Famous Proverbs

1] He that would know what shall be, must consider what has been

2] A strong town is not won in an hour

3] The darkest place is under the candlestick

4] Dogs that bark at a distance bite not at hand

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

6] All are not saints that go to church

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

8] He that dwells next door to a cripple, will learn to halt

9] He that talks much, errs much

10] You may know by a handful the whole sack

11] Learning is the eye of the mind

12] Even if you wash a crow with rose- water, its feathers won’t become white.

13] Every lot is to be overcome by endurance

14] He that lives ill, fear follows him

15] Men are not angles

16] He that will thrive must rise at five

17] The noblest vengeance is to forgive

18] Patience is a flower that grows not in everyone’s garden

19] Don’t cry before you are hurt

20] Might overcome right.

21] Promises are like pie-crust, made to be broken

22] He that flings dirt at another dirtieth himself most

23] Share and share alike

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

25] Easier said than done

26] The squeaking wheel gets the grease

27] Save a stranger from the sea and he’ll turn your enemy

28] The best throw of the dice is to throw them away

29] All is fair in love and war

30] The dog that is idle barks at his fleas, but he that is hunting feels them not.

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

32] To the hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet. To a thirsty man any drink is sweet.

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

34] Ale will make a cat speak

35] Keep some till further more come

36] Law cannot persuade where it cannot punish

37] A good reaper deserves a good sickle.

38] No man is content with his lot

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

40] A rose by any other name would smell as sweet

41] No news is good news

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

43] They that dance must pay the fiddler

44] All things are easy, that are done willingly

45] It is not the burden but the overburden that kills the beast

46] Joy and sorrow are next door neighbours.

47] To be discontented is to be like a snake trying to swallow an elephant

48] Still waters run deep

49] Do not kick against the pricks

50] Choose neither women nor linen by candlelight.

51] You eat, I dreams, the custard of the day

52] Who is worse shod than the shoemaker’s wife?

53] Friendship should not be all on one

54] Wise is the man who never exposes himself to unnecessary danger

55] Fools rejoice at promises

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

57] What we spent, we had; what we gave, we have: what we left, we lost

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

59] Wake not a sleeping lion

60] Once a use and ever a custom

61] Where there’s muck, there’s money

62] That which proves too much proves nothing

63] Idleness is the root of all evil

64] Bread is the staff of life.

65] What is worse than ill luck?

66] We do as we can, since we can’t do as we would

67] The devil looks after his own

68] He laughs best who laughs last

69] Necessity is mother of invention

70] Know when to spend and when to spare, and you need not be busy, you’ll never be bare

71] No honest man ever repented his honesty

72] Let people laugh, as long as I am warm

73] Virtue is a jewel of great price.

74] He that forecasts all perils will never sail the sea

75] Don’t pour out the dirty water before you have cleaned

76] Prove your friend ere you have need

77] Whatever is made by the hand of man, by the hand of man by overturned

78] It is good sheltering under an old hedge

79] Take away fuel, take away flame

80] Bind the sack before it be full

81] No man is the worse for knowing the worst of himself

82] No answer is also an answer

83] A old poacher makes the best gamekeeper

84] Many doctors, death accomplished

85] He that loses anything and gets wisdom by it is a gainer by the loss

86] The more you get, the more you want

87] Thatch your roof before the rain begins

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

89] Let a fool hold his tongue and he will pass for a sage

90] You cannot teach an old dog new tricks

91] Never catch a falling knife or a falling friend

92] There is many a good tune played on an old fiddle

93] If each would sweep before his own door, we should have a clean city

94] Never try to prove what nobody doubts

95] He who makes no mistakes makes nothing

96] Those who sell dog-meat often display a lamb’s head

97] He that never ate flesh, thinks a pudding is a dainty

98] He that hath a wife and children hath given hostages to fortune

99] He that is born a fool is never cured

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