Famous Proverbs

1] Let sleeping dogs lie

2] He who does not kill hogs, ill not get black puddings

3] A hundred pounds of sorrow pays not one ounce of debt

4] Where there is a question, there must be an answer

5] The time to come is no more ours than the time past

6] Light grows the burden which is well borne

7] Money would be gotten if there were money to get it with

8] He daren’t say ‘boo’ to a goose

9] A great calligrapher isn’t choosy about his brushes.

10] Don’t bargain for fish which are still in the water

11] A sleepy master makes his servant a lout

12] Poverty is the mother of crime

13] One hour today is worth two tomorrow

14] Often and little eating makes a man fat

15] Money has no smell

16] Scatter with one hand, gather with two

17] A burdened conscience will never need a hangman

18] Great gain makes easy work

19] It foolish sheep that makes the wolf his confessor

20] Truth is mighty and will prevail

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

22] He wants both the flour and the cake that it makes

23] Love knows hidden paths

24] Brute strength without reason falls of its own weight

25] Seldom seen, soon forgotten

26] The falling drops hollow the stone

27] Names are debts

28] Truth has a good face but bad clothes

29] As you brew, so shall you drink.

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

31] Pinch the right thigh and the left will feel the pain too.

32] Poverty is no sin

33] The day obliterates the promise of the might

34] We always weaken whatever we exaggerate

35] Men leap over where the hedge is lowest

36] Weapons breed peace

37] Silence is also speech

38] He that is absent is soon forgotten

39] Much law but little justice

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

41] As long as the old horse lives, his habits will not change

42] Calamity is the touchstone of a brave mind

43] A fool says what he knows, and a wise man knows what he says.

44] Dirty water does not wash clean.

45] All’s fair in love and war

46] Great actions speak minds

47] Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!

48] Not lock will hold against the power of gold

49] Debt is an evil conscience

50] Easier said than done

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

52] Plain dealing is best. Plain dealing is a jewel

53] A jug that has been mended lasts two hundred years

54] Work has a bitter root but sweet fruit.

55] Great alms-giving lessens no man’s living

56] What can you expect from a hog but a grunt?

57] A good husband makes a good wife

58] Step by step the ladder is ascended

59] A little impatience will spoil great plans

60] He that speaks not, God hears not

61] A quarrelsome man has no good neighbours

62] The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak

63] It is easier to pull down than to build

64] It at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again

65] A swine over-fat, is the cause of his own bane

66] Better a lean peace than a fat victory

67] Bold men have generous hearts

68] Mount Fuji itself is not So beautiful to one who is cold and hungry

69] Suffering does not manifest itself

70] It is too late to look up after you have collided

71] If fortune turns against you, even jelly breaks your tooth

72] Enough is as good as a feast

73] Kind hearts are soonest wronged

74] Use makes mastery

75] To fright a bird is not the way to catch her

76] The end makes all equal

77] Pride is at the bottom of all mistakes

78] A man’s mother is his other God

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

80] Even Buddha has a limit to what he can tolerate

81] Children have wide ears and long tongues.

82] Two heads are better than one

83] In a gambling house, there are no fathers and sons.

84] Experience without learning is better than learning without experience

85] Set a thief to catch a thief

86] Do not limp before the lame

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

88] Children should be seen and not heard

89] Learn not and know not

90] Wise men learn by other men’s harm, fools, by their own

91] Wise men are caught in wiles

92] He that obey cannot command

93] Learning is a treasure which accompanies its owner everywhere.

94] To take revenge is often to sacrifice oneself

95] Diamond cuts diamond

96] Seeing is believing

97] A curse will not strike out an eye unless a fist goes with it

98] It is better to conceal one’s knowledge than to reveal one’s ignorance

99] If you play with fire you get burnt

100] After a storm comes a calm