Famous Proverbs

1] Pleasant hours fly past
2] Trouble brings experience and experience brings wisdom
3] One is not smelt where all stink
4] If one sheep leaps over the ditch (or dyke), all the rest will follow
5] Gold may be bought too dear
6] Circumstances alter cases
7] At the end of the game, you’ll see who’s the winner
8] He should have (or He needs) a long spoon who sups with the devil
9] What costs little is little esteemed
10] Sparrows who emulate peacocks are likely to break a thigh
11] Kindness to the good is better investment than kindness to the rich.
12] Never was a cat or dog drowned, that could but see the shore
13] Every man has his price
14] Seldom is a long man wise, or a low man lowly
15] Union is strength.
16] Fools grow without watering.
17] A man should keep from the blind and give t his kin.
18] Beauty draws more than oxen
19] Extremity of right is wrong
20] A soft answer turns away wrath
21] A cat has nine lives
22] Hoist your sail when the wind is fair
23] Learning is a treasure which accompanies its owner everywhere.
24] A knave and a fool never take thought
25] No day so clear but has dark clouds
26] Between two stools you fall to the ground
27] When someone gives up a peach, return him a plum
28] Who hath a good trade, through all waters may wade
29] Spare the rod and spoil the child
30] The devil’s children have the devil’s luck
31] He that ventures not fails not.
32] Charity excuseth not cheating.
33] He that has no money needs no purse
34] He loses his thanks who promises and delays
35] He that sings on Friday, will weep on Sunday
36] A good conscience is a constant feast
37] From small beginnings come great things
38] Of thy sorrow be not too sad, of thy joy be not too glad
39] Anger without power is folly
40] Pardon makes offenders
41] A wise man is never less alone than when he is alone
42] If Jack’s in love, he’s no judge of Jill’s beauty
43] Affection blinds reason
44] A wounded reputation is seldom cured
45] He who spends before he thrives will beg before he thinks
46] The submitting to one wrong brings on another
47] The highest branch is not the safest roost
48] A miss is as good as a mile
49] Away goes the devil when he finds the door shut against him
50] At the game’s end we shall see who gains
51] It’s hard to get one’s own sword back when it’s in someone else’s scabbard
52] In everything consider the end
53] Give a loan and buy quarrel
54] A man may bear till his back breaks
55] She’s her father’s (or mother’s) daughter
56] The child says nothing but what it hears by the fire
57] Do leaves sprout on rootless trees?
58] Dying is as natural as living
59] Advice when most needed is least heeded
60] He who depends on another, dines ill and sups worse
61] Bold men have generous hearts
62] Pleasure is due only when all duty’s done.
63] As soon as there is life there is danger
64] What the king wills, that the law wills
65] The best wine comes from an old vessel
66] Waste makes wants
67] Homo is a common name to all men.
68] Unless the vessel is clean, what you pour in to it turns sour.
69] Nothing is given so freely as advice
70] A hungry man smells meat afar off
71] To study a great deal is to acquire a priceless treasure
72] The loftiest towers rise from the ground
73] The biter is sometimes bit
74] None are so fond of secrets as those who don’t mean to keep them
75] Better no doctor at all than three.
76] Will is the cause of woe
77] Jesters do oft prove prophets
78] Hungry dogs will eat dirty puddings
79] Not good is it to harp on the on the frayed string
80] What the eye doesn’t see, the heart grieves not
81] Better a louse in the pot than no flesh at all
82] When you are an anvil, hold still; when you are an anvil, hold still; when you are a hammer, strike your fill.
83] Those that make the best use of their time, have none to spare
84] When the fox preaches, then beware your geese
85] It is an ill sign to see a fox lick a lamb
86] Those who live near water know the nature of fish; those who live near hills know the calls of birds
87] Gold goes in at any gate except heaven’s
88] Still waters run deep
89] No garden without its weeds.
90] Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth
91] Take time by the forelock
92] He who leaps high must take a long run
93] Never spur a willing horse
94] Venture a small fish to catch a big one
95] Wise men silent, fools talk
96] Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
97] He that will thrive must rise at five
98] A ragged colt may make a good horse.
99] Tomorrow never comes
100] Don’t empty (or throw) the baby out with the bath water