Famous Proverbs

1] Pardon makes offenders

2] Travel broadens the mind

3] Misery acquaints men with strange bedfellows

4] A rose by any other name would smell as sweet

5] What has been, may be

6] A sleepy master makes his servant a lout

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

8] If every man would sweep before his own door, the city would soon be clean

9] A ragged colt may make a good horse.

10] A bribe will enter without knocking

11] Honest is the best policy

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

13] No man is born wise or learned

14] The joy of the heart makes the face fair.

15] Nothing is so certain as death

16] Nothing costs so much as what is given us

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

18] Even dust, when piled up, may form a hill

19] The great fish eat up the small

20] There is no smoke without fire

21] Take heed is a fair thing

22] He that comes first to the hill, may sit where he will.

23] It is an ill bargain where no man wins

24] Liars should have good memories

25] Pleasing ware is half sold

26] A man has choice to begin love, but not to end it.

27] He who does no good, does evil enough

28] You cannot make a crab walk straight

29] The fairest flowers soonest fade

30] Truth conquers all things

31] All’s well that ends well

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

33] Beauty is but skin-deep

34] Strings high stretched either soon crack or quickly grow out of tune.

35] Words fly, writings remain

36] Things are only worth one makes them worth

37] When the fox preaches, then beware your geese

38] Better children weep than old men

39] Exchange (or Fair exchange) is no robbery

40] Friendship should not be all on one

41] Bare walls make giddy housewives

42] Birds of a feather flock together

43] Men leap over where the hedge is lowest

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

45] First creep, then walk

46] What is a workman without his tools?

47] If the wise erred not, it would go hard with fools.

48] However much the arm may swing out, the armpit is where it sticks

49] Kind hearts are more than coronets

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

51] The axe falls on a straight tree first

52] Don’t cut the bough you are standing on

53] Kinsman helps kinsman, and woe to him that has none

54] A single arrow is easily broken, but not ten in a bundle.

55] Actions speak louder than words

56] Learn to walk before you run

57] A ragged coat may cover an honest man.

58] Out of sight, out of mind

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

60] The king can make a knight, but not a gentleman

61] He that blows best, bears away the horn

62] Our neighbour’s ground yields better corn than ours

63] The devil sometimes speaks the truth

64] Let people laugh, as long as I am warm

65] Medical plants from one’s own back-yard are no valued.

66] He is lifeless that is faultless

67] The first time, a novice the second time, an adept

68] A man of gladness seldom falls into madness

69] Anger begins with folly and ends with repentance.

70] Other times, other manners

71] Mirth is the sugar of life

72] The labour we delight in physics pain

73] He who comes late must eat what is left

74] Ready money is a ready remedy

75] Don’t hallo (or shout, or whistle) until you are out of the wood

76] Knowledge humbles the great man, astonishes the common man and puffeth up the little man

77] A contented mind is a perpetual feast

78] Do it now

79] A pot that belongs to many is ill stirred and worse boiled

80] Money is the only monarch

81] Beauty fades like a flower.

82] Man cannot live by bread alone

83] It is easy to bear the misfortunes of others

84] Every ass likes to hear himself bray

85] Away goes the devil when he finds the door shut against him

86] Diamond cuts diamond

87] Claw me, and I’ll claw thee

88] The cow knows not what her tail is worth till she has lost it

89] We do as we can, since we can’t do as we would

90] A light purse makes a heavy heart

91] History repeats itself

92] Many words, many buffets

93] It is easier to pour away water than to gather it.

94] Jam tomorrow and jam yesterday – but never jam today

95] He who sows, trusts in God

96] Mirth is the sugar of life

97] The best things are hard to come by.

98] Deliver your words not by number but by weight

99] When the weather is cold, there is not such thing as dirty clothing

100] Hope for the best and prepare for the worst