’t make mistakes, you don’t make anything

88] To err is human; to forgive, divine

89] It is not easy to steal when the landlord is a thief

90] When two elephants struggle, it is the grass that suffers

91] Better fill a man’s belly than his eye

92] Nothing is so certain as death

93] Neither bribe, nor lose thy right

94] Liars should have good memories

95] Men are blind in their own cause

96] Where your will is ready, your feet are light

97] All is fair in love and war

98] Health without money is half an ague

99] He who considers too much will perform little.

100] Zeal without prudence is frenzy