Famous Proverbs

1] Who greases his way travels easily

2] Don’t teach your grandmother to suck eggs.

3] Save your breath to cool the porridge

4] He that talks much, errs much

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

6] More have repented speech than silence

7] Blessings brighten as they take their flight

8] Can we ever too much of a good thing?

9] It the counsel be good, no matter who gave it.

10] While the word is in your mouth, it is your own; when ‘tis another’s

11] A fool may give a wise man counsel

12] He that keeps not crust not crumb, shall ever want some

13] Fine words dress ill deeds

14] Between two stools you fall to the ground

15] Dangerous foreseen are soonest prevented

16] Things are seldom what they seem.

17] Fish and guests smell in three days

18] A constant guest is never welcome

19] Let another’s shipwreck be you sea-mark.

20] That which is easily done is soon believed

21] He preaches well (or best) that lives well (or best).

22] It is ill striving against the stream

23] Constant dripping (or dropping) wears away the stone

24] In a clam sea, every man is a pilot

25] He who lives with cats will get a taste for mice

26] The hand that gives, gathers

27] A good servant must have good wages

28] When two men look after a horse, it will surely be thin; when two families keep a boat, it will surely leak

29] He who waits for another man’s platter has a cold meal

30] Things are only worth one makes them worth

31] Crust is better than no bread

32] Every man must carry his own cross

33] Kind hearts are soonest wronged

34] Joy and sorrow are next door neighbours.

35] Hunger is the teacher of many

36] The bread never falls but on its buttered side

37] He that desires but little has no deed of much

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

39] Wine is the best broom for trouble

40] If you wish good advice, consult an old man

41] The unexpected always happens.

42] What’s done cannot be undone

43] A man without a smiling face must not open a shop

44] Give a dog a bad name and hang him

45] He who comes late must eat what is left

46] Two wrongs do not make a right

47] What is deferred is not abandoned

48] A word to the wise is enough

49] A thing of beauty is a joy forever

50] Even reckoning makes long friends

51] Water is the king of food

52] He who comes first, grinds first.

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

54] Like father, like son

55] Kind hearts are more than coronets

56] Success makes a fool seem wise.

57] Necessity and opportunity may make a coward valiant

58] Pleasant hours fly past

59] An empty purse fills the face with wrinkles

60] The good intention excuses the bad action

61] Dream of a funeral and you hear of a marriage

62] A successful man is seldom at ease; a life of ease does not breed success

63] God is a sure paymaster

64] Zeal is fit only for wise men, but is found mostly in fools

65] All things require skills but an appetite

66] If cattle are scattered, the tiger seizes them.

67] Friendship is a plant which must be often watered

68] To err is human

69] Cloudy mornings turn to clear afternoons

70] It is good to follow the old fox

71] Woods that grows warped can never be straightened

72] Harp not for ever on the same string

73] When the horse has reached the brink of the precipice, it is too late to pull the reins.

74] One lie makes many

75] When it pleases not God, the saint can do little

76] Love rules without a sword, and binds without a cord

77] Confession of our fault is the next thing to innocence

78] Second thoughts are best

79] The cat would eat fish and would not wet her feet

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

81] Parents are patterns

82] Never too late to learn

83] One thief will not rob another

84] Money breeds (or makes, or begets) money

85] Lose a leg rather than a life

86] A thief knows a thief knows a thief as a wolf knows a wolf

87] Men are blind in their own cause

88] Never grieve for what you cannot help

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

90] Birds once snared fear all bushes

91] Hope is the poor man’s bread

92] The best is often the enemy of the good

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

94] It is all in the day’s work

95] A good wife and health is a man’s best wealth

96] Set a thief to catch a thief

97] What we spent, we had; what we gave, we have: what we left, we lost

98] If you walk in the sun, you will know the blessedness of being in the shade

99] Many would be cowards, if they had courage enough

100] Point not at other’s spots with a foul finger