Proverbs and Sayings

English Proverbs and Sayings


What are proverb and sayings? A proverb and sayings are a short saying embodying some general truth or moral precept which has gained permanence and often being used in the common speech.

Proverbs and sayings could be an impersonal observation on life, couched in a few telling words, made more effective perhaps by rhyme, rhythm, alliteration or rhythmic balance.

Proverbs and sayings are usually common to all races and nationalities.

Many European proverbs, of which Spain has the greatest number, originated in the East and were preserved by Hebrew, Greek, and Roman authors, the Crusaders and the Spanish Moors.

Below is a huge list of proverbs and sayings. Did we miss any?

Proverbs and sayings when spoken in the right context, could make you sound wiser and remember one word is enough to the wise...



A bad beginning makes a bad ending

A bad corn promise is better than a good lawsuit

A bad workman always blames 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 has nine lives

A cat in gloves catches no mice

A cat may look at a king

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link

A change is as good as a rest

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 curst cow has short horns

A danger foreseen is half avoided

A dog is a man's best friend

A drop in the bucket

A drowning man will catch at a straw

A drowning man will clutch at a straw

A fair face may hide a foul heart

A fault confessed is half redressed

A fish always rots from the head down

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 golden key can open any door

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 man is hard to find

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 lustre 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 house divided against itself cannot stand

A house is not a home

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 journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

A lawyer never goes to law himself

A lazy sheep thinks its wool heavy

A leopard cannot change its spots

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 harbours a great soul

A little fire is quickly trodden out

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing

A little learning is a dangerous thing

A little of what you fancy does you good

A little spark kindles a great fire

A man can die but once

A man can do no more than he can

A man cannot give what he hasn't got

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 man who is his own lawyer has a fool for his client

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 nod's as good as a wink to a blind horse

A penny saved is a penny earned

A penny saved is a penny gained

A penny soul never came to twopence

A person is known by the company he keeps

A picture is worth a thousand words

A picture paints a thousand words

A place for everything and everything in its place

A poor workman always blames his tools

A problem shared is a problem halved

A prophet is not recognized in his own land

A quiet conscience sleeps in thunder

A rising tide lifts all boats

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 turned away wrath

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 thing of beauty is a joy forever

A threatened blow is seldom given

A tree is known by its fruit

A trouble shared is a trouble halved

A volunteer is worth twenty pressed men

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 woman's place is in the home

A woman's work is never done

A wonder lasts but nine days

A word is enough to the wise

A word spoken is past recalling

A word to the wise is enough

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Absolute power corrupts absolutely

Actions speak louder than words

Adversity is a great schoolmaster

Adversity makes strange bedfellows

After a storm comes a calm

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

Agues 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 good things come to he who waits

All good things must come to an end

All is fish that comes to his net

All is grist that comes to the mill

All is not lost that is in peril

All is well that ends well

All lay load on the willing horse

All men are mortal

All men can't be first

All men can't be masters

All promises are either broken or kept

All publicity is good publicity

All roads lead to Rome

All roads lead to Rome

All sugar and honey

All that glisters is not gold

All that glitters is not gold

All the world loves a lover

All things are difficult before they are easy

All things come to those who wait

All things must pass

All truths are not to be told

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All you need is love

All's fair in love and war

All's for the best in the best of all possible worlds

All's well that ends well

Among the blind the one-eyed man is king

An apple a day keeps the doctor away

An army marches on its stomach

An ass in a lion's skin

An ass is but an ass, though laden with gold

An ass 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 Englishman's home is his castle

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 ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

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

Another day, another dollar

Any port in a storm

Appearances are deceitful

Appearances are deceiving

Appetite comes with eating

April showers bring forth May flowers

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 make your bed, so you must lie upon it

As you sow so shall you reap

As you sow, so shall you reap

Ask a silly question and you'll get a silly answer

Ask no questions and hear no lies

Ask no questions and you will be told no lies

Ask no questions and you’ll be told no lies

At the ends of the earth

Attack is the best form of defense

Bacchus has drowned more men than Neptune

Bad money drives out good

Bad news has wings

Bad news travels fast

Barking does seldom bite

Barking dogs seldom bite

Be slow to promise and quick to perform

Be swift to hear, slow to speak

Beauty is but skin-deep

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Beauty is only 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

Beggars should not be choosers

Behind every great man there's a great woman

Believe not all that you see nor half what you hear

Believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see

Best defence is offence

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 safe than sorry

Better the Devil you know than the Devil you don't

Better the foot slip than the tongue

Better to be safe than sorry

Better to do well than to say well

Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all

Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness

Better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool that to speak and remove all doubt

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 the upper and nether millstone

Between two evils 'tis not worth choosing

Between two stools one goes (falls) to the ground

Betwixt and between

Beware of a silent dog and still water

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts

Beware the Ides of March

Big fish eat little fish

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

Boys will be boys

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'

Caesar's wife must be above suspicion

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

Cheats never prosper

Cheek brings success

Children and fools must not play with edged tools

Children are poor men's riches

Children should be seen and not heard

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

Clothes make the man

Cold hands, warm heart

Company in distress makes trouble less

Comparisons are odious

Confession is the first step to repentance

Counsel is no command

Count your blessings

Cowards may die many times before their death

Creditors have better memories than debtors

Crime doesn't pay

Cross the stream where it is shallowest

Crows do not pick crow's eyes

Curiosity killed a cat

Curiosity killed the 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

Cut your coat to fit your cloth

Cut your coat to suit your cloth

Dead men tell no tales

Death is the grand leveller

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

Devil take the hindmost

Diligence is the mother of success (good luck)

Discretion is the better part of velour

Diseases are the interests of pleasures

Distance lends enchantment to the view

Divide and rule

Do as I say, not as I do

Do as you would be done by

Do not cross the bridge until you come to it

Do research like ResearchManiacs.com

Do unto others as you would have them do to you

Dog does not eat dog

Dog eats dog

Dogs that put up many hares kill none

Doing is better than saying

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

Don't bite the hand that feeds you

Don't burn your bridges behind you

Don't cast your pearls before swine

Don't change horses in midstream

Don't count your chickens before they are hatched

Don't cross the bridge till you come to it

Don't cross the bridges before you come to them

Don't cut off your nose to spite your face

Don't have thy cloak to make when it begins to rain

Don't keep a dog and bark yourself

Don't let the bastards grind you down

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth

Don't meet troubles half-way

Don't put all your eggs in one basket

Don't put new wine into old bottles

Don't put the cart before the horse

Don't rock the boat

Don't sell the bear's skin before you've caught it

Don't spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar

Don't teach your Grandma to suck eggs

Don't throw pearls to swine

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water

Don't trouble trouble until trouble troubles you

Don't try to walk before you can crawl

Don't upset the apple-cart

Don't wash your dirty linen in public

Don't whistle (halloo) until you are out of the wood

Dot your i's and cross your t's

Doubt is the beginning not the end of wisdom

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 is east, and west is west

East or West ? home is best

East, west, home's best

Easy come, easy go

Eat at pleasure, drink with measure

Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die

Empty vessels make the greatest (the most) sound

Empty vessels make the most noise

Enough is as good as a feast

Enough is enough

Envy shoots at others and wounds herself

Even a worm will turn

Even reckoning makes long friends

Every ass 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 cloud has a silver lining

Every country has its customs

Every dark cloud has a silver lining

Every day is not Sunday

Every dog has his day

Every dog has its day

Every dog is a lion at home

Every dog is valiant at his own door

Every Jack has his Jill

Every little helps

Every man for himself, and the Devil take the hindmost

Every man has a fool in his sleeve

Every man has his faults

Every man has his hobby-horse

Every man has his price

Every man is the architect of his own fortunes

Every man to his own taste

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 picture tells a story

Every stick has two ends

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

Everyone wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die

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

Failing to plan is planning to fail

Faint heart never won fair lady

Fair exchange is no robbery

Fair without, foul (false) within

Fair words break no bones

Faith will move mountains

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

Feed a cold and starve a fever

Fight fire with fire

Finders keepers, losers weepers

Fine feathers make fine birds

Fine words butter no parsnips

First catch your hare

First come, first served

First deserve and then desire

First impressions are the most lasting

First things first

First think, then speak

Fish always stink from the head down

Fish and company stink in three days

Fish and guests smell after three days

Fish begins to stink at the head

Flattery will get you nowhere

Follow the river and you'll get to the sea

Fools and madmen speak the truth

Fools grow without watering

Fool's haste is no speed

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

Forgive and forget

Fortune favors the brave

Fortune favours 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

From the sublime to the ridiculous is only one step

Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains

Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration

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 dog a bad name and hang him

Give a fool rope enough, and he will hang himself

Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day

Give a man enough rope and he will hang himself

Give credit where credit is due

Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice

Give him an inch and he'll take an ell

Give never the wolf the wether to keep

Gluttony kills more men than the sword

Go to bed with the lamb and rise with the lark

God helps those who help themselves

Good clothes open all doors

Good counsel does no harm

Good fences make good neighbors

Good health is above wealth

Good masters make good servants

Good talk saves the food

Good things come to those who wait

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 minds think alike

Great oaks from little acorns grow

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 crust is better than no bread

Half a loaf is better than no bread

Handsome is as handsome does

Handsome is that handsome does

Happiness takes no account of time

Happy is he that is happy in his children

Hard cases make bad law

Hard words break no bones

Hard work never did anyone any harm

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 see the wood for the trees

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 i!i turn will never forgive you

He that fears every bush must never go a-birding

He that fears you present wiil hate you absent

He that fights and runs away

He that goes a borrowing, goes a sorrowing

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 He head needs no hat

He that has no children knows not what love is

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 can does, he who cannot, teaches

He who fights and runs away, may live to fight another day

He who hesitates is lost

He who is born a fool is never cured

He who laughs last laughs longest

He who likes borrowing dislikes paying

He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword

He who makes no mistakes, makes nothing

He who pays the piper calls the tune

He who pleased everybody died before he was born

He who says what he likes, shall hear what he doesn't like

He who sups with the Devil should have a long spoon

He who would catch fish must not mind getting wet

He who would eat the nut must first crack the shell

He who would not work, neither should he eat

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

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned

Here today and gone tomorrow

Hindsight is always twenty-twenty

His bark is worse than his bite

His eyes are bigger than his stomach

His money burns a hole in his pocket

History repeats itself

Hit the nail on the head

Home is where the heart is

Honesty is the best policy

Honey catches more flies than vinegar

Honey is not for the ass'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

Hope springs eternal

Horses for courses

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 a job is worth doing it is worth doing well

If an ass (donkey) bray at you, don't bray at him

If anything can go wrong, it will

If at first you don't succeed try, try and try again

If God had meant us to fly he'd have given us wings

If ifs and ands were pots and pans there'd be no work for tinkers

If ifs and ans were pots and pans

If it ain't broke, don't fix it

If life deals you lemons, make lemonade

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 cap fits, wear it

If the mountain won't come to Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain

If the shoe fits, wear it

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 then beggars would ride

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 can't be good, be careful

If you can't beat em, join em

If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen

If you dance you must pay the fiddler

If you laugh before breakfast you'll cry before supper

If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas

If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys

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 done well, do it yourself

If you want a thing well done, do it yourself

Ignorance is bliss

Ill-gotten gains never prosper

Ill-gotten, ill-spent

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

In at one ear and out at the other

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

In the kingdom of the blind the one eyed man is king

In the midst of life we are in death

Into every life a little rain must fall

Iron hand (fist) in a velvet glove

It ain't over till the fat lady sings

It goes without saying

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 a silly fish, that is caught twice with the same bait

It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest

It is an ill wind that blows nobody good

It is best to be on the safe side

It is better to give than to receive

It is easy to be wise after the event

It is easy to swim if another hoids 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 takes a thief to catch a thief

It takes all sorts to make a world

It takes one to know one

It takes two to tango

It will be all the same in a hundred years

It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good

It’s raining cats and dogs

It’s too late to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted

It's all grist to the mill

It's an ill wind that blows no one any good

It's as broad as it's long

It's better to be hanged for a sheep than for a lamb

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 light a candle than curse the darkness

It's better to travel hopefully than to arrive

It's never too late

It's no use crying over spilt milk

It's no use locking the stable door after the horse has bolted

It's no use pumping a dry well

It's one thing to flourish and another to fight

It's the early bird that catches the worm

It's the empty can that makes the most noise

It's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease

Jack of all trades and master of none

Jackdaw in peacock's feathers

Jest with an ass and he will flap you in the face with his tail

Judge not of men and things at first sight

Judge not, that ye be not judged

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 chin up

Keep your mouth shut and your ears open

Keep your mouth shut and your eyes open

Keep your powder dry

Last, but not least

Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone

Laughter is the best medicine

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

Less is more

Let bygones be bygones

Let every man praise the bridge he goes over

Let not the sun go down on your wrath

Let sleeping dogs lie

Let the buyer beware

Let the dead bury the dead

Let the punishment fit the crime

Let well (enough) alone

Let well alone

Liars need good memories

Lies have short legs

Life begins at forty

Life is but a span

Life is just a bowl of cherries

Life is not a bed of roses

Life is not all cakes and ale (beer and skittles)

Life is what you make it

Life's not all beer and skittles

Lightning never strikes twice in the same place

Like a cat on hot bricks

Like a needle in a haystack

Like begets like

Like cures like

Like draws to like

Like father, like son

Like master, like man

Like mother, like daughter

Like parents, like children

Like priest, like people

Like teacher, like pupil

Listeners never hear any good of themselves

Little chips light great fires

Little knowledge is a dangerous thing

Little pigeons can carry great messages

Little pitchers have big ears

Little pitchers have long ears

Little strokes fell great oaks

Little thieves are hanged, but great ones escape

Little things amuse little minds

Little things please little minds

Live and learn

Live and let live

Live for today for tomorrow never comes

Live not to eat, but eat to live

Long absent, soon forgotten

Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves

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

Love is blind, as well as hatred

Love makes the world go round

Love me, love my dog

Love thy neighbor as thyself

Love will creep where it may not go

Love will find a way

Mackerel scales and mare's tails make tall ships carry low sails

Make a virtue out of necessity

Make haste slowly

Make hay while the sun shines

Make love not war

Make or mar

Making a mountain out of a molehill

Man does not live by bread alone

Man proposes but God disposes

Manners market man

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 little makes a mickle

Many a mickle makes a muckle

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

March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb

March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers

Marriages are made in heaven

Marry in haste, repent at leisure

Measure for measure

Measure thrice and cut once

Men may meet but mountains never

Mend or end (end or mend)

Might goes before right

Might is right

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow

Mind your p's and q's

Misery loves company

Misfortunes never come alone (singly)

Misfortunes tell us what fortune is

Moderation in all things

Monday's child is fair of face,

Money begets money

Money can't buy happiness

Money doesn't grow on trees

Money has no smell

Money is a good servant but a bad master

Money is the root of all evil

Money isn't everything

Money makes the world go round

Money often unmakes the men who make it

Money spent on the brain is never spent in vain

Money talks

More haste, less speed

Much ado about nothing

Much will have more

Muck and money go together

Murder will out

Music has charms to soothe the savage breast

My house is my castle

Name not a rope in his house that was hanged

Nature abhors a vacuum

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

Ne'er cast a clout till May be out

Neither fish nor flesh

Neither here nor there

Neither rhyme nor reason

Never bite the hand that feeds you

Never buy a pig in a poke

Never cackle till your egg is laid

Never cast dirt into that fountain of which you have sometime drunk

Never count your chickens before they hatch

Never do things by halves

Never fry a fish till it's caught

Never give a sucker an even break

Never go to bed on an argument

Never judge a book by its cover

Never let the sun go down on your anger

Never look a gift horse in the mouth

Never offer to teach fish to swim

Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today

Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today

Never quit certainty for hope

Never speak ill of the dead

Never tell tales out of school

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

Nine tailors make a man

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 can serve two masters

No man is an island

No man is wise at all times

No man loves his fetters, be they made of gold

No names, no pack-drill

No news (is) good news

No news is good news

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent

No pain, no gain

No pains, no gains

No rest for the wicked

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 certain but death and taxes

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 gain

Nothing venture, nothing have

Nothing venture, nothing win

Oaks may fall when reeds stand the storm

Of two evils choose the least

Oil and water don't mix

Old birds are not caught with chaff

Old friends and old wine are best

Old soldiers never die, they just fade away

On Shank's mare

Once a thief, always a thief

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 half of the world does not know how the other half lives

One hand washes the other

One law for the rich and another for the poor

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 might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb

One scabby sheep will mar a whole flock

One swallow does not make a summer

One swallow doesn't make a spring

One today is worth two tomorrow

One volunteer is worth ten pressed men

One year's seeding makes seven years weeding

Only fools and horses work

Open not your door when the devil knocks

Opinions differ

Opportunity makes the thief

Opportunity never knocks twice at any man's door

Out of sight, out of mind

Out of the frying pan, into the fire

Out of the frying-pan into the fire

Packed like herrings

Parsley seed goes nine times to the Devil

Patience is a plaster for all sores

Patience is a virtue

Pearls of wisdom

Penny wise and pound foolish

Penny-wise and pound-foolish

People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones

Physician, heal thyself

Pleasure has a sting in its tail

Plenty is no plague

Politeness costs little (nothing), but yields much

Possession is nine points of the law

Poverty is no disgrace

Poverty is no sin

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

Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely

Practice makes perfect

Practice what you preach

Practise what you preach

Praise is not pudding

Prevention is better than cure

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

Put your best foot forward

Rain at seven, fine at eleven

Rain before seven, fine before eleven

Rats desert a sinking ship

Red sky at night shepherd's delight; red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning

Red sky at night, shepherd's delight;

Research like Maniacs

Repentance is good, but innocence is better

Respect yourself, or no one else will respect you

Revenge is a dish best served cold

Revenge is sweet

Rob Peter to pay Paul

Roll my log and I will roll yours

Rome was not built in a day

Rome wasn't built in a day

Salt water and absence wash away love

Save your breath to cool your porridge

Save your pennies for a rainy day

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

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil

Seeing is believing

Seek and ye shall find

Self done is soon done

Self done is well done

Self is a bad counsellor

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

Share and share alike

Short debts (accounts) make long friends

Shrouds have no pockets

Silence gives consent

Silence is golden

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

Softly, softly, catches monkey

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark

Soon learnt, soon forgotten

Soon ripe, soon rotten

Spare the rod and spoil the child

Speak (talk) of the devil and he will appear (is sure to appear)

Speak as you find

Speak softly and carry a big stick

Speech is silver but silence is gold

Standers-by see more than gamesters

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me

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

Stupid is as stupid does

Success has many fathers, while failure is an orphan

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 care of the pennies, and the dollars will take care of themselves

Take us as you find us

Talk is cheap

Talk of the Devil, and he is bound to appear

Tarred with the same brush

Tastes differ

Tell that to the marines

Tell the truth and shame the Devil

That cock won't fight

That which does not kill us makes us stronger

That which one least anticipates soonest comes to pass

That's a horse of another colour

That's where the shoe pinches!

The age of miracles is past

The apple never falls far from the tree

The beggar may sing before the thief (before a footpad)

The best defense is a good offence

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 best things come in small packages

The best things in life are free

The best-laid schemes of mice and men gang aft agley

The bigger they are, the harder they fall

The bottom line is the bottom line

The boy is father to the man

The bread always falls buttered side down

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 child is the father of the man

The cobbler always wears the worst shoes

The cobbler should stick to his last

The cobbler's wife is the worst shod

The course of true love never did run smooth

The customer is always right

The darkest hour is just before dawn

The darkest hour is that before the dawn

The darkest place is under the candlestick

The devil finds work for idle hands to do

The devil is not so black as he is painted

The devil knows many things because he is old

The devil looks after his own

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 exception which proves the rule

The face is the index of the mind

The falling out of lovers is the renewing of love

The family that prays together, stays together

The fat is in the fire

The female of the species is more deadly than the male

The first blow is half the battle

The fruit does not fall far from the tree

The furthest way about is the nearest way home

The game is not worth the candle

The good die young

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence

The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world

The heart that once truly loves never forgets

The higher the ape goes, the more he shows his tail

The husband is always the last to know

The kettle calling the pot black

The laborer is worthy of his hire

The last drop makes the cup run over

The last straw breaks the camel's back

The law is an ass

The leopard cannot change its spots

The leopard does not change his spots

The longest day has an end

The longest journey begins with a single step

The longest night ends with the dawn of day

The love of money is the root of all evil

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 more things change, the more they stay the same

The morning sun never lasts a day

The mountain has brought forth a mouse

The nearer the bone, the sweeter the flesh

The one who pays the piper calls the tune

The only good Indian is a dead Indian

The opera ain't over till the fat lady sings

The pen is mightier than the sword

The pitcher goes often to the well but is broken at last

The pot calls the kettle black

The price of liberty is eternal vigilance

The proof of the pudding is in the eating

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 road to hell is paved with good intentions

The rotten apple injures its neighbours

The scalded dog fears cold water

The shoemaker's son always goes barefoot

The simple things in life are best

The squeaking wheel gets the grease

The tailor makes the man

The tongue of idle persons is never idle

The truth will out

The voice of one man is the voice of no one

The way (the road) to hell is paved with good intentions

The way to a man's heart is through his stomach

The wind cannot be caught in a net

The work shows the workman

There are lees to every wine

There are more ways of killing a cat than choking it with cream

There are more ways to the wood than one

There are none so blind as those, that will not see

There are two sides to every question

There but for the grace of God, go I

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 is nothing new under the sun

There’s many a slip ’twixt cup and lip

There’s no accounting for tastes

There’s nothing so bad but it might have been worse

There's a time and a place for everything

There's always more fish in the sea

There's an exception to every rule

There's honor among thieves

There's many a good tune played on an old fiddle

There's many a slip 'twixt cup and lip

There's more than one way to skin a cat

There's newt so queer as folk

There's no accounting for tastes

There's no fool like an old fool

There's no place like home

There's no smoke without fire

There's no such thing as a free lunch

There's no such thing as bad publicity

There's no time like the present

There's no use crying over spilt milk

There's none so blind as those who will not see

There's none so deaf as those who will not hear

There's one born every minute

There's safety in numbers

They are hand and glove

They must hunger in winter that will not work in summer

They that sow the wind, shall reap the whirlwind

Things past cannot be recalled

Think today and speak tomorrow

Third time lucky

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it

Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones

Those who sleep with dogs will rise with fleas

Time and tide wait for no man

Time cures all things

Time flies

Time is a great healer

Time is money

Time is the great healer

Time will tell

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 draw water in a sieve

To drop a bucket into an empty well

To eat the calf in the cow's belly

To err is human

To every thing there is a season

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 (to turn) the air blue

To make a mountain out of a molehill

To make both ends meet

To make the cup run over

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 (set) the cart before the horse

To put a spoke in somebody's wheel

To put off till Doomsday

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 the victor go the spoils

To throw a stone in one's own garden

To throw dust in somebody's eyes

To throw straws against the wind

To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive

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

Tomorrow is another day

Tomorrow never comes

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

Trouble shared is trouble halved

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

Truth will out

Turn over a new leaf

Two blacks do not make a white

Two blacks don't make a white

Two heads are better than one

Two is company, but three is none

Two is company, but three's a crowd

Two wrongs do not make a right

Variety is the spice of life

Velvet paws hide sharp claws

Virtue is its own reward

Wait for the cat to jump

Walls have ears

Walnuts and pears you plant for your heirs

Wash your dirty linen at home

Waste not want not

Waste not, want not

Watched pots never boil

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 can't be cured, must be endured

What goes up must come down

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 eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve over

What the heart thinks the tongue speaks

What we do willingly is easy

What you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts

What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander

When angry, count a hundred

When at Rome, do as the Romans do

When children stand quiet, they have done some harm

When flatterers meet, the devil goes to dinner

When in Rome do as the Romans do

When pigs fly

When Queen Anne was alive

When the cat is away, the mice will play

When the cat's away the mice will play

When the devil is blind

When the fox preaches, take care of your geese

When the going gets tough, the tough get going

When the pinch comes, you remember the old shoe

When three know it, alt know it

When wine is in wit is out

Where there’s smoke there’s fire

Where there's a will there's a way

Where there's a will, there's a way

Where there's muck there's brass

While the grass grows the horse starves

While there is life there is hope

While there’s life, there’s hope

While there's life there's hope

Who breaks, pays

Who has never tasted bitter, knows not what is sweet

Who keeps company with the wolf, will learn to howl

Whom the Gods love die young

Why keep a dog and bark yourself?

Wise after the event

With time and patience the leaf of the mulberry becomes satin

Women and children first

Wonders will never cease

Words pay no debts

Work expands so as to fill the time available

Worrying never did anyone any good

You are never too old to learn

You are what you eat

You can have too much of a good thing

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink

You can take a horse to the water but you cannot make him drink

You can’t have your cake and eat it

You can’t please everyone

You cannot eat your cake and have it

You cannot flay the same ox twice

You cannot get blood from a stone

You cannot judge a tree by it bark

You cannot teach old dogs new tricks

You cannot wash charcoal white

You can't get blood out of a stone

You can't have your cake and eat it

You can't judge a book by its cover

You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear

You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs

You can't make bricks without straw

You can't run with the hare and hunt with the hounds

You can't teach an old dog new tricks

You can't win them all

You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar

You made your bed, now lie in it

You pays your money and you takes your choice

You should never judge a book by its cover

You should not bite off more than you can chew

Zeal without knowledge is a runaway horse











 
 
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