Famous Proverbs

1] Follow love and it will flee thee; flee love and it will follow thee

2] Once bitten, twice shy.

3] Travel makes a wise man better, but a fool worse

4] Knowledge is power

5] All’s fish that comes to the net

6] Better cut the shoe than pinch the foot

7] Scatter with one hand, gather with two

8] Let not the sun do down on your wrath

9] Whatever man has done, man can do

10] A gift much expected is paid, not given

11] Use makes mastery

12] If you cannot bite never show your teeth

13] Keep no more cats than will catch mice

14] A liar can go round the world but cannot come back

15] Every path has a puddle

16] He who considers too much will perform little.

17] A good name is a rich heritage

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

19] Conscience is a thousand witnesses

20] Make not your sauce, before you have caught the fish.

21] Step by step the ladder is ascended

22] When all men say you are an ass, it is time to bray

23] With seven nurses, the child loses its eye

24] No day so clear but has dark clouds

25] Wine does not intoxicate men; men intoxicate themselves

26] One must howl with the wolves

27] The disinterested observer may perceive what is missed by those who are directly involved

28] With constancy of purpose, you can file a steel rod in to the needle you need

29] Half an egg is better than empty shell

30] He freezes who does not burn

31] Great barkers are no biters

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

33] Take things as you find them

34] Give a dog a bad name and hang him

35] Wait’ is a hard word to the hungry.

36] Erring is not heating

37] Better an egg in peace than an ox in war

38] Work has a bitter root but sweet fruit.

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

40] If you always say ‘No’, you’ll never get married

41] Standing pools gather fifth

42] Adversity makes strange bedfellows

43] He mediates revenge who least complains.

44] Good fences make good neighbours

45] Red ink gives what it touches a pink glow; black ink gives what it touches a dirty stain.

46] Hasty climbers have sudden falls

47] A growing youth has a wolf in his belly

48] Better belly burst than good meat lost

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

50] Valour would fight, but discretion would run away

51] Have patience with a friend rather than lost him forever.

52] See how the wind blows

53] Praise is a spur to the good, a thorn to the evil

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

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

56] The unexpected always happens.

57] Set a thief to catch a thief

58] The difficult is done at once; the impossible takes a little longer

59] A quiet conscience sleeps in thunder

60] The tailor makes the man

61] A penny weight of love is worth a pound of law

62] Destroy the lion while he is yet but a whelp

63] Hard cases make bad law

64] Past cure, past care

65] What cannot gold do?

66] He stands not surely that never slips

67] One fool praises another

68] You cannot put a quart into a pint pot

69] There is no tree but bears some fruit

70] In all the weeding cake, hope is the sweetest plum.

71] The tongue breaks bone, and herself has none

72] When we have gold, we are in fear; when we have none we are in danger

73] It is hard to wive and thrive both in a year

74] Pardon makes offenders

75] Mere wishes are silly fishes

76] Pleasure has a sting in its tail

77] He who comes first, grinds first.

78] A good husband makes a good wife

79] Laugh before breakfast, you’ll cry before supper

80] White there’s life there’s hope

81] A contented mind is a perpetual feast

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

83] Do not wear out your welcome

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

85] Better the foot slip than the tongue

86] The flesh is aye fairest that is farthest from the bone

87] Paddle your own canoe

88] It is easier to get a favour from fortune than to keep it

89] If you trust before you try, you may repent before you die

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

91] There are more ways to the wood than one.

92] Zeal without knowledge is a runaway horse

93] It’s a long lane that has no turning

94] Lovers are madmen

95] Nothing venture (or ventured), nothing gain (or gained)

96] Wrong has no warrant

97] When you drink water from the stream, don’t forget that the source of it is the spring

98] Little things please little minds

99] Better sit still than rise and fall

100] He that does most at once, does least