Famous Proverbs

1] It is n time to stoop when the head is off.

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

3] Too much cunning undoes

4] One must be a servant before one can be a master

5] Only with a new ruler do you realize the value of the old

6] A bad workman always blames his tools

7] Silence and thinking can no man offend

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

9] Experience is a dear school, but fools learn in no other

10] A man whose conscience is clear, of a knock at midnight has no fear

11] A rich man can do nothing wrong

12] Rust wastes more than use

13] Sailors get their money like horses, and spend it like asses

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

15] Better an apple given than eaten

16] Prospect is often better than possession

17] Man may have a thousand plans, but god’s plan is best

18] The hero appears only when the tiger is dead

19] Oaks may fall when reeds stand the storm

20] Rome was not (or cannot be) built in a day

21] Don’t swap horses while crossing a stream

22] A word is enough to the wise

23] 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.

24] He that ventures not fails not.

25] He should have (or He needs) a long spoon who sups with the devil

26] An old horse knows the route

27] Make hay while the sun shines

28] A friend is easier lost than found

29] See how the wind blows

30] Wine and wenches empty men’s purses

31] Valour delights in the test

32] Let every pedlar carry his own burden

33] Truth conquers all things

34] The longest (or farthest) way round is the nearest (or shortest) way home.

35] Ale will make a cat speak

36] The darkest hour is that before the dawn

37] Charity excuseth not cheating.

38] Tomorrow is another day

39] Call no man happy till he is dead

40] The garment worn determines how one is served

41] Know thyself

42] What is a workman without his tools?

43] You never know your luck

44] Great trees keep down the little ones

45] Little pitchers have big ears.

46] Love your friend with his fault

47] Prevention is better than cure

48] Solitude is the best nurse of wisdom

49] It is misery enough to have once been happy

50] Men are not angles

51] Human blood is all of a colour

52] At the end of the game, the king and pawn go in to the same bag.

53] It is hard to sail over the sea in an egg-shell

54] He that sings on Friday, will weep on Sunday

55] Enough is as good as a feast

56] The shoemaker’s son always goes barefoot.

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

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

59] What is a workman without his tools?

60] Golden lads and girls all must, as chimney-sweepers, come to dust

61] A good paymaster never wants workmen

62] Nothing ventured, nothing gained

63] A good anvil does not fear the hammer

64] It needs more skill than I can tell to play the second fiddle well

65] He that has good money, gives few alms

66] The tongue ever turns to the aching tooth

67] Don’t play with edged tools

68] It is better (or more blessed) to give than to take

69] Don’t have too many irons in the fire

70] A golden key opens every door

71] Knowledge is the mother of all virtue; all vice proceeds from ignorance

72] Truth is stranger than fiction

73] Ill gotten, ill spent

74] No sweet without sweat

75] The end justifies the means

76] Once bitten, twice shy.

77] Beauty is potent but money is omnipotent

78] Love cannot be compelled

79] It is all in the day’s work

80] He that is absent is soon forgotten

81] Gnaw the bone which is fallen to thy lot

82] Even reckoning makes long friends

83] Experience is good if not bought too dear

84] A true man and a thief think not the same

85] Learning is like sailing against the tide - if you don’t move forward, you go backward

86] Pat any man and dust will fly

87] Great hopes make great men

88] Better late than never

89] The death of the wolves is the safety of the sheep

90] He that keeps not crust not crumb, shall ever want some

91] It is a good horse that never stumbles, and a good wife that never grumbles

92] It is ill sitting at Rome and striving against the pope

93] Courtesy on one side never lasts long

94] Seek and you shall find

95] The charitable give out at the door, and God puts in at the window

96] If you do not enter a tiger’s den, you cannot get its cubs

97] All things require skills but an appetite

98] All meat pleases not all mouths

99] All griefs with bread are less

100] A rich miser is poorer than a poor man