Famous Proverbs

1] Eggs and oaths are easily broken

2] Pitchers have ears

3] If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing well

4] Better a little loss than a long sorrow

5] If the lad goes to the well against his will, either the can will break or the water will spill

6] It is more blessed to give than to receive

7] Burn not your house to fright the mouse away

8] Don’t tell tales out of school

9] Misfortune does not always come to injure

10] It takes all sorts to make a world

11] Numbers overcome the brave

12] An honest good look covers many faults.

13] The labourer is worthy of his hire

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

15] Experience is good if not bought too dear

16] Pouring oil on the fire is not the way to quench it

17] A man may say too much, even up on the best subjects

18] A mouse may help a lion

19] Never spur a willing horse

20] None can guess the jewel by the casket

21] Better cut the shoe than pinch the foot

22] Eat to live and not live to eat.

23] Long looked for, comes at last

24] Plain dealing is a jewel, but they that use it die beggars

25] Even the tiger will appear if you talk about him

26] Fortune knocks once at every man’s door

27] The word is far him who has patience

28] The first blow is half the battle

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

30] He that demands misses not, unless his demands be foolish

31] You may know by a handful the whole sack

32] Don’t kick against the pricks

33] Wise men do not argue with idiots

34] Among the blind, the one-eyed man is king

35] Spend not where you may save, spare not where you must spend

36] The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world

37] Promises may make friends, but it is performances that keep them

38] Virtue is a jewel of great price.

39] No man is wise at all times

40] First thrive then wive

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

42] A door must be either shut or open

43] Greedy eaters dig their graves with their teeth.

44] Men are not to be measured in inches

45] Mercy to the criminal may be cruelty to the people

46] It is a foolish bird that soils (or defiles ) its own nest

47] You may lead (or take) a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink

48] Fortune is blind

49] It is good sheltering under an old hedge

50] Every may be has a may not be

51] Desire beautifies what is ugly

52] Everything comes to him who waits

53] Love laughs at locksmiths

54] The world is full of fools

55] Poverty is not a shame, but the being ashamed of it is

56] Think of ease, but work on.

57] Let a fool hold his tongue and he will pass for a sage

58] Much law but little justice

59] It is too late to grieve when the chance is past

60] Great actions speak minds

61] Gold goes in at any gate except heaven’s

62] A lion may come to be beholden to a mouse

63] An ill tongue may do much

64] Weapons breed peace

65] Be not too bold with your biggers or betters

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

67] One barber shaves another gratis

68] Better are small fish than an empty dish

69] The bird is known by his note, the man by his words

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

71] Drive thy business or it will drive thee.

72] Spare the rod and spoil the child

73] The thief doth fear each bush an offer

74] A fool may give a wise counsel. A fool’s bolt may sometimes hit the mark.

75] All our pomp the earth covers

76] Findings are keepings

77] Everybody’s business is nobody’s business

78] If the cap fits, wear it

79] All’s fair in love and war

80] Hunger drives the wolf out of the wood

81] Prevention is better than cure

82] He that will eat the kernel, must crack the nut

83] A man can do no more than he can

84] The eye is bigger than the belly

85] Accidents will happen

86] Wisdom is neither inheritance nor legacy

87] Kindness to the good is better investment than kindness to the rich.

88] The truest jests sound worst in guilty ears

89] The hero appears only when the tiger is dead

90] A good lawyer must be a great liar

91] There’s no fence against ill fortune.

92] Grief pent up will break the heart

93] You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear

94] Submitting to one wrong brings on another.

95] Children pick up words as pigeons peas, and utter than again as god shall please

96] If there were no clouds, we should not enjoy the sun

97] He who sits in the well to observe the sky does not see very much.

98] It is easier to praise poverty than to bear it.

99] Our worst misfortunes are those which never befall us

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