Famous Proverbs

1] The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world

2] If we have not the world’s wealth, we have the world’s ease

3] Much learning makes men mad

4] A good servant should never be in the way and never out of the way

5] It is good fishing in troubled waters

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

7] Eavesdroppers never hear any good of themselves

8] It never rains it pours

9] Appetite comes with eating

10] Shame in a kindred cannot be avoided

11] It is never too late to mend

12] It’s either not to begin or not to stop once you’ve begun

13] Grasp all, lose all

14] Let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay.

15] Knowledge has bitter roots but sweet fruits

16] Dumb men get no lands

17] Make not your sauce, before you have caught the fish.

18] Misery acquaints men with strange bedfellows

19] Marriage halves our griefs, doubles our joys and quadruples our expenses

20] The balance distinguishes not between gold and lead

21] He that shows his purse, longs to be rid of it

22] The greatest step is that out of doors

23] With seven nurses, the child loses its eye

24] A cat may look at a king

25] The eye that sees all things else sees not itself

26] Curses, like chickens, come home to roost

27] Hope is the poor man’s bread

28] He that speaks not, God hears not

29] Nothing is so popular as kindness.

30] You can’t clap with one hand

31] Sadness and happiness succeed each other.

32] Rich folk have many friends

33] A tree often transplanted, bears not much fruit

34] Who keeps company with the wolf, will learn to howl

35] He that makes himself a sheep, shall be eaten by the wolf

36] All things are difficult before they are easy

37] Seldom is a long man wise, or a low man lowly

38] Christmas comes but once a year

39] Love is sweet torment

40] Spend and be free, but make no waste

41] He who does not heed the good advice of an experienced person will soon find himself suffering for his stubbornness.

42] None so busy as those who do nothing.

43] Shrimps get broken backs when whales fight

44] Even the lion must defend itself against flies

45] The exception proves the rule

46] Failure teaches success

47] One pair of heels is often worth two pairs of hands

48] Nature hates all sudden changes

49] A man’s discontent is his worst evil

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

51] Every groom is a king at home

52] Poor men seek meat for their stomach; rich men stomach for their meat.

53] Happy is the country (or nation) that has no history

54] To study a great deal is to acquire a priceless treasure

55] There are more ways to kill a dog than hanging it.

56] Empty vessels make the most noise

57] The more you have the more you want

58] Though it rains gold and silver there, it’s a foreign land; though it rains daggers and spears here, it’s our own country

59] Penny and penny laid up will be many

60] Seeing is believing

61] A miss is as good as a mile

62] You eat, I dreams, the custard of the day

63] The tyranny of a multitude is a multiplied tyranny

64] He who sows, trusts in God

65] The courteous one learns his courtesy from the discourteous.

66] Every man for himself, and the devil take the hindmost

67] No playing with a straw before an old cat.

68] Care is no cure

69] Dreams go by contraries

70] There is none misfortune cannot reach

71] First thrive then wive

72] Silence is golden

73] If the doctor cures, the sun sees it; but if he kills, the earth hides it.

74] A loveless life is a living death

75] A good paymaster never wants workmen

76] The young will sow their wild oats

77] Half the world knows not how the other half lives

78] He that has good money, gives few alms

79] Gold goes in at any gate except heaven’s

80] Rain water leaks through the roof-top

81] Saving one man’s life is better than building a seven- storied temple.

82] He that commits a fault, thinks everyone speaks of it.

83] Strike while the iron is hot

84] Necessity knows no law

85] Calamity is man’s true touchstone

86] Be not too bold with your biggers or betters

87] Everyone leaps over the dyke where it is lowest

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

89] Be not afraid of going slowly; be only afraid of standing still

90] He who rouses a sleeping tiger exposes himself to danger

91] It is a blind goose that comes to the fox’s sermon

92] You cannot catch old birds with chaff

93] A strong town is not won in an hour

94] True gold is not transformed by fire

95] It’s a silly fish that is caught twice with the same bait.

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

97] The day obliterates the promise of the might

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

99] Good advice (or counsel) is beyond price

100] God tempers that wind to the shorn lamb