Famous Proverbs

1] Wrong has no warrant

2] He daren’t say ‘boo’ to a goose

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

4] The greater the kindred, the less the kindness.

5] Waste makes wants

6] He that talks much, errs much

7] Half an egg is better than empty shell

8] Take away fuel, take away flame

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

10] One must howl with the wolves

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

12] Ask a silly question and you’ll get a silly answer.

13] It is not gay coat that makes the gentleman

14] Where there are reeds, there is water

15] Better belly burst than good meat lost

16] The early man ever borrows from the late man

17] Tigers and deer do not over.

18] The pen is the tongue of the hand

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

20] Poverty is not a crime

21] Lavishness is not generosity

22] To refuse and to give tardily is all the same

23] Desperate diseases need desperate cures

24] There is no smoke without fire

25] A watched pot never boils

26] The healthful man can give counsel to the sick

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

28] Standing pools gather fifth

29] Anger begins with folly and ends with repentance.

30] There’s small choice in rotten apples.

31] Cruelty is more cruel, if we defer the pain

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

33] A cat may look at a king

34] Excessive politeness is often a cloak for insincerity

35] A fool may sometimes speak to the purpose

36] Even the compelling beauty of the Diamond Mountain cannot be appreciated when the stomach is empty

37] No man is a hero to his valet

38] Crowns have cares

39] An ass must be tied where the master will have him

40] Honesty is the best policy

41] Dumb men get no lands

42] There is no accounting for tastes

43] In the end, things will mend

44] Anger managers everything badly.

45] The child is father of the man

46] He has to do what is foul, never comes away clean

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

48] Much law but little justice

49] A monk can’t shave his own head

50] Nothing comes from nothing

51] If the thorn falls, the leaf is pierced; if the leaf falls the leaf is pierced

52] Poverty is no disgrace but it is a great inconvenience

53] He that knows little often repeats it

54] War, hunting and love are as full of trouble as pleasure

55] The unexpected always happens.

56] All is vanity.

57] What can you expect from a pig (or hog) but a grunt?

58] Two wrongs do not make a right

59] The gods send nuts to those who have no teeth

60] It is easy to do what one’s own self wills

61] No sweet without sweat

62] Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t

63] Choose thy company before thy drink

64] A fair face may hide a foul heart.

65] A ragged coat may cover an honest man.

66] The lion had need of the mouse

67] Happy is the country (or nation) that has no history

68] Knavery may serve for a turn, nut honesty is best in the long run

69] A good scare is worth more to a man than good advice

70] Necessity breaks iron

71] Haste makes waste

72] You see a man’s face but not his heart.

73] Fool rush in where angels fear to trend

74] The wish is father to the thought

75] If the wise erred not, it would go hard with fools.

76] The end justifies the means

77] Every ass likes to hear himself bray

78] Law makers should not be law breakers

79] Young colts will canter.

80] Make yourself all honey and the flies will devour you

81] Riches along make no men happy

82] Cruelty is more cruel, if we defer the pain

83] He that travels far knows much

84] Don’t put the cart before the horse

85] He who would hang his dog gives out first that it is mad

86] Two dogs fight for a bone, and a third runs away with it.

87] Don’t tell tales out of school

88] Take heed is a fair thing

89] Quietness is a great treasure

90] Say as men say, but think to yourself.

91] Water is a boon in the desert, but the drowning man curses it.

92] Despair gives courage to a coward

93] Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny

94] Nothing seek, nothing find

95] Manners make the man

96] Men count up the faults of those who keep them waiting

97] You cannot put an old head on young shoulders.

98] It is ill striving (or swimming) against the stream (or tide)

99] Make haste slowly

100] The sun shines upon all alike.