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Wikipedia: English proverbs
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A list of 251 proverbs as of June 26 2001.
See also :
- A
- A bad workman always blames his tools.
- A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
- Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
- A cat may look at the king.
- A creeking gate hangs long.
- Actions speak louder than words.
- A fool and his money are soon parted.
- A fox smells its own lair first.
- A friend in need is a friend indeed.
- After dinner sit a while, after supper walk a mile.
- A good beginning makes a good ending.
- A good surgeon must have an eagle's eye, a lion's heart, and a lady's hand.
- A jack of all trades is master of none.
- A lie has no legs.
- A little learning is a dangerous thing.
- All flowers are not in one garland.
- All good things come to an end.
- All roads lead to Rome.
- All's fair in love and war.
- All's well that ends well.
- All that glitters is not gold.
- All things come to him who waits.
- All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
- A merry heart makes a long life.
- A miss is as good as a mile.
- Among the blind a one-eyed man is a king.
- An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
- An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
- An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
- A penny saved is a penny earned.
- A person is known by the company he keeps.
- A rolling stone gathers no moss.
- Ask and you shall receive.
- Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies.
- Ask no questions and hear no lies.
- A sound mind in a sound body.
- A stitch in time saves nine.
- As you make your bed, so you must lie in it.
- As you sow, so shall you reap.
- A woman's work is never done.
- A word is enough to the wise.
- A word spoken is past recalling.
- A word to the wise is sufficient.
- B
- Barking dogs seldom bite.
- Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
- Beauty is only skin deep.
- Beggars can't be choosers.
- Better late than never.
- Better safe than sorry.
- Better the devil you know than the devil that you don't know.
- Birds of a feather flock together.
- Bitter pills may have blessed effects.
- Blood is thicker than water.
- Blood will out.
- Boys will be boys.
- Brain is better than brawn.
- Bread is the staff of life.
- Butter is gold in the morning, silver at noon, lead at night.
- C
- Cider on beer, never fear; beer upun cider, makes a bad rider.
- Clothes do not make the man.
- Cowards die many times before their deaths.
- Cross the stream where it is the shallowest.
- Curiosity killed the cat.
- Cut your coat according to your cloth.
- D
- Desperate diseases must have desperate cures.
- Desperate diseases must have desperate remedies.
- Different sores must have different salves.
- Diseases come on horseback, but go away on foot.
- Do as you would be done by.
- Doctors make the very worst patients.
- Don't burn your bridges before they are crossed.
- Don't burn your bridges behind you.
- Don't change horses in midstream.
- Don't count your chickens before they're hatched.
- Don't cross a bridge until you come to it.
- Don't cross the bridge till you come to it.
- Don't cry over spilt milk.
- Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.
- Don't have too many irons in the fire.
- Don't make a mountain out of a molehill.
- Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
- Don't put the cart before the horse.
- Don't shut the barn door after the horse is gone.
- Don't shut the gate after the horse has bolted.
- Don't spit into the wind.
- Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
- Doubt is the beginning, not the end, of wisdom.
- Do unto others as you would have done unto you.
- E
- Early bird catches the worm.
- Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
- Eat to live and not live to eat.
- Eat when you're hungry, and drink when you're dry.
- East or West home is best.
- Empty barrels make the most sound.
- Even a worm will turn.
- Every cloud has a silver lining.
- Every dog has its day.
- Every man has a price.
- Every rule has its exception.
- Everything comes to him who waits.
- Every why has a wherefore.
- F
- Every disease will have its course.
- Faith will move mountains.
- Familiarity breeds contempt.
- Fine feathers make fine birds.
- Fine words butter no parsnips.
- First come, first served.
- Fools rush in where angels fear to thread.
- Forbidden fruit is the sweetest.
- Forewarned is forearmed.
- Fresh pork and new wine kill a man before his time.
- Fretting cares make grey hairs.
- Friend to all is a friend to none.
- G
- Give a dog a bad name and hang him.
- Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
- God cures and the physician takes the fee.
- Good eating deserves good drinking.
- Good fences make good neighbors.
- H
- Half a loaf is better than none.
- Haste makes waste.
- Health is better than wealth.
- Help a lame dog over a stile.
- He that lives too fast, goes to his grave too soon.
- He that will steal an egg will steal an ox.
- He who hesitates is lost.
- He who laughs last laughs best.
- He who laughs last laughs longest.
- He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword.
- He who sleeps forgets his hunger.
- Hindsight is 20/20.
- History repeats itself.
- Home is where the heart is.
- Home is where you hang your hat.
- Honesty is the best policy.
- Hunger is the best spice.
- I
- If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again.
- If a thing is worth doing it is worth doing well.
- If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.
- If the cap fits, wear it.
- If the shoe fits, wear it.
- If you buy cheaply, you pay dearly.
- If you can't beat them, join them.
- If you can't be good, be careful.
- If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
- If you keep your mouth shut, you won't put your foot in it.
- If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.
- It is a good horse that never stumbles.
- It never rains, it pours.
- It's a long lane that has no turning.
- It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good.
- It's an ill wind that blows no good.
- It's better to give than to receive.
- It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
- It's easy to be wise after the event.
- It's never too late to mend.
- It's not over till it's over.
- It's no use crying over spilt milk.
- It's the early bird that gets the worm.
- It's the empty can that makes the most noise.
- It's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.
- It takes all sorts to make a world.
- It takes two to make a quarrel.
- It takes two to tango.
- L
- Laughter is the best medicine.
- Learn to walk before you run.
- Let sleeping dogs lie.
- Lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas.
- Like cures like.
- Little enemies and little wounds must not be despised.
- Long absent, soon forgotten.
- Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.
- Look before you leap.
- Love is blind.
- M
- Make hay while the sun shines.
- Many hands make light work.
- Money talks.
- More haste, less speed.
- N
- Nature abhors a vacuum.
- Nature, time, and patience are three great physicians.
- Necessity is the mother of invention.
- Never put off till (until) tomorrow what you can do today.
- New brooms sweep clear.
- New broom sweeps clean.
- No cows, no cares.
- No gain without pain.
- No man can serve two masters.
- No news is good news.
- No pain, no gain.
- Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
- O
- Once bitten, twice shy.
- One doctor makes work for another.
- One good turn deserves another.
- One hour's sleep before midnight is worth two hours after.
- One man's meat is another man's poison.
- One swallow doesn't make a summer.
- Opposites attract.
- Out of sight, out of mind.
- P
- Paddle your own canoe.
- Penny wise, pound foolish.
- People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
- Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.
- Practise makes perfect.
- Prevention is better than cure.
- Pride goeth before a fall.
- R
- Rome wasn't built in a day.
- Rules are made to be broken.
- S
- Still waters are the deepest.
- Still waters run deep.
- Strike while the iron is hot.
- T
- Talk is cheap.
- Talk of the devil - and the devil appears.
- The best things in life are free.
- The coat makes the man.
- The cure is worse than the disease.
- The early bird gets the worm.
- The end justifies the means.
- The first step to health is to know that we are sick.
- The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
- The head and feet keep warm, the rest will take no harm.
- The more things change, the more they stay the same.
- The pen is mightier than sword.
- The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
- There are too many chiefs and not enough Indians.
- There's always a calm before a storm.
- There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip.
- There's no accounting for taste.
- There's no time like the present.
- The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
- The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
- The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
- The wish is father to the thought.
- Think before you speak.
- Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
- Time is money.
- To err is human; to forgive, divine.
- Too many cooks spoil the broth.
- Truth is stranger than fiction.
- Two heads are better than one.
- Two's company, three's a crowd.
- Two things do prolong your life: A quiet heart and a loving wife.
- W
- Waste not, want not.
- We all make mistakes.
- We must take the bad with the good.
- What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
- When in Rome do as the Romans do.
- When the cat's away the mice will play.
- When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
- Where one door shuts another opens.
- Where there's a will there's a way.
- While the cat is away, the mice will play.
- While there's life, there's hope.
- Who keeps company with the wolves, will learn to howl.
- Wide ears and short tongue are the best.
- Without sleep, no health.
- Y
- You can lead (take) a horse to water but you can't make it drink.
- You can't have it both ways.
- You can't have your cake and eat it too.
- You can't make an omlette without breaking eggs.
- You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
- You can't run with the hare and hunt with the hounds.
- You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
- You can't tell a book by its cover.
- You have to crawl before you can walk.
- You never know what you've got till it's gone.
- You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.
/absence --
/action --
/angel? --
/baby? --
/barrel? --
/basket? --
/beauty? --
/bed? --
/beggar? --
/best? --
/bird? --
/bite? --
/blame? --
/blind? --
/blow? --
/boy? --
/brain? --
/brawn? --
/bread? --
/bridge? --
/broom? --
/burn? --
/bush? --
/butter? --
/buy? --
/cake? --
/canoe? --
/care? --
/cart? --
/cat? --
/cause? --
/change? --
/cheap? --
/chicken? --
/chooser? --
/clean? --
/clear? --
/cloth? --
/clothes? --
/cloud? --
/coat? --
/company? --
/cook? --
/count? --
/cow? --
/coward? --
/cry? --
/cure? --
/cut? --
/day? --
/death? --
/deep? --
/deserve? --
/devil? --
/die? --
/disease? --
/dog --
/doctor? --
/door? --
/drink? --
/dull? --
/ear? --
/early? --
/east? --
/easy? --
/eat? --
/egg? --
/empty? --
/end? --
/event? --
/eye? --
/fair? --
/faith? --
/family --
/father? --
/fear? --
/feather? --
/fire? --
/first? --
/flesh? --
/flower? --
/fool? --
/foot? --
/free? --
/friend? --
/fruit? --
/gain? --
/garland? --
/gate? --
/gather? --
/get? --
/give? --
/glitter? --
/gold? --
/gone? --
/good? --
/grass? --
/green? --
/grow? --
/half? --
/hand? --
/hang? --
/happiness? --
/hare? --
/haste? --
/hatch? --
/hay? --
/head? --
/health? --
/heart? --
/hell? --
/help? --
/history? --
/home --
/honesty? --
/hope? --
/horse? --
/hot? --
/hound? --
/howl? --
/human? --
/hunt? --
/ill? --
/intention? --
/invention? --
/iron? --
/justification? --
/keep? --
/king? --
/know? --
/lame? --
/lane? --
/late? --
/laugh? --
/lead? --
/leap? --
/learn? --
/leg? --
/liar? --
/lie? --
/life? --
/light? --
/like? --
/live? --
/loaf? --
/long? --
/look? --
/love --
/make? --
/man? --
/mean? --
/meat? --
/medcine? --
/mend? --
/mile? --
/milk? --
/mind? --
/miss? --
/mistake? --
/money --
/moss? --
/mother? --
/mountain? --
/mouth? --
/move? --
/must? --
/name? --
/necessity? --
/need? --
/never? --
/new? --
/nine? --
/old? --
/open? --
/opposite? --
/paddle? --
/pain? --
/past? --
/pay? --
/penny? --
/perfect? --
/play? --
/poison? --
/policy? --
/pound? --
/pour? --
/power? --
/practise? --
/present? --
/proof? --
/pudding? --
/purse? --
/put? --
/quarrel? --
/rain? --
/receive? --
/repeat? --
/rise? --
/road? --
/rolling --
roll --
/Rome --
/run? --
/rush? --
/safe --
/save? --
/scratch? --
/serve? --
/shallow? --
/shine? --
/short? --
/shut? --
/shy? --
/side? --
/sight? --
/silk? --
/silver? --
/skin? --
/sleep? --
/sort? --
/sound? --
/sow? --
/speak? --
/speed? --
/spirit? --
/spoil? --
/spoken? --
/stitch? --
/stone? --
/stream? --
/strike? --
/stupidity? --
/succeed? --
/success? --
/summer? --
/sun? --
/swallow? --
/sweep? --
/sweet? --
/sword? --
/take? --
/talk? --
/teach? --
/thing? --
/think? --
/time? --
/thought? --
/thread? --
/throw? --
/time? --
/today? --
/tomorrow? --
/tongue? --
/tool? --
/tooth? --
/trick? --
/try? --
/turn? --
/twice? --
/two? --
/use? --
/wait? --
/walk? --
/war? --
/waste? --
/water? --
/way? --
/weakness? --
/wealth? --
/well? --
/wish? --
/why? --
/wide? --
/wind? --
wise? --
/wisdom? --
/wolf? --
/woman? --
/word? --
/work? --
/world? --
/worm? --
/worth? --
/Talk