Famous Proverbs

1] Virtue is its own reward

2] That which Nature paints never fades

3] Much babbling is not without offence

4] Everything is good in its season

5] It is ill waiting for dead men’s shoes

6] Ill news comes often on the back of worse

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

8] No man is infallible

9] Fear the Greeks (or Beware of Greeks) bearing gifts

10] Cheap is dear in the long run.

11] The thread breaks where it is weakest

12] Dead men don’t bite

13] Will is no skill

14] From word to deed is a great space

15] It takes all sorts to make a world

16] Tigers and deer do not over.

17] Pursuits become habits

18] Every man for himself, and the devil take the hindmost

19] A joke never gains over an enemy, but often loses a friend

20] You cannot get blood (or water) out of a stone

21] Use makes mastery

22] Don’t cut the bough you are standing on

23] A good face is a letter of recommendation

24] Confess and be hanged

25] An empty sack cannot stand upright

26] An honorable man would rather be a chicken’s beak than the rump of an ox.

27] Give credit where credit is due

28] Neglect will kill an injury sooner than revenge

29] Accusing the times is but excusing ourselves.

30] A man must plough with such oxen as he has

31] Ill – gotten goods never prosper

32] Easier said than done

33] Know your own faults before blaming others for theirs.

34] Calamity is the touchstone of a brave mind

35] It is an ill bargain where no man wins

36] Marriage is a lottery

37] Erring is not heating

38] The longest way round is the shortest way home

39] Too much cunning undoes

40] Never do things by halves

41] He that will not go over the stile, must be thrust through the gate

42] Everything new is fine

43] Venture a small fish to catch a big one

44] Great oaks from little acorns grow

45] A goose drinks as much as gander

46] A fool at forty is a fool indeed

47] Weak things united become strong

48] If there were no clouds, we should not enjoy the sun

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

50] Bear and forbear

51] God comes with leaden feet, but strikes with iron hands

52] He who hesitates is lost

53] He that has lost his credit, is dead to the world

54] Keep your mouth shut and your ears open

55] A living dog is better than a dead lion

56] Where ignorance is bliss, ‘tis folly to be wise

57] He who demands does not command

58] Delay is the antidote of anger

59] The age of miracles is past

60] All truths are not to be told

61] Nearest the heart comes out first

62] He that eats least eats most

63] The submitting to one wrong brings on another

64] First thrive then wive

65] Grin and bear it

66] Time flees without a delay

67] One master in a house is enough

68] Love delights in praise

69] Cleanliness is next to godliness

70] No garden without its weeds.

71] Let us do evil that good may come

72] Set a wolf to keep the sheep

73] Send a fool to France and he’ll come back a fool

74] The mills of God grind slowly but they grind exceedingly small

75] Adam’s ale is the best brew

76] All our pomp the earth covers

77] The longest journey starts with a single step

78] Every groom is a king at home

79] Exchange (or Fair exchange) is no robbery

80] No choice amongst stinking fish

81] A good payer is master of another’s purse

82] Whatever man has done, man can do

83] There is none misfortune cannot reach

84] A hundred pounds of sorrow pays not one ounce of debt

85] Long life has long misery

86] The eye is bigger than the belly

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

88] An ill marriage is a spring of ill fortune

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

90] Shame in a kindred cannot be avoided

91] Let sleeping dogs lie

92] What is worse than ill luck?

93] Zeal without knowledge is a runaway horse

94] God sends cold after Clothes

95] A lion may come to be beholden to a mouse

96] A little body often harbours a great soul

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

98] Fools rush in where angles fear to tread

99] Little things please little minds

100] A heavy purse makes a light heart