Famous Proverbs

1] The mouse that has but one hole is quickly taken

2] Practice what you preach

3] Desperate diseases need (or must have) desperate cures

4] You may force a man to shut his eyes but you can’t make him sleep

5] The most high Good sees and bears; me neighbour knows, nothing, and yet is always finding fault.

6] Take the will for the deed

7] He that has an ill name is half hanged

8] No one betrays himself by silence

9] The faulty stands on his guard

10] Mirth is the sugar of life

11] If you put noting into your purse, you can take nothing out

12] A wise man cares not for what he cannot have

13] Little things are pretty

14] Adversity makes strange bedfellows

15] Don’t ride the high horse

16] If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain.

17] Poor men go to heaven as soon as rich

18] He that has no money needs no purse

19] Drops that gather one by one finally become a sea

20] Custom reconciles us to everything

21] For a web begun, God sends the thread

22] Don’t meet trouble half-way

23] Though the food is plain, stomach may be filled; though the cloth is coarse, one may be clad to a ripe old age

24] He that mischief hatches mischief catches.

25] Intimacy lessens fame

26] Adventures are to be adventurous

27] Without wisdom, wealth is worthless

28] The last straw breaks the camel’s back

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

30] Poverty is not a shame, but the being ashamed of it is

31] One father is more than a hundred school masters

32] Truth lies at the bottom of the well

33] A tree often transplanted, bears not much fruit

34] He knows on which side his bread is buttered

35] Zeal is fit only for wise men, but is found mostly in fools

36] Love laughs at locksmiths

37] It is not gay coat that makes the gentleman

38] Money has no smell

39] Friends are thieves of time

40] Plain dealing is a jewel

41] A stitch in time saves nine

42] Out of sight, out of mind

43] It is good fishing in troubled waters

44] When misfortune sleeps, let no one wake her

45] Work expands so as to fill the time available

46] Dirty linen should be washed at home

47] A wise man is never less alone than when he is alone

48] Afflictions are sent to us by God for our good

49] Least said, soonest mended

50] The beaten road is the safest

51] Kindness is the noblest weapon to conquer with.

52] An old dog barks not in vain

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

54] Claw me, and I’ll claw thee

55] A bad workman quarrels with his tools.

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

57] A thing of beauty is a joy forever

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

59] What’s done cannot be undone

60] There’s many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip

61] An open door may tempt a saint

62] An ill payer (or paymaster) never wants an excuse

63] Confide in an aunt and the world will know

64] Never buy a pig in a poke

65] Every commodity has its discommodity

66] Quarrels do not last long if the wrong is only on one side

67] The receiver is as bad as the thief

68] We can live without our friends, but not without our neighbours

69] A man must plough with such oxen as he has

70] The whole boat is putrid because of a single carp

71] There is a time to speak and a time to be silent

72] When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then a gentleman?

73] The last drop makes the cup run over

74] Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know

75] Don’t burn the candle at both ends

76] Don’t hallo (or shout, or whistle) until you are out of the wood

77] He who leaps high must take a long run

78] It is not every question that deserves an answer

79] No good building without a good foundation.

80] Everything in moderation.

81] Man cannot live by bread alone

82] Better children weep than old men

83] The belly carries the legs

84] Business is business

85] Ill weeds grow apace (or fast)

86] The absent party is always to blame.

87] Pleasure is due only when all duty’s done.

88] A blister will rise upon one’s tongue that tells a lie

89] A gift much expected is paid, not given

90] Don’t teach your grandmother how to suck eggs

91] Debt is an evil conscience

92] No man is infallible

93] Better be born lucky than wise.

94] He that speaks not, God hears not

95] Fields have eyes and woods have ears

96] The cowl does not make the monk.

97] It’s a long lane that has no turning

98] Crust is better than no bread

99] Don’t have too many irons in the fire

100] There’s no place like home