Famous Proverbs

1] Gifts blind the eyes.

2] The goat must browse where she is tied

3] Good counsel never comes amiss

4] At the end of the game, the king and pawn go in to the same bag.

5] Ill news comes often on the back of worse

6] The first blow is half the battle

7] First think, and then speak

8] Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, and half shut afterwards

9] He who leaps high must take a long run

10] Mercy surpasses justice

11] High places have their precipices

12] Where there is whispering there is lying

13] Love rules without a sword, and binds without a cord

14] The strength of the chain is in the weakest link.

15] Put out your tubs when it is raining

16] The orange that is too hard squeezed yields a bitter juice

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

18] The rich man thinks of the future, the poor man thinks of today

19] Brave actions never want a trumpet.

20] Necessity and opportunity may make a coward valiant

21] The best of friends must part

22] Cease to hope and you will cease to fear.

23] One father is more than a hundred school masters

24] Honesty is ill to thrive by

25] There’s always room at the top

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

27] It is as hard to please a knave as knight

28] The delay is good which makes the way the safer

29] Experience is the best teacher

30] Every advantage has its disadvantage

31] Pardon one offence and you encourage many

32] He who waits for another man’s platter has a cold meal

33] Look before you leap

34] Just give me one end of the line and I’ll get to the other

35] Beware of a silent man and still water

36] Desert and reward seldom keep company

37] Black will take no other hue

38] Will is the cause of woe

39] He that comes of a hen, must scrape

40] The blind man is not afraid of ghosts

41] Quarrels do not last long if the wrong is only on one side

42] When a tiger dies, it leaves a skin; when a man dies, he leaves a name

43] God provides for him that trusts

44] Some are wise and some are otherwise

45] Diamond cuts diamond

46] Don’t change horses in mid-stream

47] Poverty is not a shame, but the being ashamed of it is

48] Laws catch flies but let hornets go free

49] No man can serve two masters

50] Credit lost is like a Venice glass broken

51] Why play the harp to a buffalo?

52] Where god will help, nothing does harm

53] Love your neighbour, yet pull not down your hedge

54] The lion had need of the mouse

55] Lucky men need no counsel

56] Forewarned, forearmed; to be prepared is half the victory

57] The dog is a lion in his own house

58] Mount Fuji itself is not So beautiful to one who is cold and hungry

59] It is a good tongue that says no ill, and a better heart that thinks none

60] A willing helper does not wait until he is asked.

61] When a tiger dies, it leaves a skin; when a man dies, he leaves a name

62] The mean is the best

63] So many men, so many opinions

64] An old dog barks not in vain

65] If you agree to carry the calf, they’ll make you carry the cow.

66] Every man praises his own wares

67] Trusting often makes fidelity

68] Between two stools you fall to the ground

69] A good servant must have good wages

70] Nothing seek, nothing find

71] Wrong has no warrant

72] A good name is better than riches

73] Never hit a man when he’s down

74] Much babbling is not without offence

75] Of evil manners, spring good laws

76] If you pile up enough sand, you make a pagoda

77] Delays are not denials

78] Black will take no other hue

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

80] Every bean has its black

81] It is safer to hear and take counsel, than give it.

82] Pleasure has a sting in its tail

83] It is lawful to learn even from an enemy

84] Pinch the right thigh and the left will feel the pain too.

85] Patient men with the day.

86] The surest way to remain poor is to be an honest man

87] Even though one’s aunt sells the cakes, one will not buy unless they are cheap.

88] Curiosity killed the cat.

89] A ragged colt may make a good horse.

90] The earthen pot must keep clear of the brass kettle

91] Riches rather enlarge than satisfy appetites

92] Honest men marry soon, wise men not at all

93] The hole calls the thief

94] Safety lies in the middle course

95] Forgiveness is perfect when the sin is not remembered

96] Dead men don’t bite

97] Men are known by the company they keep.

98] Four eyes see better than two.

99] Honey catches more files than vinegar.

100] A quarrelsome man has no good neighbours