Famous Proverbs

1] Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow.

2] The leopard cannot change its spots

3] Pride goes before a fall

4] What will not money do?

5] Truthfulness becomes the gentleman

6] A dragon that is stranded in shallow water, becomes the butt of shrimps

7] Still waters run deep

8] The eye that sees all things else sees not itself

9] Absence diminished little passions and increases great ones

10] He that is fallen cannot help him that is down

11] Opportunity makes the thief

12] Fear of death is worse than death itself

13] Set a thief to catch a thief

14] Walls have ears

15] Open a book and you profit by what you read

16] In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king

17] God helps those who help themselves

18] The dancing girl who could not dance, said that the hall was not big enough.

19] He who aims at the moon may hit the top of a tree; he who aims at the top of a tree is unlikely to get off the ground

20] A good reaper deserves a good sickle.

21] The sun shines upon all alike.

22] He is a fool that kisses the maid when he may kiss the mistress

23] An old cart well used may outlast a new one abused

24] The great would have none great, and the little all little

25] Man cannot live by bread alone

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

27] He that never ate flesh, thinks a pudding is a dainty

28] All doors open to courtesy

29] Even fools sometimes speak to the purpose

30] Law makers should not be law breakers

31] Don’t play with edged tools

32] Drops that gather one by one finally become a sea

33] No one betrays himself by silence

34] Look before you leap

35] When in Rome, do as the Romans do

36] He who makes no mistakes makes nothing

37] The more cost, the more honour

38] When misfortune sleeps, let no one wake her

39] When a friend asks, there is not tomorrow

40] There’s a black sheep in every flock

41] A scalded cat fears hot water.

42] Haste trips up (or over) its own heels

43] He who never was sick dies the first fit

44] A man turned pig no longer fears filth

45] He that commits a fault, thinks everyone speaks of it.

46] A lion may be beholden to a mouse

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

48] Don’t bite the hand that feeds you

49] If you gently touch a nettle, it’ll sting you for your pains; grasp it like a man of mettle, and it soft as silk remains.

50] Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

51] It is useless to flog a dead horse

52] Success makes a fool seem wise.

53] A word before is worth two behind

54] It is no use crying over spilt milk

55] Sooner begun, sooner done

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

57] Each man, in corrupting others, corrupts himself

58] Do unto others as you would they should do unto you.

59] The loftiest towers rise from the ground

60] In vain they rise early that used to rise late

61] There’s no fence against ill fortune.

62] Mere wishes are silly fishes

63] Laws were made to be broke

64] A watched pot never boils

65] A creaking gate (or door) hangs long

66] Covetousness brings nothing home

67] An honest good look covers many faults.

68] The weakest goes to the wall

69] A man’s discontent is his worst evil

70] Think on the end before you begin

71] Calamity is the touchstone of a brave mind

72] An ounce of patience is worth a pound of brains

73] No misfortune will go on forever

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

75] When children stand quiet, they have done some ill.

76] He that cannot ask, cannot live

77] The knowledge of a learned man is limited if he stays at home all the time

78] Never was a cat or dog drowned, that could but see the shore

79] Repentance is a bitter physic

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

81] We live laws, not by examples

82] Nearest the heart comes out first

83] The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world

84] Save a stranger from the sea and he’ll turn your enemy

85] He laughs best who laughs last

86] Help a lame dog over a stile

87] Riches rather enlarge than satisfy appetites

88] Past cure, past care

89] In your anxiety to avoid losing a drop, you spill the whole lot

90] One master in a house is enough

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

92] By doing nothing, we learn to do ill

93] An apple a day keeps the doctor away

94] Blessings brighten as they take their flight

95] Good hand, good hire

96] Enough is as good as a feast

97] He that will not have peace, God gives him war

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

99] Children speak only words they have heard.

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