Proverb |
A bad beginning makes a bad ending. |
A bad corn promise is better than a good lawsuit. |
A bad workman quarrels with his tools. |
A bargain is a bargain. |
A beggar can never be bankrupt. |
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. |
A bird may be known by its song. |
A black hen lays a white egg. |
A blind leader of the blind. |
A blind man would be glad to see. |
A broken friendship may be soldered, but will never be sound. |
A burden of one's own choice is not felt. |
A burnt child dreads the fire. |
A cat in gloves catches no mice. |
A city that parleys is half gotten. |
A civil denial is better than a rude grant. |
A clean fast is better than a dirty breakfast. |
A clean hand wants no washing.. |
A clear conscience laughs at false accusations. |
A close mouth catches no flies. |
A cock is valiant on his own dunghill. |
A cracked bell can never sound well. |
A creaking door hangs long on its hinges. |
A cursed cow has short horns. |
A danger foreseen is half avoided. |
A drop in the bucket. |
A drowning man will catch at a straw. |
A fair face may hide a foul heart. |
A fault confessed is half redressed. |
A fly in the ointment. |
A fool always rushes to the fore. |
A fool and his money are soon parted. |
A fool at forty is a fool indeed. |
A fool may ask more questions in an hour than a wise man can answer in seven years. |
A fool may throw a stone into a well which a hundred wise men cannot pull out. |
A fool's tongue runs before his wit. |
A forced kindness deserves no thanks. |
A foul morn may turn to a fair day. |
A fox is not taken twice in the same snare. |
A friend in need is a friend indeed. |
A friend is never known till needed. |
A friend to all is a friend to none. |
A friend's frown is better than a foe's smile.. |
A good anvil does not fear the hammer. |
A good beginning is half the battle. |
A good beginning makes a good ending. |
A good deed is never lost. |
A good dog deserves a good bone. |
A good example is the best sermon. |
A good face is a letter of recommendation. |
A good Jack makes a good Jill. |
A good marksman may miss. |
A good name is better than riches. |
A good name is sooner lost than won. |
A good name keeps its luster in the dark. |
A good wife makes a good husband. |
A great dowry is a bed full of brambles. |
A great fortune is a great slavery. |
A great ship asks deep waters. |
A guilty conscience needs no accuser. |
A hard nut to crack. |
A heavy purse makes a light heart. |
A hedge between keeps friendship green. |
A honey tongue, a heart of gall. |
A hungry belly has no ears. |
A hungry man is an angry man. |
A Jack of all trades is master of none. |
A Joke never gains an enemy but often loses a friend. |
A lawyer never goes to law himself. |
A lazy sheep thinks its wool heavy. |
A liar is not believed when he speaks the truth. |
A lie begets a lie. |
A light purse is a heavy curse. |
A light purse makes a heavy heart. |
A little body often harbors a great soul. |
A little fire is quickly trodden out. |
A man can die but once. |
A man can do no more than he can. |
A man is known by the company he keeps. |
A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds. |
A miserly father makes a prodigal son. |
A miss is as good as a mile. |
A new broom sweeps clean. |
A nod from a lord is a breakfast for a fool. |
A penny saved is a penny gained. |
A penny soul never came to two pence. |
A quiet conscience sleeps in thunder. |
A rolling stone gathers no moss. |
A round peg in a square hole. |
A shy cat makes a proud mouse. |
A silent fool is counted wise. |
A small leak will sink a great ship. |
A soft answer turns away wrath. |
A sound mind in a sound body. |
A stitch in time saves nine. |
A storm in a teacup. |
A tattler is worse than a thief. |
A thief knows a thief as a wolf knows a wolf. |
A thief passes for a gentleman when stealing has made him rich. |
A threatened blow is seldom given. |
A tree is known by its fruit. |
A wager is a fool's argument. |
A watched pot never boils. |
A wise man changes his mind, a fool never will. |
A wolf in sheep's clothing. |
A wonder lasts but nine days. |
A word is enough to the wise. |
A word spoken is past recalling. |
Actions speak louder than words. |
Adversity is a great schoolmaster. |
Adversity makes strange bedfellows. |
After a storm comes a calm. |
After dinner comes the reckoning. |
After dinner sit (sleep) a while, after supper walk a mile. |
After rain comes fair weather. |
After us the deluge. |
Agnes come on horseback, but go away on foot. |
All are good lasses, but whence come the bad wives? |
All are not friends that speak us fair. |
All are not hunters that blow the horn. |
All are not merry that dance lightly. |
All are not saints that go to church. |
All asses wag their ears. |
All bread is not baked in one oven. |
All cats are grey in the dark (in the night). |
All covet, all lose. |
All doors open to courtesy. |
All is fish that comes to his net. |
All is not lost that is in peril. |
All is well that ends well. |
All lay load on the willing horse. |
All men can't be first. |
All men can't be masters. |
All promises are either broken or kept. |
All roads lead to Rome. |
All sugar and honey. |
All that glitters is not gold. |
All things are difficult before they are easy. |
All truths are not to be told. |
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. |
Almost never killed a fly (was never hanged). |
Among the blind the one-eyed man is king. |
An apple a day keeps the doctor away. |
An hole in a lion's skin. |
An hole is but an hole, though laden with gold. |
An hole loaded with gold climbs to the top of the castle. |
An empty hand is no lure for a hawk. |
An empty sack cannot stand upright. |
An empty vessel gives a greater sound than a full barrel. |
An evil chance seldom comes alone. |
An honest tale speeds best, being plainly told. |
An hour in the morning is worth two in the evening. |
An idle brain is the devil's workshop. |
An ill wound is cured, not an ill name. |
An oak is not felled at one stroke. |
An old dog barks not in vain. |
An open door may tempt a saint. |
An ounce of discretion is worth a pound of learning. |
An ox is taken by the horns, and a man by the tongue. |
An unfortunate man would be drowned in a teacup. |
Anger and haste hinder good counsel. |
Any port in a storm. |
Appearances are deceitful. |
Appetite comes with eating. |
As drunk as a lord. |
As innocent as a babe unborn. |
As like as an apple to an oyster. |
As like as two peas. |
As old as the hills. |
As plain as the nose on a man's face. |
As plain as two and two make four. |
As snug as a bug in a rug. |
As sure as eggs is eggs. |
As the call, so the echo. |
As the fool thinks, so the bell clinks. |
As the old cock crows, so does the young. |
As the tree falls, so shall it lie. |
As the tree, so the fruit. |
As welcome as flowers in May. |
As welcome as water in one's shoes. |
As well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb. |
As you brew, so must you drink. |
As you make your bed, so must you lie on it. |
As you sow, so shall you reap. |
Ask no questions and you will be told no lies. |
At the ends of the earth. |
Bacchus has drowned more men than Neptune. |
Bad news has wings. |
Barking does seldom bite. |
Be slow to promise and quick to perform. |
Be swift to hear, slow to speak. |
Beauty is but skin-deep. |
Beauty lies in lover's eyes. |
Before one can say Jack Robinson. |
Before you make a friend eat a bushel of salt with him. |
Beggars cannot be choosers. |
Believe not all that you see nor half what you hear. |
Best defense is offense. |
Better a glorious death than a shameful life. |
Better a lean peace than a fat victory. |
Better a little fire to warm us, than a great one to burn us. |
Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow. |
Better an open enemy than a false friend. |
Better be alone than in bad company. |
Better be born lucky than rich. |
Better be envied than pitied. |
Better be the head of a dog than the tail of a lion. |
Better deny at once than promise long. |
Better die standing than live kneeling. |
Better early than late. |
Better give a shilling than lend a half-crown. |
Better go to bed supperless than rise in debt. |
Better late than never. |
Better lose a jest than a friend. |
Better one-eyed than stone-blind. |
Better the devil you know than the devil you don't. |
Better the foot slip than the tongue. |
Better to do well than to say well. |
Better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven. |
Better unborn than untaught. |
Better untaught than ill-taught. |
Between the cup and the lip a morsel may slip. |
Between the devil and the deep (blue) sea. |
Between two evils 'tis not worth choosing. |
Between two stools one goes (falls) to the ground. |
Between the upper and nether millstone. |
Betwixt and between. |
Beware of a silent dog and still water. |
Bind the sack before it be full. |
Birds of a feather flock together. |
Blind men can judge no colours. |
Blood is thicker than water. |
Borrowed garments never fit well. |
Brevity is the soul of wit. |
Burn not your house to rid it of the mouse. |
Business before pleasure. |
By doing nothing we learn to do ill. |
By hook or by crook. |
By the street of 'by-and-bye' one arrives at the house of 'Never'. |
Calamity is man's true touchstone. |
Care killed the cat. |
Catch the bear before you sell his skin. |
Caution is the parent of safety. |
Charity begins at home. |
Cheapest is the dearest. |
Cheek brings success. |
Children and fools must not play with edged tools. |
Children are poor men's riches. |
Choose an author as you choose a friend. |
Christmas comes but once a year, (but when it comes it brings good cheer). |
Circumstances alter cases. |
Claw me, and I will claw thee. |
Cleanliness is next to godliness. |
Company in distress makes trouble less. |
Confession is the first step to repentance. |
Counsel is no command. |
Creditors have better memories than debtors. |
Cross the stream where it is shallowest. |
Crows do not pick crow's eyes. |
Curiosity killed a cat. |
Curses like chickens come home to roost. |
Custom is a second nature. |
Custom is the plague of wise men and the idol of fools. |
Cut your coat according to your cloth. |
Death is the grand leveler. |
Death pays all debts. |
Death when it comes will have no denial. |
Debt is the worst poverty. |
Deeds, not words. |
Delays are dangerous. |
Desperate diseases must have desperate remedies. |
Diligence is the mother of success (good luck). |
Diseases are the interests of pleasures. |
Divide and rule. |
Do as you would be done by. |
Dog does not eat dog. |
Dog eats dog. |
Dogs that put up many hares kill none. |
Doing is better than saying. |
Don't count your chickens before they are hatched. |
Don't cross the bridges before you come to them. |
Don't have thy cloak to make when it begins to rain. |
Don't keep a dog and bark yourself. |
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. |
Don't put all your eggs in one basket. |
Don't sell the bear's skin before you've caught it. |
Don't trouble trouble until trouble troubles you. |
Don't whistle (halloo) until you are out of the wood. |
Dot your i's and cross your t's. |
Draw not your bow till your arrow is fixed. |
Drive the nail that will go. |
Drunken days have all their tomorrow. |
Drunkenness reveals what soberness conceals. |
Dumb dogs are dangerous. |
Each bird loves to hear himself sing. |
Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. |
Easier said than done. |
East or West ? home is best. |
Easy come, easy go. |
Eat at pleasure, drink with measure. |
Empty vessels make the greatest (the most) sound. |
Enough is as good as a feast. |
Envy shoots at others and wounds herself. |
Even reckoning makes long friends. |
Every hole loves to hear himself bray. |
Every barber knows that. |
Every bean has its black. |
Every bird likes its own nest. |
Every bullet has its billet. |
Every country has its customs. |
Every dark cloud has a silver lining. |
Every day is not Sunday. |
Every dog has his day. |
Every dog is a lion at home. |
Every dog is valiant at his own door. |
Every Jack has his Jill. |
Every man has a fool in his sleeve. |
Every man has his faults. |
Every man has his hobby-horse. |
Every man is the architect of his own fortunes. |
Every man to his taste. |
Every miller draws water to his own mill. |
Every mother thinks her own gosling a swan. |
Every one's faults are not written in their foreheads. |
Every tub must stand on its own bottom.. |
Every white has its black, and every sweet its sour. |
Every why has a wherefore. |
Everybody's business is nobody's business. |
Everything comes to him who waits. |
Everything is good in its season. |
Evil communications corrupt good manners. |
Experience is the mother of wisdom. |
Experience keeps a dear school, but fools learn in no other. |
Experience keeps no school, she teaches her pupils singly. |
Extremes meet. |
Facts are stubborn things.. |
Faint heart never won fair lady. |
Fair without, foul (false) within. |
Fair words break no bones. |
False friends are worse than open enemies. |
Familiarity breeds contempt. |
Far from eye, far from heart. |
Fasting comes after feasting. |
Faults are thick where love is thin. |
Feast today and fast tomorrow. |
Fine feathers make fine birds. |
Fine words butter no parsnips. |
First catch your hare. |
First come, first served. |
First deserve and then desire. |
First think, then speak. |
Fish and company stink in three days. |
Fish begins to stink at the head. |
Follow the river and you'll get to the sea. |
Fool's haste is no speed. |
Fools and madmen speak the truth. |
Fools grow without watering. |
Fools may sometimes speak to the purpose. |
Fools never know when they are well. |
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. |
For the love of the game. |
Forbearance is no acquittance. |
Forbidden fruit is sweet. |
Forewarned is forearmed. |
Fortune favors the brave (the bold). |
Fortune is easily found, but hard to be kept. |
Four eyes see more (better) than two. |
Friends are thieves of time. |
From bad to worse. |
From pillar to post. |
Gentility without ability is worse than plain beggary. |
Get a name to rise early, and you may lie all day. |
Gifts from enemies are dangerous. |
Give a fool rope enough, and he will hang himself. |
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice. |
Give him an inch and he'll take an ell. |
Give never the wolf the weather to keep. |
Gluttony kills more men than the sword. |
Go to bed with the lamb and rise with the lark. |
Good clothes open all doors. |
Good counsel does no harm. |
Good health is above wealth. |
Good masters make good servants. |
Good words and no deeds. |
Good words without deeds are rushes and reeds. |
Gossiping and lying go hand in hand. |
Grasp all, lose all. |
Great barkers are no biters. |
Great boast, small roast. |
Great cry and little wool. |
Great spenders are bad lenders. |
Great talkers are great liars. |
Great talkers are little doers. |
Greedy folk have long arms. |
Habit cures habit. |
Half a loaf is better than no bread. |
Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark. |
Handsome is that handsome does. |
Happiness takes no account of time. |
Happy is he that is happy in his children. |
Hard words break no bones. |
Hares may pull dead lions by the beard. |
Harm watch, harm catch. |
Haste makes waste. |
Hasty climbers have sudden falls. |
Hate not at the first harm. |
Hatred is blind, as well as love. |
Hawks will not pick hawks' eyes. |
He begins to die that quits his desires. |
He cannot speak well that cannot hold his tongue. |
He carries fire in one hand and water in the other. |
He dances well to whom fortune pipes. |
He gives twice who gives in a trice. |
He goes long barefoot that waits for dead man's shoes. |
He is a fool that forgets himself. |
He is a good friend that speaks well of us behind our backs. |
He is happy that thinks himself so. |
He is lifeless that is faultless. |
He is not fit to command others that cannot command himself. |
He is not laughed at that laughs at himself first. |
He is not poor that has little, but he that desires much. |
He jests at scars that never felt a wound. |
He knows best what good is that has endured evil. |
He knows how many beans make five. |
He knows much who knows how to hold his tongue. |
He laughs best who laughs last. |
He lives long that lives well. |
He must needs swim that is held up by the chin. |
He should have a long spoon that sups with the devil. |
He smells best that smells of nothing. |
He that comes first to the hill may sit where he will. |
He that commits a fault thinks everyone speaks of it. |
He that does you an ill turn will never forgive you. |
He that fears every bush must never go a-birding. |
He that fears you present will hate you absent. |
He that goes a borrowing, goes a sorrowing. |
He that goes barefoot must not plant thorns. |
He that has a full purse never wanted a friend. |
He that has a great nose thinks everybody is speaking of it. |
He that has an ill name is half hanged. |
He that has no children knows not what love is. |
He that has He head needs no hat. |
He that has no money needs no purse. |
He that is born to be hanged shall never be drowned. |
He that is full of himself is very empty. |
He that is ill to himself will be good to nobody. |
He that is warm thinks all so. |
He that knows nothing doubts nothing. |
He that lies down with dogs must rise up with fleas. |
He that lives with cripples learns to limp. |
He that mischief hatches, mischief catches. |
He that never climbed never fell. |
He that once deceives is ever suspected. |
He that promises too much means nothing. |
He that respects not is not respected. |
He that seeks trouble never misses. |
He that serves everybody is paid by nobody. |
He that serves God for money will serve the devil for better wages. |
He that spares the bad injures the good. |
He that talks much errs much. |
He that talks much lies much. |
He that will eat the kernel must crack the nut. |
He that will not when he may, when he will he shall have nay. |
He that will steal an egg will steal an ox. |
He that will thrive, must rise at five. |
He that would eat the fruit must climb the tree. |
He that would have eggs must endure the cackling of hens. |
He who is born a fool is never cured. |
He who hesitates is lost. |
He who likes borrowing dislikes paying. |
He who makes no mistakes, makes nothing. |
He who pleased everybody died before he was born. |
He who says what he likes, shall hear what he doesn't like. |
He who would catch fish must not mind getting wet. |
He who would eat the nut must first crack the shell. |
He who would search for pearls must dive below. |
He will never set the Thames on fire. |
He works best who knows his trade. |
Head cook and bottle-washer. |
Health is not valued till sickness comes. |
His money burns a hole in his pocket. |
Honesty is the best policy. |
Honey is not for the hole's mouth. |
Honey is sweet, but the bee stings. |
Honour and profit lie not in one sack. |
Honours change manners.. |
Hope is a good breakfast, but a bad supper. |
Hope is the poor man's bread. |
Hunger breaks stone walls. |
Hunger finds no fault with cookery. |
Hunger is the best sauce. |
Hungry bellies have no ears. |
Idle folks lack no excuses. |
Idleness is the mother of all evil. |
Idleness rusts the mind. |
If an hole (donkey) bray at you, don't bray at him. |
If ifs and ans were pots and pans... |
If my aunt had been a man, she'd have been my uncle. |
If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.. |
If the sky falls, we shall catch larks. |
If there were no clouds, we should not enjoy the sun. |
If things were to be done twice all would be wise. |
If we can't as we would, we must do as we can. |
If wishes were horses, beggars might ride. |
If you agree to carry the calf, they'll make you carry the cow. |
If you cannot bite, never show your teeth. |
If you cannot have the best, make the best of what you have. |
If you dance you must pay the fiddler. |
If you laugh before breakfast you'll cry before supper. |
If you run after two hares, you will catch neither. |
If you sell the cow, you sell her milk too. |
If you throw mud enough, some of it will stick. |
If you try to please all you will please none. |
If you want a thing well done, do it yourself. |
Ill-gotten gains never prosper. |
Ill-gotten, ill-spent. |
In every beginning think of the end. |
In for a penny, in for a pound. |
In the country of the blind one-eyed man is a king. |
In the end things will mend. |
In the evening one may praise the day. |
Iron hand (fist) in a velvet glove. |
It is a good horse that never stumbles. |
It is a long lane that has no turning. |
It is a poor mouse that has only one hole. |
It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest. |
It is an ill wind that blows nobody good. |
It is a silly fish, that is caught twice with the same bait. |
It is easy to swim if another holds up your chin (head). |
It is enough to make a cat laugh. |
It is good fishing in troubled waters. |
It is never too late to learn. |
It is no use crying over spilt milk. |
It is the first step that costs. |
It never rains but it pours. |
It's as broad as it's long. |
It's no use pumping a dry well. |
It's one thing to flourish and another to fight. |
It takes all sorts to make a world. |
Jackdaw in peacock's feathers. |
Jest with an hole and he will flap you in the face with his tail. |
Judge not of men and things at first sight. |
Just as the twig is bent, the tree is inclined. |
Keep a thing seven years and you will find a use for it. |
Keep your mouth shut and your ears open. |
Keep your mouth shut and your eyes open. |
Last, but not least. |
Laws catch flies, but let hornets go free. |
Learn to creep before you leap. |
Learn to say before you sing. |
Learn wisdom by the follies of others. |
Least said, soonest mended. |
Leaves without figs. |
Let bygones be bygones. |
Let every man praise the bridge he goes over. |
Let sleeping dogs lie. |
Let well (enough) alone. |
Liars need good memories. |
Lies have short legs. |
Life is but a span. |
Life is not a bed of roses. |
Life is not all cakes and ale (beer and skittles). |
Like a cat on hot bricks. |
Like a needle in a haystack. |
Like begets like. |
Like cures like. |
Like father, like son. |
Like draws to like. |
Like master, like man. |
Like mother, like daughter. |
Like parents, like children. |
Like priest, like people. |
Like teacher, like pupil. |
Little chips light great fires. |
Little knowledge is a dangerous thing. |
Little pigeons can carry great messages. |
Little pitchers have long ears. |
Little strokes fell great oaks. |
Little thieves are hanged, but great ones escape. |
Little things amuse little minds. |
Live and learn. |
Live and let live. |
Live not to eat, but eat to live. |
Long absent, soon forgotten. |
Look before you leap. |
Look before you leap, but having leapt never look back. |
Lookers-on see more than players. |
Lord (God, Heaven) helps those (them) who help themselves. |
Lost time is never found again. |
Love cannot be forced. |
Love in a cottage. |
Love is blind, as well as hatred. |
Love me, love my dog. |
Love will creep where it may not go. |
Make haste slowly. |
Make hay while the sun shines. |
Make or mar. |
Man proposes but God disposes. |
Many a fine dish has nothing on it. |
Many a good cow has a bad calf. |
Many a good father has but a bad son. |
Many a little makes a mickle. |
Many a true word is spoken in jest. |
Many hands make light work. |
Many men, many minds. |
Many words hurt more than swords. |
Many words will not fill a bushel. |
Marriages are made in heaven. |
Measure for measure. |
Measure thrice and cut once. |
Men may meet but mountains never. |
Mend or end (end or mend). |
Might goes before right. |
Misfortunes never come alone (singly). |
Misfortunes tell us what fortune is. |
Money begets money. |
Money has no smell. |
Money is a good servant but a bad master. |
Money often unmakes the men who make it. |
Money spent on the brain is never spent in vain. |
More haste, less speed. |
Much ado about nothing. |
Much will have more. |
Muck and money go together. |
Murder will out. |
My house is my castle. |
Name not a rope in his house that was hanged. |
Necessity is the mother of invention. |
Necessity knows no law. |
Neck or nothing. |
Need makes the old wife trot. |
Needs must when the devil drives. |
Neither fish nor flesh. |
Neither here nor there. |
Neither rhyme nor reason. |
Never cackle till your egg is laid. |
Never cast dirt into that fountain of which you have sometime drunk. |
Never do things by halves. |
Never fry a fish till it's caught. |
Never offer to teach fish to swim. |
Never put off till tomorrow what you can do (can be done) today. |
Never quit certainty for hope. |
Never too much of a good thing. |
Never try to prove what nobody doubts. |
Never write what you dare not sign. |
New brooms sweep clean. |
New lords, new laws. |
Nightingales will not sing in a cage. |
No flying from fate. |
No garden without its weeds. |
No great loss without some small gain. |
No herb will cure love. |
No joy without alloy. |
No living man all things can. |
No longer pipe, no longer dance. |
No man is wise at all times. |
No man loves his fetters, be they made of gold. |
No news (is) good news. |
No pains, no gains. |
No song, no supper. |
No sweet without (some) sweat. |
No wisdom like silence. |
None but the brave deserve the fair. |
None so blind as those who won't see. |
None so deaf as those that won't hear. |
Nothing comes out of the sack but what was in it. |
Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. |
Nothing must be done hastily but killing of fleas. |
Nothing so bad, as not to be good for something. |
Nothing succeeds like success. |
Nothing venture, nothing have. |
Oaks may fall when reeds stand the storm. |
Of two evils choose the least. |
Old birds are not caught with chaff. |
Old friends and old wine are best. |
On Shank's mare. |
Once bitten, twice shy. |
Once is no rule (custom). |
One beats the bush, and another catches the bird. |
One chick keeps a hen busy. |
One drop of poison infects the whole tun of wine. |
One fire drives out another. |
One good turn deserves another. |
One law for the rich, and another for the poor. |
One lie makes many. |
One link broken, the whole chain is broken. |
One man, no man. |
One man's meat is another man's poison. |
One scabby sheep will mar a whole flock. |
One swallow does not make a summer. |
One today is worth two tomorrow. |
Open not your door when the devil knocks. |
Opinions differ. |
Opportunity makes the thief. |
Out of sight, out of mind. |
Out of the frying-pan into the fire. |
Packed like herrings. |
Patience is a plaster for all sores. |
Penny-wise and pound-foolish. |
Pleasure has a sting in its tail. |
Plenty is no plague. |
Politeness costs little (nothing), but yields much. |
Poverty is no sin. |
Poverty is not a shame, but the being ashamed of it is. |
Practice what you preach. |
Praise is not pudding. |
Pride goes before a fall. |
Procrastination is the thief of time. |
Promise is debt. |
Promise little, but do much. |
Prosperity makes friends, and adversity tries them. |
Put not your hand between the bark and the tree. |
Rain at seven, fine at eleven. |
Rats desert a sinking ship. |
Repentance is good, but innocence is better. |
Respect yourself, or no one else will respect you. |
Roll my log and I will roll yours. |
Rome was not built in a day. |
Salt water and absence wash away love. |
Saying and doing are two things. |
Score twice before you cut once. |
Scornful dogs will eat dirty puddings. |
Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. |
Self-done is soon done. |
Self-done is well done. |
Self is a bad counselor. |
Self-praise is no recommendation. |
Set a beggar on horseback and he'll ride to the devil. |
Set a thief to catch a thief. |
Shallow streams make most din. |
Short debts (accounts) make long friends. |
Silence gives consent. |
Since Adam was a boy. |
Sink or swim! |
Six of one and half a dozen of the other. |
Slow and steady wins the race. |
Slow but sure. |
Small rain lays great dust. |
So many countries, so many customs. |
So many men, so many minds. |
Soft fire makes sweet malt. |
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. |
Soon learnt, soon forgotten. |
Soon ripe, soon rotten. |
Speak (talk) of the devil and he will appear (is sure to appear). |
Speech is silver but silence is gold. |
Standers-by see more than gamesters. |
Still waters run deep. |
Stolen pleasures are sweetest. |
Stretch your arm no further than your sleeve will reach. |
Stretch your legs according to the coverlet. |
Strike while the iron is hot. |
Stuff today and starve tomorrow. |
Success is never blamed. |
Such carpenters, such chips. |
Sweep before your own door. |
Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves. |
Take us as you find us. |
Tarred with the same brush. |
Tastes differ. |
Tell that to the marines. |
That cock won't fight. |
That which one least anticipates soonest comes to pass. |
That's a horse of another colour. |
That's where the shoe pinches! |
The beggar may sing before the thief (before a footpad). |
The best fish smell when they are three days old. |
The best fish swim near the bottom. |
The best is oftentimes the enemy of the good. |
The busiest man finds the most leisure. |
The camel going to seek horns lost his ears. |
The cap fits. |
The cask savours of the first fill. |
The cat shuts its eyes when stealing cream. |
The cat would eat fish and would not wet her paws. |
The chain is no stronger than its weakest link. |
The cobbler should stick to his last. |
The cobbler's wife is the worst shod. |
The darkest hour is that before the dawn. |
The darkest place is under the candlestick. |
The devil is not so black as he is painted. |
The devil knows many things because he is old. |
The devil lurks behind the cross. |
The devil rebuking sin. |
The dogs bark, but the caravan goes on. |
The Dutch have taken Holland! |
The early bird catches the worm. |
The end crowns the work. |
The end justifies the means. |
The evils we bring on ourselves are hardest to bear. |
The exception proves the rule. |
The face is the index of the mind. |
The falling out of lovers is the renewing of love. |
The fat is in the fire. |
The first blow is half the battle. |
The furthest way about is the nearest way home. |
The game is not worth the candle. |
The heart that once truly loves never forgets. |
The higher the ape goes, the more he shows his tail. |
The last drop makes the cup run over. |
The last straw breaks the camel's back. |
The leopard cannot change its spots. |
The longest day has an end. |
The mill cannot grind with the water that is past. |
The moon does not heed the barking of dogs. |
The more haste, the less speed. |
The more the merrier. |
The morning sun never lasts a day. |
The mountain has brought forth a mouse. |
The nearer the bone, the sweeter the flesh. |
The pitcher goes often to the well but is broken at last. |
The pot calls the kettle black. |
The proof of the pudding is in the eating. |
The receiver is as bad as the thief. |
The remedy is worse than the disease. |
The rotten apple injures its neighbours. |
The scalded dog fears cold water. |
The tailor makes the man. |
The tongue of idle persons is never idle. |
The voice of one man is the voice of no one. |
The way (the road) to hell is paved with good intentions. |
The wind cannot be caught in a net. |
The work shows the workman. |
There are lees to every wine. |
There are more ways to the wood than one. |
There is a place for everything, and everything in its place. |
There is more than one way to kill a cat. |
There is no fire without smoke. |
There is no place like home. |
There is no rose without a thorn. |
There is no rule without an exception. |
There is no smoke without fire. |
There's many a slip 'tween the cup and the lip. |
There's no use crying over split milk. |
They are hand and glove. |
They must hunger in winter that will not work in summer. |
Things past cannot be recalled. |
Think today and speak tomorrow. |
Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. |
Time and tide wait for no man. |
Time cures all things. |
Time is money. |
Time is the great healer. |
Time works wonders. |
To add fuel (oil) to the fire (flames). |
To angle with a silver hook. |
To be born with a silver spoon in one's mouth. |
To be head over ears in debt. |
To be in one's birthday suit. |
To be up to the ears in love. |
To be wise behind the hand. |
To beat about the bush. |
To beat the air. |
To bring grist to somebody's mill. |
To build a fire under oneself. |
To buy a pig in a poke. |
To call a spade a spade. |
To call off the dogs. |
To carry coals to Newcastle. |
To cast pearls before swine. |
To cast prudence to the winds. |
To come away none the wiser. |
To come off cheap. |
To come off with a whole skin. |
To come off with flying colours. |
To come out dry. |
To come out with clean hands. |
To cook a hare before catching him. |
To cry with one eye and laugh with the other. |
To cut one's throat with a feather. |
To draw (pull) in one's horns. |
To drop a bucket into an empty well. |
To draw water in a sieve. |
To eat the calf in the cow's belly. |
To err is human. |
To fiddle while Rome is burning. |
To fight with one's own shadow. |
To find a mare's nest. |
To fish in troubled waters. |
To fit like a glove. |
To flog a dead horse. |
To get out of bed on the wrong side. |
To give a lark to catch a kite. |
To go for wool and come home shorn. |
To go through fire and water (through thick and thin). |
To have a finger in the pie. |
To have rats in the attic. |
To hit the nail on the head. |
To kick against the pricks. |
To kill two birds with one stone. |
To know everything is to know nothing. |
To know on which side one's bread is buttered. |
To know what's what. |
To lay by for a rainy day. |
To live from hand to mouth. |
To lock the stable-door after the horse is stolen. |
To look for a needle in a haystack. |
To love somebody (something) as the devil loves holy water. |
To make a mountain out of a molehill. |
To make both ends meet. |
To make the cup run over. |
To make (to turn) the air blue. |
To measure another man's foot by one's own last. |
To measure other people's corn by one's own bushel. |
To pay one back in one's own coin. |
To plough the sand. |
To pour water into a sieve. |
To pull the chestnuts out of the fire for somebody. |
To pull the devil by the tail. |
To put a spoke in somebody's wheel. |
To put off till Doomsday. |
To put (set) the cart before the horse. |
To rob one's belly to cover one's back. |
To roll in money. |
To run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. |
To save one's bacon. |
To send (carry) owls to Athens. |
To set the wolf to keep the sheep. |
To stick to somebody like a leech. |
To strain at a gnat and swallow a camel. |
To take counsel of one's pillow. |
To take the bull by the horns. |
To teach the dog to bark. |
To tell tales out of school. |
To throw a stone in one's own garden. |
To throw dust in somebody's eyes. |
To throw straws against the wind. |
To treat somebody with a dose of his own medicine. |
To use a steam-hammer to crack nuts. |
To wash one's dirty linen in public. |
To wear one's heart upon one's sleeve. |
To weep over an onion. |
To work with the left hand. |
Tomorrow come never. |
Too many cooks spoil the broth. |
Too much knowledge makes the head bald. |
Too much of a good thing is good for nothing. |
Too much water drowned the miller. |
Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow. |
True blue will never stain. |
True coral needs no painter's brush. |
Truth comes out of the mouths of babes and sucklings. |
Truth is stranger than fiction. |
Truth lies at the bottom of a well. |
Two blacks do not make a white. |
Two heads are better than one. |
Two is company, but three is none. |
Velvet paws hide sharp claws. |
Virtue is its own reward. |
Wait for the cat to jump. |
Walls have ears. |
Wash your dirty linen at home. |
Waste not, want not. |
We know not what is good until we have lost it. |
We never know the value of water till the well is dry. |
We shall see what we shall see. |
We soon believe what we desire. |
Wealth is nothing without health. |
Well begun is half done. |
What can't be cured, must be endured. |
What is bred in the bone will not go out of the flesh. |
What is done by night appears by day. |
What is done cannot be undone. |
What is got over the devil's back is spent under his belly. |
What is lost is lost. |
What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. |
What is worth doing at alt is worth doing well. |
What must be, must be. |
What the heart thinks the tongue speaks. |
What we do willingly is easy. |
When angry, count a hundred. |
When at Rome, do as the Romans do. |
When children stand quiet, they have done some harm. |
The best things in life are free. |
He teaches ill, who teaches all. |
You can't take it with you when you die. |
Don't cross your bridges before you come to them. |
Even a worm will turn. |
It was the last straw that broke the camel's back. |
The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. |
Where there's a will there's a way. |
Marry in haste, and repent at leisure. |
If you wish good advice, consult an old man. |
The best advice is found on the pillow. |
All clouds bring not rain. |
You can't judge a book by its cover. |
Bad news travels fast. |
No news is good news. |
ವೇದ ಸುಳ್ಳಾದರು ಗಾದೆ ಸುಳ್ಳಾಗದು |
ಕುಂಬಾರನಿಗೆ ವರುಷ, ದೊಣ್ಣೆಗೆ ನಿಮಿಷ |
ಕೋತಿ ಕೈಗೆ ಮಾಣಿಕ್ಯ ಕೊಟ್ಟ ಹಾಗೆ |
ಮನಸಿದ್ದರೆ ಮಾರ್ಗ |
ಕೈ ಕೆಸರಾದರೆ ಬಾಯಿ ಮೊಸರು |
ಮಾತು ಬೆಳ್ಳಿ, ಮೌನ ಬಂಗಾರ |
ಬೆಳ್ಳಗಿರೋದೆಲ್ಲ ಹಾಲಲ್ಲ, ಹೊಳೆಯೋದೆಲ್ಲ ಚಿನ್ನ ಅಲ್ಲ |
ಗಿಡವಾಗಿ ಬಗ್ಗದ್ದು, ಮರವಾಗಿ ಬಗ್ಗೀತೇ? |
ಆಳಾಗಬಲ್ಲವನು ಅರಸನಾಗಬಲ್ಲ |
ತಾಳಿದವನು ಬಾಳಿಯಾನು |
ಅಲ್ಪನಿಗೆ ಐಶ್ವರ್ಯ ಬಂದರೆ ಅರ್ಧ ರಾತ್ರೀಲಿ ಕೊಡೆ ಹಿಡಿಸಿಕೊಂಡ |
ಅಡ್ಡ ಗೋಡೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ದೀಪ ಇಟ್ಟ ಹಾಗೆ |
नाच न जाने आँगन टेढ़ा |