Famous Proverbs

1] A good reaper deserves a good sickle.

2] A man may lose more in an hour than he can get in seven

3] Virtue carries a lean purse

4] He that speaks well, flights well

5] Diseases are the price of ill pleasures

6] Wine is the best broom for trouble

7] Never do evil that good may come of it

8] Discretion is the better part of valour

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

10] Money makes the man

11] Patience surpasses learning

12] Life begins only in success

13] You may know by a handful the whole sack

14] All’s fish that comes to the net

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

16] An ape’s an ape, a varlet’s a varlet, though they be clad in silk or scarlet

17] When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then a gentleman?

18] Heaven takes care of children, sailor and drunken men

19] You cannot put a quart into a pint pot

20] His own ingenuity pricks him.

21] There is nothing new under the sun

22] Fields have eyes and woods have ears

23] Law makers should not be law breakers

24] Weeds need no sowing

25] What’s learnt in the cradle lasts till the tomb

26] If today will not, tomorrow may

27] If you would make an enemy, lend a man money and ask it of him again

28] Without knowing the force of words, it is impossible to know the man

29] Truth has a good face but bad clothes

30] Gold brings gold; lack of gold, a headache

31] What is the mother of industry

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

33] A fault once denied is twice committed

34] Death keeps no calendar

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

36] Erring is not heating

37] He that tells his wife news, is but newly wed

38] Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow.

39] He who cannot bear misfortune is truly unfortunate.

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

41] A straw will show which way the wind blows.

42] A jug that has been mended lasts two hundred years

43] The end crowns the work.

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

45] If things were to be done twice, all would be wise.

46] Who suffers much is silent

47] First things first

48] We live laws, not by examples

49] Safety lies in the middle course

50] Walls have ears

51] Every lot is to be overcome by endurance

52] Do unto others as they should do unto you

53] He that wants health wants all

54] The longest way round is the shortest way home

55] The greatest step is that out of doors

56] The devil dances in an empty pocket

57] Everyone puts his fault on the times.

58] The devil is not as black as he is painted

59] He that mischief hatches mischief catches.

60] Never grieve for what you cannot help

61] When the melon is ripe, it will drop by itself

62] He cannot speak well that cannot hold his tongue

63] A crowd is not company

64] In your anxiety to avoid losing a drop, you spill the whole lot

65] When wrath speaks, wisdom veils her face.

66] What’s done is done

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

68] One cannot love and be wise

69] The king can do no wrong

70] Every light has its shadow

71] Unpaid debts are unforgiven sins

72] One reason is as good as fifty

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

74] It is a silly fish that is caught twice with the same bait.

75] Gifts are scorned where givers are despised

76] God heals, and the physician takes the fee

77] A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds

78] Virtue is the only true nobility

79] The bull must be taken by the horns

80] Brave actions never want a trumpet.

81] He that would the daughter win, must with the mother first begin

82] The last drop makes the cup run over

83] Repentance is a bitter physic

84] A good wife makes a good husband

85] A pound of care will not pay an ounce of debt.

86] Like father, like son

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

88] It is easier to praise poverty than to bear it.

89] Children speak only words they have heard.

90] Better late than never, but better never late

91] Not lock will hold against the power of gold

92] The world is full of fools

93] Luck for fools and chance for the ugly

94] Young colts will canter.

95] Fine feathers make fine birds.

96] Sour, sweet, bitter and pungent flavours must all be tasted

97] The tide never goes out so far but it always comes in again

98] Might overcome right.

99] Men do more things through habit than reason

100] If fortune turns against you, even jelly breaks your tooth