Famous Proverbs

1] Give me fire and I’ll give you light

2] Be not too bold with your biggers or betters

3] He is not laughed at the laughs at himself first

4] Nothing is certain but the unforeseen

5] Small gifts make friends, great ones make enemies

6] All cats love fish but fear to wet their paws

7] Desert and reward seldom keep company

8] It takes a wise man to be a fool

9] Error cannot be defended but by error

10] You can’t teach an old dog new tricks

11] Nothing is more contagious than a bad example

12] Slow but sure wins the race

13] Don’t ride the high horse

14] None so busy as those who do nothing.

15] Good clothes open all doors

16] Every man to his trade.

17] A man whose conscience is clear, of a knock at midnight has no fear

18] Gold may be bought too dear

19] The courteous one learns his courtesy from the discourteous.

20] A fool may give a wise counsel. A fool’s bolt may sometimes hit the mark.

21] Jesters do oft prove prophets

22] Love laughs at locksmiths

23] He is not poor that has little, but he that desires much

24] Friends agree best at a distance

25] He that loveth danger shall perish therein

26] What is worse than ill luck?

27] Names are debts

28] You cannot skimp on the fodder and have an energetic horse.

29] He is a fool who makes his physician his heir

30] Nothing succeeds like success

31] False friends are worse than bitter enemies.

32] Art improves Nature

33] Pleasure has a sting in its tail

34] The longest way round is the shortest way home

35] They say so’ is half a lie

36] The king can do no wrong

37] Laws were made to be broke

38] Virtue is a jewel of great price.

39] He that keeps not crust not crumb, shall ever want some

40] Fool’s haste is no speed

41] Sow thin and mow thin

42] Experience is good if not bought too dear

43] Though it rains gold and silver there, it’s a foreign land; though it rains daggers and spears here, it’s our own country

44] Make haste slowly

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

46] Claw me, and I’ll claw thee

47] If the father is a tiger, the son cannot be a dog.

48] At a good bargain thinks twice

49] The mean is the best

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

51] It is a foolish sheep that makes the wolf his confessor

52] Green leaves enhance the charm of the peony flower

53] Who is worse shod than the shoemaker’s wife?

54] Wine uncloaks the words of the heart

55] Good hand, good hire

56] Much science, much sorrow

57] Blood cannot be washed out with blood

58] One swallow does not make a summer

59] Learning is like sailing against the tide - if you don’t move forward, you go backward

60] Hear twice before you speak once

61] He that sows virtue reaps fame

62] The perfect good is the exercise of virtue

63] Every cloud has a silver lining

64] He seems wise with whom all things thrive

65] Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow.

66] Never tell your enemy that your foot aches

67] He that does most at once, does least

68] He that cannot pay in purse must pay in person

69] Don’t cry for the moon

70] Needs must when the devil drives

71] Don’t ride the high horse

72] He that obey cannot command

73] Never try to prove what nobody doubts

74] He that does most at once, does least

75] Discretion is the better part of valour

76] Through indecision, opportunity is often lost.

77] Every dog is valiant at his won door

78] Homer sometimes nods

79] Forgiveness is perfect when the sin is not remembered

80] Better belly burst than good meat lost

81] If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again

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

83] When we sing, everybody hears us; when sigh, nobody hears us

84] The best remedy against an ill man, is much ground between

85] Names are debts

86] Repentance is a bitter physic

87] Evil to him who evil thinks.

88] First things first

89] Confide in an aunt and the world will know

90] If things were to be done twice, all would be wise.

91] Keep thy shop and thy shop will keep thee.

92] Soon hot, soon cold

93] More haste, less speed

94] Art improves Nature

95] Don’t make yourself a mouse, or the cat will eat you

96] The devil dances in an empty pocket

97] Children have wide ears and long tongues.

98] Good hand, good hire

99] Who greases his way travels easily

100] Extremes meet