Famous Proverbs

1] A bad workman always blames his tools

2] Little things please little minds

3] Six feet of earth make all men equal

4] Work has a bitter root but sweet fruit.

5] He is a good friend that speaks well of us behind our backs

6] Dry bread at home is better than roast meat abroad

7] God tempers that wind to the shorn lamb

8] Stolen sweets are sweeter

9] 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

10] He that ventures not fails not.

11] The worth of a thing is best known by the want of it

12] Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches

13] A man without a wife is but half a man

14] Suffering does not manifest itself

15] The darkest place is under the candlestick

16] Dumb dogs are dangerous

17] Absence makes the heart grow fonder

18] Goods that are much on show lose their colour

19] If two men ride on a horse, one must ride behind

20] Patient waiters are no losers

21] One learns to know oneself best behind one’s back

22] Without luck, it is better not to be born

23] Evil often triumphs but never conquers.

24] A tree often transplanted, bears not much fruit

25] There is no blindness like ignorance

26] The eye of the master will do more work than both his hands

27] An old man is a bed full of bones

28] Too much curiosity lost paradise

29] When two men look after a horse, it will surely be thin; when two families keep a boat, it will surely leak

30] High places have their precipices

31] We don’t get something for nothing

32] Trust is dead-ill payment killed it.

33] Poverty obstructs the road to virtue

34] Fortune favours fools

35] The gods send nuts to those who have no teeth

36] Self do, self have

37] A man can do no more than he can

38] Cease to hope and you will cease to fear.

39] No feast lasts forever.

40] Keep no more cats than will catch mice

41] He that lends, gives

42] An ill tongue may do much

43] He that wants health wants all

44] He that brings good news, knocks hard

45] After a dream of a wedding, comes a corpse

46] Even reckoning makes long friends

47] Wise men are caught in wiles

48] Sparrows who emulate peacocks are likely to break a thigh

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

50] As is the mould, so will the cake be.

51] There is many a fair thing full false

52] Love cannot be compelled

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

54] If the lad goes to the well against his will, either the can will break or the water will spill

55] Crowns have cares

56] Light burden I heavy if far borne

57] Files are easier caught with honey than with vinegar

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

59] He that burns most, shines most

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

61] Never spur a willing horse

62] The more cost, the more honour

63] Give and spend, and God will send

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

65] One master in a house is enough

66] Men count up the faults of those who keep them waiting

67] A willful man will have his way

68] He that once deceives, is ever suspected

69] Wash your dirty linen at home

70] No wrong without a remedy

71] Every dog is a lion at home

72] Friendship should not be all on one

73] An old cart well used may outlast a new one abused

74] They brag most who can do least

75] Keep something for a rainy day

76] A banana tree won’t bear fruit twice.

77] Death and life are in the power of the tongue

78] There are two sides to every question

79] Common fame is seldom to blame

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

81] The longest day must have an end

82] From small beginnings come great things

83] It is lawful to learn even from an enemy

84] Avoid a questioner, for he is also a tattler

85] The early man ever borrows from the late man

86] An ounce of practice is worth a pound of precept

87] False friends are worse than bitter enemies.

88] Anger without power is folly

89] Exchange (or Fair exchange) is no robbery

90] Better be born lucky than wise.

91] Reputation is often got without merit, and lost without crime

92] A good drink makes the old young

93] No bees, no honey’, that sweetness will come in to the mouth

94] Patience surpasses learning

95] Truth has a good face but bad clothes

96] Nature abhors a vacuum

97] A friend is easier lost than found

98] Where there’s muck, there’s money

99] Patient men with the day.

100] Extremes meet