Famous Proverbs

1] An ill tongue may do much

2] He who can wait obtains what he wishes.

3] Every medal has two sides

4] Rain water leaks through the roof-top

5] A drowning man will clutch at a straw

6] Comparisons make enemies of our friends.

7] A clear conscience fears not false accusations

8] Submitting to one wrong brings on another.

9] What can’t be cured must be endured

10] Eaten bread is soon forgotten

11] Human blood is all of a colour

12] The cowl does not make the monk.

13] A wise man will learn something even from the words of a fool

14] He cannot speak well that cannot hold his tongue

15] First come, first served

16] In a church, in an inn, and in a coffin, all men are equal

17] It is easier to pour away water than to gather it.

18] Don’t hide your light under a bushel

19] Better be out of the world than out of the fashion.

20] He that has a good memory, gives few alms

21] He should have a long spoon who sups with the devil.

22] It is the lot of a king to do well but to be ill-spoken of

23] Intimacy lessens fame

24] Anger and haste hinder good counsel

25] The thief doth fear each bush an offer

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

27] The best things in life are free

28] A swine over-fat, is the cause of his own bane

29] Hope for the best and prepare for the worst

30] Keep not ill men company, lest you increase the number

31] Love your friend with his fault

32] Example is better than precept

33] Better learn late than never

34] A man’s best fortune, or his worst, is a wife

35] With seven nurses, the child loses its eye

36] Gifts blind the eyes.

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

38] While there is life, there is hope

39] Better unborn than untaught

40] He that is afraid of the devil does not grow rich

41] Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

42] Big words seldom go with good deeds

43] He is not laughed at the laughs at himself first

44] Deeds are fruits; words are but leaves

45] To err is human; to forgive, divine

46] Health is not value till sickness comes

47] Well begun is half done.

48] Ill gotten, ill spent

49] Opportunity makes the thief

50] Two midwives will twist the baby’s head

51] Big fish eat little fish

52] Pleasant hours fly past

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

54] He that has plenty of goods will have more

55] No, thank you’ has lost you many a good butter-cake

56] It at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again

57] Every man has the defects of his own virtues (or qualities)

58] Be just before you are generous

59] Every one thinks his own sack heaviest

60] Excessive happiness produces pain

61] At the game’s end we shall see who gains

62] Praise makes good men better and bad men worse

63] Poverty is not a crime

64] Don’t play with edged tools

65] A fool always rushes to the fore.

66] The bait hides the hook

67] The young will sow their wild oats

68] The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world

69] You win some, you lose some

70] Give me fire and I’ll give you light

71] He gives twice who gives quickly

72] Kick a tone in anger, and you will hurt your own feet

73] Never hit a man when he’s down

74] Conscience is a thousand witnesses

75] It is better to conceal one’s knowledge than to reveal one’s ignorance

76] Pleasing ware is half sold

77] Who is more busy than he that has least to do?

78] Lookers-on see most of the game

79] Rich folk have many friends

80] What can you expect from a hog but a grunt?

81] It is easy to find a stick to beat a dog

82] Wives must be had, be they good or bad

83] The eye is bigger than the belly

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

85] Nothing so bad in which there is not something of good

86] Spread the table, and contention will cease

87] Good is good but better carries it

88] Poverty obstructs the road to virtue

89] Eat to live and not live to eat.

90] The first step is the only difficulty

91] White there’s life there’s hope

92] Love is a disease, and the loved on is the only medicine

93] If you wish to die young, make your physician your heir

94] An empty sack cannot stand upright

95] One volunteer is worth two pressed men

96] Old foxes want no tutors

97] A fool says what he knows, and a wise man knows what he says.

98] Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth

99] When a man grows angry, his reason rides out.

100] The sign brings customers