Famous Proverbs

1] Idle folks have the least leisure

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

3] Who suffers much is silent

4] Of evil manners, spring good laws

5] It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest

6] Anger restrained is wisdom gained

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

8] Gluttony kills more than the sword

9] He that asks faintly begs a denial.

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

11] Death keeps no calendar

12] Life begins only in success

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

14] Ill gotten, ill spent

15] A fair face may hide a foul heart.

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

17] Success makes a fool seem wise.

18] Many a little makes a mickle

19] Grin and bear it

20] Where there are reeds, there is water

21] Take time by the forelock

22] Friendship is a plant which must be often watered

23] Great gain makes easy work

24] Better to ask the way than go astray.

25] An occasion lost cannot be redeemed

26] Good advice (or counsel) is beyond price

27] Give a lie a twenty-four-hour start, and you can never overtake it.

28] A good name is sooner lost than won

29] There is nothing like being on the safe side

30] Anger without power is folly

31] Man does what he can, and God what he will

32] Birds of a feather flock together

33] Lookers-on see most of the game

34] Virtue has all things in itself

35] Little things please little minds

36] A old poacher makes the best gamekeeper

37] Charity excuseth not cheating.

38] Beggars must not (can’t) be choosers

39] That which proves too much proves nothing

40] Arms bend inwards – not outwards.

41] All things that great men do are well done

42] Habits are at first cobwebs, at last cables

43] Findings are keepings

44] Knowledge has bitter roots but sweet fruits

45] Appetite comes with eating

46] It will be the same a hundred years hence

47] Discontent is the first step in progress

48] If you do not enter a tiger’s den, you cannot get its cubs

49] If we have not the world’s wealth, we have the world’s ease

50] Laugh and grow fat

51] The unexpected always happens.

52] Practice is the science that gives confidence

53] He that will steal a pin will steal a better thing

54] He that cannot ask, cannot live

55] Mettle is dangerous in a blind horse

56] God defend me from my friends; from enemies, I can defend myself.

57] A gentleman never remembers unkindness shown towards him

58] Necessity knows no law

59] Good to begin well, better to end well.

60] You cannot sell the cow and sup (or drink) the milk

61] Dogs that bark at a distance bite not at hand

62] Catch your bear before you sell its skin

63] Wise men silent, fools talk

64] It is a great victory that comes without blood

65] What is a workman without his tools?

66] Paddle your own canoe

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

68] Hasty climbers have sudden falls

69] When the melon is ripe, it will drop by itself

70] A drowning man will clutch at a straw

71] New meat begets a new appetite

72] All work and no play makes jack a dull boy

73] Misfortune does not always come to injure

74] Fling dirt enough, and some will stick

75] A liar can go round the world but cannot come back

76] Those that make the best use of their time, have none to spare

77] Servants will not be diligent, where the master’s negligent

78] The more you have the more you want

79] When I lent, I was a friend; and when I asked, I was unkind

80] Let the buyer beware

81] The belly carries the legs

82] Custom takes the taste from the most savoury dishes

83] One is never too old to learn

84] Only with a new ruler do you realize the value of the old

85] Don’t quarrel with your bread and buffer

86] A good example is the best sermon

87] Hope often deludes the foolish man

88] Marriage is a lottery

89] Money can influence even the spirits

90] Win a good reputation, and sleep at your ease

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

92] A man apt to promise, is apt to forget

93] All meat No dish pleases all palates alike pleases not all mouths

94] Don’t ask a blind man which is the right way

95] Judge not, that ye be not judged

96] Small is beautiful

97] The result justifies the deed

98] Unpaid debts are unforgiven sins

99] Nature hates all sudden changes

100] What’s learnt in the cradle lasts till the tomb