Famous Proverbs

1] Pleasant hours fly past

2] Trouble brings experience and experience brings wisdom

3] One is not smelt where all stink

4] If one sheep leaps over the ditch (or dyke), all the rest will follow

5] Gold may be bought too dear

6] Circumstances alter cases

7] At the end of the game, you’ll see who’s the winner

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

9] What costs little is little esteemed

10] Sparrows who emulate peacocks are likely to break a thigh

11] Kindness to the good is better investment than kindness to the rich.

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

13] Every man has his price

14] Seldom is a long man wise, or a low man lowly

15] Union is strength.

16] Fools grow without watering.

17] A man should keep from the blind and give t his kin.

18] Beauty draws more than oxen

19] Extremity of right is wrong

20] A soft answer turns away wrath

21] A cat has nine lives

22] Hoist your sail when the wind is fair

23] Learning is a treasure which accompanies its owner everywhere.

24] A knave and a fool never take thought

25] No day so clear but has dark clouds

26] Between two stools you fall to the ground

27] When someone gives up a peach, return him a plum

28] Who hath a good trade, through all waters may wade

29] Spare the rod and spoil the child

30] The devil’s children have the devil’s luck

31] He that ventures not fails not.

32] Charity excuseth not cheating.

33] He that has no money needs no purse

34] He loses his thanks who promises and delays

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

36] A good conscience is a constant feast

37] From small beginnings come great things

38] Of thy sorrow be not too sad, of thy joy be not too glad

39] Anger without power is folly

40] Pardon makes offenders

41] A wise man is never less alone than when he is alone

42] If Jack’s in love, he’s no judge of Jill’s beauty

43] Affection blinds reason

44] A wounded reputation is seldom cured

45] He who spends before he thrives will beg before he thinks

46] The submitting to one wrong brings on another

47] The highest branch is not the safest roost

48] A miss is as good as a mile

49] Away goes the devil when he finds the door shut against him

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

51] It’s hard to get one’s own sword back when it’s in someone else’s scabbard

52] In everything consider the end

53] Give a loan and buy quarrel

54] A man may bear till his back breaks

55] She’s her father’s (or mother’s) daughter

56] The child says nothing but what it hears by the fire

57] Do leaves sprout on rootless trees?

58] Dying is as natural as living

59] Advice when most needed is least heeded

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

61] Bold men have generous hearts

62] Pleasure is due only when all duty’s done.

63] As soon as there is life there is danger

64] What the king wills, that the law wills

65] The best wine comes from an old vessel

66] Waste makes wants

67] Homo is a common name to all men.

68] Unless the vessel is clean, what you pour in to it turns sour.

69] Nothing is given so freely as advice

70] A hungry man smells meat afar off

71] To study a great deal is to acquire a priceless treasure

72] The loftiest towers rise from the ground

73] The biter is sometimes bit

74] None are so fond of secrets as those who don’t mean to keep them

75] Better no doctor at all than three.

76] Will is the cause of woe

77] Jesters do oft prove prophets

78] Hungry dogs will eat dirty puddings

79] Not good is it to harp on the on the frayed string

80] What the eye doesn’t see, the heart grieves not

81] Better a louse in the pot than no flesh at all

82] When you are an anvil, hold still; when you are an anvil, hold still; when you are a hammer, strike your fill.

83] Those that make the best use of their time, have none to spare

84] When the fox preaches, then beware your geese

85] It is an ill sign to see a fox lick a lamb

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

87] Gold goes in at any gate except heaven’s

88] Still waters run deep

89] No garden without its weeds.

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

91] Take time by the forelock

92] He who leaps high must take a long run

93] Never spur a willing horse

94] Venture a small fish to catch a big one

95] Wise men silent, fools talk

96] Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

97] He that will thrive must rise at five

98] A ragged colt may make a good horse.

99] Tomorrow never comes

100] Don’t empty (or throw) the baby out with the bath water