Famous Proverbs

1] Take not a musket to kill a butterfly

2] He who peeps through a hole, may see what will vex him

3] Virtue is its own reward

4] When two elephants struggle, it is the grass that suffers

5] Ninety per cent of inspiration is perspiration

6] The peony, though large, is useless; the date blossom, though small, yields fruit

7] Patient waiters are no losers

8] All are not thieves that dogs bark at

9] Friendship should not be all on one

10] Calamity is man’s true touchstone

11] It is easier to capture a tiger in the hills than to ask for favours from a man

12] The borrower is servant to the lender

13] Extremes are dangerous

14] No playing with a straw before an old cat.

15] Water far away will not extinguish a fire that is nearby; relatives far from you are not as good as neighbours close to you.

16] A man turned pig no longer fears filth

17] There is nothing permanent except change

18] There are more ways to the wood than one.

19] Eat at pleasure, drink by measure

20] There’s a time and place for everything

21] It is no use spoiling the ship for a half penny worth of tar

22] Nothing is so bad but might have been worse

23] We should publish our joys and conceal our griefs

24] He who handles a nettle tenderly is soonest stung

25] Covetousness breaks the sack

26] Money isn’t everything

27] Haste trips up (or over) its own heels

28] Knowledge without practice makes but half an artist

29] Thrift is a great revenue

30] Everything tempts the man who fears temptation. If you can’t be good, be careful.

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

32] The strength of the chain is in the weakest link.

33] Ninety per cent of inspiration is perspiration

34] Every man praises his own wares

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

36] Honey catches more files than vinegar.

37] The child is father of the man

38] Variety is charming

39] Silence is a woman’s best garment

40] The ass that brays most eats

41] Truth is mighty and will prevail

42] When the dog catches mice, it is meddling in the cat’s business.

43] He who considers too much will perform little.

44] Needs must when the devil drives

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

46] Everything would fain live

47] What must be must be

48] Wishes can never fill a sack

49] Knowledge has bitter roots but sweet fruits

50] The early man ever borrows from the late man

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

52] Cheats never prosper

53] Will is the cause of woe

54] An old ox makes a straight furrow

55] When children stand quiet, they have done some ill.

56] Neither bribe, nor lose thy right

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

58] He that fights and runs away may live to fight another day

59] You can’t clap with one hand

60] Better an egg in peace than an ox in war

61] Care is no cure

62] Crowns have cares

63] Anger and haste hinder good counsel

64] The hand that gives, gathers

65] The wisest of the wise may err.

66] He that does most at once, does least

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

68] It is all in the day’s work

69] Every horse thinks its own pack heaviest

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

71] Enquire not what boils in another’s pot. ¶ Listeners seldom hear good of themselves

72] Give us the tools, and we will finish the job

73] Much science, much sorrow

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

75] We are all Adam’s children

76] When in Rome, do as the Romans do

77] What’s done cannot be undone

78] Let not thy tongue run away with thy brains

79] The buyer needs a hundred eyes, the seller but one

80] Give him an inch and he’ll take a yard

81] The more wicked, the more lucky

82] A good lather is half the shave

83] Give a dog a bad name and hang him

84] Better be alone than in bad company

85] No man is the worse for knowing the worst of himself

86] When bees area old, they yield n honey

87] A woman’s work is never done

88] All cats are grey in the dark

89] You can’t win them all

90] The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence

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

92] Thatch your roof before the rain begins

93] There is safety in numbers

94] Do not wear out your welcome

95] Neither praise nor dispraise thyself; thy actions serve the turn

96] It is too late to husband when all is spent

97] Don’t make a mountain out of molehill

98] That voyage never has luck where each one has a vote.

99] Fingers were made before forks

100] You cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs