Famous Proverbs

1] Our own opinion is never wrong

2] You cannot teach an old dog new tricks

3] Too far east is west

4] If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas

5] The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach

6] There is death in the pot.

7] A good marksman may miss

8] Don’t bargain for fish which are still in the water

9] He that speaks well, flights well

10] An angry man is not fit to pray

11] It is not work that kills but worry

12] Goods that are much on show lose their colour

13] One is never too old to learn

14] A straw will show which way the wind blows.

15] You cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hounds

16] Beauty opens locked doors

17] Learn to see in another’s misfortune, the ills which you should avoid.

18] Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.

19] Travel broadens the mind

20] The ant had wings to her hurt

21] With wealth, you are as grand as a dragon; without wealth you are as insignificant as a worm.

22] There is many a fair thing full false

23] Everyone puts his fault on the times.

24] If you run after two hares, you will catch neither

25] He that lives ill, fear follows him

26] Each day brings its own bread

27] It is good fishing in troubled waters

28] No day so clear but has dark clouds

29] The cobbler’s children are always the worst shod

30] When misfortune sleeps, let no one wake her

31] Love me, love the crows on my roof

32] What is the good of a sundial in the shade?

33] Don’t tell tales out of school

34] Slander leaves a sc ore behind it

35] No feast lasts forever.

36] Calamity is the touchstone of a brave mind

37] Things past cannot be recalled

38] He that will not endure to itch must endure to smart

39] Covetousness breaks the sack

40] Like question, like answer.

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

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

43] Tell a lie and stick to it.

44] Excessive politeness is often a cloak for insincerity

45] An honorable man would rather be a chicken’s beak than the rump of an ox.

46] Choose neither women nor linen by candlelight.

47] Black will take no other hue

48] Solitude is the best nurse of wisdom

49] Good counsel never comes amiss

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

51] When you do not know what to do – wait.

52] Learn to walk before you run

53] Silence is also speech

54] Don’t bargain for fish which are still in the water

55] Don’t play with fire

56] Fire is a good servant a bad master

57] There is a time to speak and a time to be silent

58] Better be a fool than a knave

59] Old vessels must leak

60] He that talks much, errs much

61] Past experiences are the best guide for future undertakings

62] Counsel must be followed, not praised.

63] Anything will fit a naked man.

64] No naked man is sought after to be rifled

65] A good scare is worth more to a man than good advice

66] No misfortune will go on forever

67] Mount Fuji itself is not So beautiful to one who is cold and hungry

68] Long tarrying takes all the thanks away

69] Will without reason is blind, and against reason, is mad

70] Do as most men do, then most men well speak well of you

71] Drops that gather one by one finally become a sea

72] You never know your luck

73] The more wicked, the more lucky

74] Necessity knows no law

75] God tempers that wind to the shorn lamb

76] Better an open enemy than a false friend

77] Look at the bright side

78] Wiles help weak folk

79] It is not every question that deserves an answer

80] Industry is fortune’s right hand, and frugality her left

81] Creditors have better memories than debtors

82] Bees that have honey in their mouths have stings in their tails.

83] Appearances are deceptive

84] Every deed is to be judges by the doer’s intention.

85] Make haste slowly

86] Many hands make light work

87] Love is never without jealousy

88] There is no tree but bears some fruit

89] Knowledge is power

90] He that has a fellow-ruler, has an over-ruler. ¶ There is no good accord, where every man would be a lord

91] All things are possible with god

92] A willful man will have his way

93] T’ is safest making peace with sword in hand

94] Cast not the first stone.

95] You see a man’s face but not his heart.

96] Harsh words cut wounds that fester like cankerous sores

97] There is no accounting for tastes

98] Names are debts

99] When Greek meets Greek, then comes the tug of war

100] It is better to have done something great than to have never been successful