Appendix:English proverbs

List of English proverbs. See also English proverbs for a more in-depth view.

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 chain is no stronger than its weakest link.
 * a creaking gate hangs long.
 * actions speak louder than words.
 * a day late and a dollar short.
 * 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.
 * age before beauty.
 * a good beginning makes a good ending.
 * a good surgeon has 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 lie can be halfway around the world before the truth gets its boots on.
 * a little learning is a dangerous thing.
 * all flowers are not in one garland.
 * all good things must come to an end.
 * all good things come in pairs.
 * all roads lead to Rome.
 * all's fair in love and war.
 * all's well that ends well.
 * all that glisters is not gold / 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.
 * an apple a day keeps the doctor away.
 * an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
 * an idle man's mind is devil's workshop.
 * 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.
 * April showers bring May flowers.
 * 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 right as ninepence.
 * as you make your bed, so you must lie in it.
 * as you sow, so shall you reap.
 * a watched pot will not boil.
 * a woman's work is never done.
 * a word to the wise is enough.
 * a word to the wise is sufficient.
 * a word spoken is past recalling.

B

 * barking dogs seldom bite.
 * beauty lies in the eyes 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.
 * behind evey wealthy man is a woman, with nothing to wear.

C

 * cider on beer, never fear; beer upon cider, makes a bad rider.
 * clothes don't make the man.
 * cowards die many times, but a brave man only dies once.
 * cross the stream where it is the shallowest.
 * curiosity killed the cat.
 * cut one's coat according to one's cloth.

D

 * desperate diseases must have desperate cures.
 * desperate diseases must have desperate remedies.
 * desperate times call for desperate measures.
 * different sores must have different salves.
 * diseases come on horseback, but steal away on foot.
 * do as you would be done by.
 * do unto others as you would have done to you.
 * doctors make the worst patients.
 * don't burn your bridges before they're 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 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 put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
 * 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 out the baby with the bathwater.
 * doubt is the beginning, not the end, of wisdom.

E

 * early bird gets the worm.
 * early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
 * eat to live, don't 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 disease will have its course.
 * every dog has its day.
 * every man has a price.
 * every rule has an exception.
 * everything comes to him who waits.
 * every why has a wherefore.

F

 * 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 tread.
 * 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.
 * give the devil his due.
 * god cures and the physician takes the fee.
 * good eating deserves good drinking.
 * good fences make good neighbors.
 * great minds think alike, but fools seldom differ.

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's 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 wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
 * If you are going to eat with the Devil, bring a long spoon.
 * 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.
 * in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
 * it's a good horse that never stumbles.
 * it never rains, but it pours.
 * it's a long lane that has no turning.
 * it's an ill wind that blows no good.
 * it's an ill wind that blows no one 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 better to have loved and lost than to have shot and missed.
 * it's darkest before dawn.
 * 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 food be your medicine, and medicine be your food.
 * let sleeping dogs lie.
 * let the cobbler make the shoes.
 * lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas.
 * like cures like.
 * little enemies and little wounds must not be despised.
 * long absent, soon forgotten.
 * long ways, long lies.
 * 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.
 * manners maketh man or so I'm told
 * many hands make light work.
 * money talks.
 * money talks, bullshit walks.
 * money talks, wealth whispers.
 * more haste, less speed.
 * mutton dressed as lamb.

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.
 * no time to waste like the present.
 * nothing ventured, nothing gained.
 * nothing succeeds like success.

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.

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.
 * practice makes perfect.
 * prevention is better than cure.
 * pride goeth before a fall.
 * pride comes before a fall.
 * procrastination is the thief of time.
 * proof of the pudding is in the eating.
 * proverbs hunt in pairs.

R

 * Rome wasn't built in a day.
 * rules are made to be broken.

S

 * seek and ye shall find.
 * six of one, half a dozen of the other.
 * spare the rod and spoil the child.
 * 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 the sword.
 * the pot calling the kettle black.
 * 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 light at the end of the tunnel.
 * there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip.
 * there's no accounting for taste.
 * there's no time like the present.
 * there's plenty more fish in the sea.
 * 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 flies (tempus fugit).
 * time is money.
 * to err is human; to forgive, divine.
 * tomorrow is another day.
 * 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 prolong your life: A quiet heart and a loving wife.

U

 * up the creek without a paddle.

V

 * variety is the spice of life.

W

 * waste not, want not.
 * we all make mistakes.
 * we must take the bad with the good.
 * what goes around, comes around.
 * 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.
 * when you're up to your neck in alligators, it can be difficult to remember that the original goal was to drain the swamp.
 * where one door shuts, another opens.
 * where there's a will there's a way.
 * 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.
 * wilful waste makes woeful want.
 * 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 omelette without breaking eggs.
 * you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
 * you can't make chicken soup out of chicken poop.
 * 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 be cruel to be kind.
 * you have to crawl before you can walk.
 * you have to walk before you can run.
 * you never know what you've got till it's gone.
 * you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.