Famous Proverbs

1] Like question, like answer.

2] He who works before dawn will soon be his own master

3] Think of ease, but work on.

4] Better at home than a mile from it

5] Give and take is fair play

6] All things require skills but an appetite

7] A quiet conscience sleeps in thunder

8] The most high Good sees and bears; me neighbour knows, nothing, and yet is always finding fault.

9] Experience without learning is better than learning without experience

10] Don’t have too many irons in the fire

11] The tongue breaks bone, and herself has none

12] Work has a bitter root but sweet fruit.

13] The tongue is not steel, yet it cuts

14] The darkest place is under the candlestick

15] Pride dines on vanity, sups on contempt

16] Good riding at two anchors, men have told, for if one breaks the other may hold

17] Love is never without jealousy

18] Mischief comes by the pound and goes away by the ounce

19] A wise man is never less alone than when alone

20] Blessings brighten as they take their flight

21] There is no time like the present

22] Poor men seek meat for their stomach; rich men stomach for their meat.

23] A burnt child dreads the fire

24] He that gives his goods before he be dead, take up a mallet and knock him on the head

25] Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, and half shut afterwards

26] He gives twice who gives quickly

27] Speech is silver, silence is golden

28] Ask, and it shall be given to you.

29] Know when to spend and when to spare, and you need not be busy, you’ll never be bare

30] Have but few friends, though many acquaintances

31] Virtue is the only true nobility

32] Though a lie be swift the truth overtakes it

33] Names and natures do often agree

34] In peace, prepare for war

35] The sun is never the worse for shining on a dunghill

36] Charity excuseth not cheating.

37] Divine grace was never slow

38] You cannot teach an old dog new tricks

39] Things past cannot be recalled

40] Envy shoots at others and wounds herself

41] Well done is better than well said

42] Pride goes before a fall

43] God helps those who help themselves

44] Kick a tone in anger, and you will hurt your own feet

45] A good marksman may miss

46] There’s small choice in rotten apples.

47] Give a clown your finger, and he will take your hand

48] The best of men are but men at best.

49] Thatch your roof before the rain begins

50] Jack is as good as his master

51] Behind the smile, a dagger may be hidden

52] Pardoning the bad is injuring the good

53] Extreme justice is extreme injustice.

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

55] An apple a day keeps the doctor away

56] You cannot get blood (or water) out of a stone

57] Flesh is frail

58] Do as you would be done by

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

60] Love is blind

61] The best things carried to excess are wrong

62] He who depends on another, dines ill and sups worse

63] The good is often the enemy of the best

64] Love me, love the crows on my roof

65] He that may not do as he would, must do as he may

66] When the butcher has already killed your pig, it is useless to discuss with him the price

67] No tie can oblige the perfidious

68] Truth may walk through the world unarmed

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

70] Say as men say, but think to yourself.

71] Patience is a plaster for all sores

72] A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds

73] Better a little loss than a long sorrow

74] A contented mind is a perpetual feast

75] No good building without a good foundation.

76] He that praises himself, spatters himself

77] Who chatters to you, will chatter of you.

78] He that would catch fish must venture his bait

79] Without knowing the force of words, it is impossible to know the man

80] When someone gives up a peach, return him a plum

81] Her that is down need fear no fall

82] Like father, like son

83] All’s fair in love and war

84] Habits are at first cobwebs, at last cables.

85] Throw out a sprat to catch a mackerel

86] Heaven helps those who help themselves

87] Keep your eyes open: a sale is a sale

88] If things were to be done twice, all would be wise.

89] What costs little is little esteemed

90] Wrong has no warrant

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

92] First thrive then wive

93] He who serves is not free

94] If you would wed fitly, wed in your station

95] Stolen sweets are sweeter

96] Full of courtesy, full of craft

97] Faint heart never won fair lady

98] A good reaper deserves a good sickle.

99] In peace, prepare for war

100] It is as well to know which way the wind blows