Famous Proverbs

1] Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me

2] One kindness is the price of another

3] Don’t put the cart before the horse

4] We always weaken whatever we exaggerate

5] The exception proves the rule

6] Give the devil his due

7] Fair exchange is no robbery

8] We don’t get something for nothing

9] Prospect is often better than possession

10] Even a clever wife cannot prepare a meal when there is no food

11] Gold brings gold; lack of gold, a headache

12] An ill tongue may do much

13] If it were not for hope, the heart would break

14] Under the tongue, men are crushed to death

15] Words and feathers the wind carries away

16] Don’t cry for the moon

17] Gold will not buy everything

18] Ill – gotten goods never prosper

19] A good friend is my nearest relation

20] All is vanity.

21] A beggar can never be bankrupt

22] Every man for himself, and God for us all.

23] So many men, so many opinions

24] Spare the rod and spoil the child

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

26] It is good fishing in troubled waters

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

28] What’s done cannot be undone

29] Early sow, early mow

30] Keep your mouth shut and your ears open

31] Wise men learn by other men’s harms (or mistakes), fools, by their own

32] Divide and rule

33] An ill tongue may do much

34] The devil is not as black as he is painted

35] The age of miracles is past

36] Medical plants from one’s own back-yard are no valued.

37] Through indecision, opportunity is often lost.

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

39] The tongue ever turns to the aching tooth

40] Those who live near water know the nature of fish; those who live near hills know the calls of birds

41] He that goes a borrowing goes a-sorrowing

42] Unpaid debts are unforgiven sins

43] Men leap over where the hedge is lowest

44] When the cat is away, the mice will play

45] All are not saints that go to church

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

47] Never say die

48] It is not every question that deserves an answer

49] He that loses anything and gets wisdom by it is a gainer by the loss

50] Be not too bold with your biggers or betters

51] A little help is worth a deal of pity

52] There is nothing permanent except change

53] Evil to him who evil thinks.

54] Easter so longed for is gone in a day

55] A nod is as good as wink to a blind horse

56] Send a donkey to Paris, he’ll return no wiser than he went

57] Jackdaw always perches by jackdaw.

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

59] The soldier who retreated fifty paces laughed at the one who had fallen back a hundred paces

60] A creaking gate (or door) hangs long

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

62] Money would be gotten if there were money to get it with

63] A friend is easier lost than found

64] Far from eye, far from heart

65] Things past cannot be recalled

66] When a friend asks, there is not tomorrow

67] A stitch in time saves nine

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

69] One man eats the jackfruit, another gets his hands sticky

70] There is a great difference between words and deeds

71] Better no doctor at all than three.

72] A good word for a bad one is worth much and costs little

73] It’s either not to begin or not to stop once you’ve begun

74] Delays are not denials

75] The bull must be taken by the horns

76] If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain.

77] Weeds need no sowing

78] You must grin and bear it

79] A good friend is my nearest relation

80] Bad excuses are worse than none.

81] Patience under old injuries invites new ones

82] He who cannot bear misfortune is truly unfortunate.

83] Abundance, like want, ruins many

84] Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know

85] Slender cannot make a good man bad; when the water recedes, the stone is still there.

86] A man can do no more than he can

87] Learn to walk before you run

88] A crowd is not company

89] Love delights in praise

90] Cowardice is afraid to be known or seen

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

92] It is good to follow the old fox

93] Like question, like answer.

94] Kill not the goose that lays the golden eggs

95] Patience is a flower that grows not in everyone’s garden

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

97] Double charge will rive a cannon

98] The noblest vengeance is to forgive

99] Homer sometimes nods

100] One is what one eats