Famous Proverbs

1] He loved mutton well that licked where the ewe lay

2] Calamity is the touchstone of a brave mind

3] In fair weather prepare for foul

4] No one is satisfied with his fortune, nor dissatisfied with his intellect

5] It is easier to commend poverty than endure it.

6] Files are easier caught with honey than with vinegar

7] Blood is thicker than water

8] Stolen pleasures are sweetest

9] No matter how much perfume you put on an onion, it will still emit a bad smell.

10] It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive

11] Mustard is a good sauce, but mirth is better

12] Easier said than done

13] There is nothing like being on the safe side

14] One pair of heels is often worth two pairs of hands

15] A good beginning is half the battle.

16] A black hen lays a white egg

17] Divide and rule

18] Change brings life

19] Will is the cause of woe

20] Gossiping and lying go together

21] There is no accounting for tastes

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

23] Manners make the man

24] Keep thy shop and thy shop will keep thee.

25] Too long burden makes weary bones

26] He that would know what shall be, must consider what has been

27] No choice amongst stinking fish

28] Don’t wear out (or outstay) your welcome

29] He who would hang his dog gives out first that it is mad

30] Health is great riches

31] See how the wind blows

32] A man in debt is caught in a net

33] Best is cheapest

34] Faint heart never won fair lady

35] God gives the grain, but we must make the furrow

36] A watched pot never boils

37] You cannot catch old birds with chaff

38] Much travel is needed to ripen a man’s rawness

39] Go to bed with the lamb, and rise with the lark

40] Prove your friend ere you have need

41] Time flees without a delay

42] If each would sweep before his own door, we should have a clean city

43] When a dwarf ascends a staircase, he gets higher every step

44] Hitch your wagon to a star

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

46] In doing we learn.

47] The bread never falls but on its buttered side

48] No tie can oblige the perfidious

49] Where ignorance is bliss, ‘tis folly to be wise

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

51] Gnaw the bone which is fallen to thy lot

52] He that will not go over the stile, must be thrust through the gate

53] An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

54] The leopard cannot change its spots

55] Lend only that which you can afford to lose

56] Men are blind in their own cause

57] Names are debts

58] As well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamp

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

60] A dwarf on a giant’s shoulders sees the farther of the two

61] Books and friends should be few but good

62] What may be done at any time is done at no time

63] Bold resolution is the favourite of providence

64] The hasty leaps over his opportunities

65] Accidents will happen in the best regulated families

66] Do as say, not as I do

67] One may change the place but not the mind.

68] We shall beat our swords into ploughshares

69] Nothing is impossible to a willing heart

70] Judge not, that ye be not judged

71] Four eyes see better than two.

72] Every lot is to be overcome by endurance

73] He loses his thanks who promises and delays

74] All griefs with bread are less

75] An hour in the morning is worth two in the evening

76] Money isn’t everything

77] He that will steal an egg, will steal an ox

78] They that value not praise, will never do anything worthy of praise

79] Money is the sinew of affairs

80] A drowning man will clutch at a straw

81] Birds of a feather flock together

82] Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth

83] A sluggard takes a hundred steps because he would not take one in due time.

84] Health and wealth create beauty

85] By falling we learn to go safely

86] When in doubt, do nothing

87] All doors open to courtesy

88] Without diligence, no prize

89] To the hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet. To a thirsty man any drink is sweet.

90] An open door may tempt a saint

91] Desperate diseases need (or must have) desperate cures

92] Fools live poor to die rich

93] Pride goes before a fall

94] A wicked man is his own hell

95] If you want peace, prepare for war

96] An ounce of mother is worth a ton of priest

97] Love knows no limit

98] Dreams go by contraries

99] As you plant wild grass, you won’t get a crop of rice.

100] He that sleeps sound feels not the toothache