Famous Proverbs

1] Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow.

2] None so blind as those who will not see

3] A good anvil does not fear the hammer

4] Death is the grand leveler

5] All covet all lose.

6] Every beggar is descended from some king, and every king is descended from some beggar.

7] A straight stick is crooked in water

8] It is not the hood that makes the monk.

9] Intimacy lessens fame

10] An ass must be tied where the master will have him

11] Charity begins at home.

12] Think on the end before you begin

13] In peace, prepare for war

14] The peony, though large, is useless; the date blossom, though small, yields fruit

15] Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, and half shut afterwards

16] A miss is as good as a mile

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

18] Advice when most needed is least heeded

19] Long tarrying takes all the thanks away

20] It never rains it pours

21] Vice is often clothed in virtue’s habit

22] Whatsoever was the father of a disease, an ill diet was the mother.

23] Fear of death is worse than death itself

24] Don’t cry for the moon

25] Ask no question and you’ll be told no lies

26] Covetousness is the root of all evil

27] The difficult is done at once; the impossible takes a little longer

28] Wine uncloaks the words of the heart

29] A horse that will not carry a saddle must have no oats.

30] Let an ill man lie in the straw and he looks to be thy heir

31] A man should keep from the blind and give t his kin.

32] No one ought to judge in his own cause

33] The envious man shall never want woe

34] To beat a tiger, one must have a brother’s help.

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

36] Better ask the way than go astray

37] Bees that have honey in their mouths have stings in their tails.

38] A jack of all traders is master of none

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

40] He who serves is not free

41] There are hills, and there are swamps as well.

42] What is told in the ear of a man is often heard a hundred miles away

43] Union is strength.

44] Hasty climbers have sudden falls

45] The healthful man can give counsel to the sick

46] An angry man is not fit to pray

47] From the sublime to the ridiculous is only a step

48] Use the means, and God will give the blessings

49] Step by step the ladder is ascended

50] A burdened conscience will never need a hangman

51] You cannot sell the cow and sup (or drink) the milk

52] Better be born lucky than wise.

53] There’s no great loss without some gain

54] A prophet is without honour in his own country

55] Gold may be bought too dear

56] Adversity comes with instruction in its hand

57] Manners and money make a gentleman

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

59] A person with a determined heart frightens Problems away

60] The coward threatens only when he is safe

61] Knowledge is the mother of all virtue; all vice proceeds from ignorance

62] Talk of the devil, and he is bound to appear

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

64] They are never alone that are accompanied with noble thoughts

65] He that serves well need not be afraid to ask his wages

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

67] All things require skills but an appetite

68] The loftiest towers rise from the ground

69] Those that make the best use of their time, have none to spare

70] Whom god loves, his house is sweet to him

71] All things are difficult before they are easy

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

73] Thieves and rogues have the best luck, if they do but escape hanging

74] You cannot get blood (or water) out of a stone

75] An ape’s an ape, a varlet’s a varlet, though they be clad in silk or scarlet

76] Better the last smile than the first laugh

77] The belly carries the legs

78] Moderation in all things

79] When you are an anvil, hold still; when you are an anvil, hold still; when you are a hammer, strike your fill.

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

81] Care killed the cat

82] Dogs that bark at a distance bite not at hand

83] If you can’t ride two horses at once, you shouldn’t be in the circus

84] If you do not enter a tiger’s den, you cannot get its cubs

85] No, thank you’ has lost you many a good butter-cake

86] Take time by the forelock

87] Scatter with one hand, gather with two

88] Every one thinks his own cross is heaviest

89] Don’t cut the bough you are standing on

90] Dreams go by contraries

91] He that asks faintly begs a denial.

92] It is as well to know which way the wind blows

93] Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown

94] To beat a tiger, one must have a brother’s help.

95] Ugly women finely dressed, are the uglier for it.

96] The voice is the best music

97] The joy of the heart makes the face fair.

98] New things are fair

99] The tongue is more to be feared than the sword

100] Shame arises more from fear of men than of God