Famous Proverbs

1] The wish is father to the thought

2] The mob has many heads but no brains

3] A merry companion is a wagon on the way

4] Many a little makes a mickle

5] If today will not, tomorrow may

6] Wives must be had, be they good or bad

7] Good merchandise finds a ready buyer

8] A good face is a letter of recommendation

9] Wise men propose, and fools determine

10] A jack of all traders is master of none

11] By his deeds we know a man

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

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

14] A thing you don’t want is dear at any price.

15] A person with a determined heart frightens Problems away

16] Like master, like man

17] He that lives ill, fear follows him

18] Fling dirt enough, and some will stick

19] His bark is worse than his bite

20] Joy and sorrow are next door neighbours.

21] Wrong has no warrant

22] The tongue stings

23] He who makes no mistakes makes nothing

24] He gives twice who gives quickly

25] A foolish man knows not the art of forgiveness

26] Brevity is the soul of wit

27] Covetousness is the root of all evil

28] We must not look for a golden life in an iron age

29] Light grows the burden which is well borne

30] First think, and then speak

31] A merry companion is a wagon on the way

32] Honey is sweet, but the bee stings

33] Venture a small fish to catch a great one.

34] Marriage is a lottery

35] Keep something for a rainy day

36] There is nothing that costs less than civility

37] The knowledge of a learned man is limited if he stays at home all the time

38] Constant dripping (or dropping) wears away the stone

39] If wishes were horses, beggars would ride (or might ride)

40] A merchant that gains not, loses

41] No honest man ever repented his honesty

42] Like breeds like

43] The loftiest towers rise from the ground

44] First creep, then walk

45] Example is better than precept

46] The healthful man can give counsel to the sick

47] He that flings dirt at another dirtieth himself most

48] Where every man is master, the world goes to wrack

49] What we spent, we had; what we gave, we have: what we left, we lost

50] Mustard is a good sauce, but mirth is better

51] Conscience does make cowards of us all

52] A new broom sweeps clean, but the old brush knows all the corners

53] He that hopes not for good, fears not evil.

54] If the father is spotted, the son will be speckled

55] The early bird catches the worm

56] It costs more to do ill than to do well

57] He that will steal an egg, will steal an ox

58] Knowledge has bitter roots but sweet fruits

59] A child can have too much of his mother’s blessings

60] He seems wise with whom all things thrive

61] Whether the pitcher strikes the stone, or the stone the pitcher, it is bad for the pitcher

62] It is as hard to please a knave as knight

63] The hasty leaps over his opportunities

64] Save a stranger from the sea and he’ll turn your enemy

65] He that speaks not, God hears not

66] A good anvil does not fear the hammer

67] The rain of tears is necessary to the harvest of learning

68] Who hath a good trade, through all waters may wade

69] A little help is worth a deal of pity

70] Don’t build the sty before the litter comes

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

72] All good things must come to an end

73] A good servant must have good wages

74] A man may lose more in an hour than he can get in seven

75] When a friend asks, there is not tomorrow

76] A good friend is my nearest relation

77] Handsome is as handsome does

78] He who spends before he thrives will beg before he thinks

79] Findings are keepings

80] A man in debt is caught in a net

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

82] In the end, things will mend

83] Courtesy is the inseparable companion of virtue

84] Bad excuses are worse than none.

85] He learned timely to beg that could not say ‘Nay’

86] Local ginger is never as hot as imported ginger

87] The little cannot be great unless he devours many

88] Death does not recognize strength

89] Nothing seek, nothing find

90] Children learn to creep ere they can go

91] Arms bend inwards – not outwards.

92] A quiet conscience sleeps in thunder

93] White there’s life there’s hope

94] The child says nothing but what it hears by the fire

95] Seldom seen, soon forgotten

96] Better an apple given than eaten

97] Give credit where credit is due

98] When the boat reaches the middle of the river, it is too late to repair the leak

99] Kindle not a fire that you cannot extinguish

100] What is not even scabies, he makes out to be an ulcer