Famous Proverbs

1] Hard cases make bad law

2] The great fish eat up the small

3] The cobbler should stick to his last

4] A good tongue is a good weapon

5] A good example is the best sermon

6] With seven nurses, the child loses its eye

7] Better an open enemy than a false friend

8] Love laughs at locksmiths

9] Busiest men find the most time

10] He that lives wickedly can hardly die honestly

11] The best things in life are free

12] A closed mouth catches no files

13] Too much cunning undoes

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

15] Friendship is a plant which must be often watered

16] Every medal has two sides

17] Jesters do oft prove prophets

18] Petty laws breed great crimes

19] There is no garden without its weeds

20] He who depends on another, dines ill and sups worse

21] A useful trade is a mine of gold

22] Love knows hidden paths

23] Divide and rule

24] Learning makes a good man better and an ill man worse

25] Neither bribe, nor lose thy right

26] He that sows virtue reaps fame

27] Sickness soaks the purse

28] Leave well alone

29] If you have bread, don’t look for cake

30] Pleasant hours fly past

31] The labourer is worthy of his hire

32] The falling drops hollow the stone

33] Custom takes the taste from the most savoury dishes

34] Had I fish’ was never good with garlic

35] War, hunting and love are as full of trouble as pleasure

36] God’s lambs will play.

37] Don’t wear out (or outstay) your welcome

38] He laughs ill that laughs himself to death

39] Those near the temple deride the gods

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

41] Virtue is its own reward

42] Eat at pleasure, drink by measure

43] Dead dogs bark not

44] A wise man changes his mind, a fool never.

45] Little fishes slip through nets, but great fishes are taken

46] Trust is the mother of deceit

47] Know thyself

48] God gave us the seed of every plant, but we must sow it.

49] Empty vessels make the most sound

50] Through indecision, opportunity is often lost.

51] A good friend is my nearest relation

52] New things are fair

53] Seeing is believing

54] The tongue ever turns to the aching tooth

55] Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth

56] He is rich that has few wants

57] What you don’t know can’t hurt you

58] Jackdaw always perches by jackdaw.

59] Laugh and grow fat

60] Call no man happy till he is dead

61] If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing well

62] He is not fit to command others, that cannot command himself

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

64] What costs little is little esteemed

65] If anything can go wrong, it will

66] Truth lies at the bottom of the well

67] An ounce of practice is worth a pound of theory

68] An arrow shot upright falls on the shooter’s head

69] When angry, count a hundred

70] Wise is the man who never exposes himself to unnecessary danger

71] The purse of the patient protracts the disease

72] He that brings good news, knocks hard

73] Experience is a dear school, but fools learn in no other

74] Words bind men

75] Pride dines on vanity, sups on contempt

76] Knavery may serve for a turn, nut honesty is best in the long run

77] Fair face, foul heart

78] He that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow

79] Danger makes men devout

80] One man’s loss is another’s gain

81] No matter how much perfume you put on an onion, it will still emit a bad smell.

82] There is nothing lost by civility

83] Better the last smile than the first laugh

84] Send a donkey to Paris, he’ll return no wiser than he went

85] Work has a bitter root but sweet fruit.

86] Look before you leap

87] The thing which is rare is dear

88] A barber learns to shave by shaving fools

89] Beauty is but skin-deep

90] Marriage makes or mars a man

91] Better at home than a mile from it

92] The tongue is more venomous than a serpent’s sting

93] A liar is sooner caught than a cripple

94] The poor sit on the front benches in Paradise

95] Even water has its ebb and flow

96] If you run after two hares, you will catch neither

97] Man proposes, God disposes

98] Empty vessels make the most noise

99] He that is afraid of bad luck will never know good.

100] If anything can go wrong, it will