English proverbs

B

• "Barking dogs seldom bite."
• "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."
• "Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes straight to the bone."
• "Beer before liquor, you'll never be sicker, but liquor before beer and you're in the clear."
• "Beggars can't be choosers."
• "Better late than never."
• "Better safe than sorry."
• "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't."
• "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

• "Chance favors the prepared mind."
• "Cider on beer, never fear; beer upon cider, makes a bad rider."
• "Close but no cigar."
• "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 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."
• "Different strokes for different folks."
• "Diseases come on horseback, but steal away on foot."
  • Alternative: "Diseases come on horseback, but go 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."
  • Alternative: "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 mend what ain't broken."
• "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 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 its 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."
• "First deserve than desire."
• "Fools rush in ."
• "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

• "Garbage in, garbage out."
• "Give and take is fair play."
• "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."
• "Good men are scarce."
• "Good wine needs no bush."
• "Great minds think alike."
• "Great oaks from little acorns grow."

H

• "Half a loaf is better than none."
• "Hansome is as hansome does."
• "Hang a thief when he's young,and he'll no' steal when he's old."
• "Hard cases make bad law."
• "Hard words break no bones."
• "Haste makes waste."
• "Hawks will not pick out hawks eyes."
• "Health is better than wealth."
• "Heaven protects children, sailors and drunken men."
• "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."
• "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."
• "His bark is worse than his bite."
• "History repeats itself."
• "Home is where the heart is."
• "Home is where you hang your hat."
• "Honesty is the best policy."
• "Honey catches more flies than vinegar."
• "Hunger is the best spice."
• "Hunger makes good kitchen."

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 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."
• "If you're in a hole, stop digging."
• "In for a penny, in for a pound."
• "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 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 often a person's mouth broke their nose."
• "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."
• "It takes two to lie, one to lie and one to listen."

J

• "Jack is as good as his master."
• "Jam tomorrow and jam yesterday, but never jam today."
• "Jove but laughs at lover's perjury."
• "Judge not, that ye be not judged."

K

• "Keep a thing seven years and you will always find a use for it."
• "Keep no more cats that catch mice."

L

M

• "Make hay while the sun shines."
• "Many hands make light work."
• "Money talks."
• "Money talks, bullshit walks."
• "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."
• "Never trouble trouble until trouble troubles you."
• "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."
• "Out of sight, out of mind."

P

• "Paddle your own canoe."
• "Pain is only weakness leaving the body."
• "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."
• " is the thief of time."

R

• "Rome wasn't built in a day."
• "Rules are made to be broken."

S

• "Seek and ye shall find."
• "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 early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."
• "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 opera ain't over until the fat lady sings."
• "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 arguing with the barrel of a gun."
• "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."
• "Tomorrow is another day."
• "Too many cooks spoil the broth."
• "Truth is stranger than fiction."
• "Two's company, three's a crowd."
• "Two heads are better than one."
• "Two things prolong your life: A quiet heart and a loving wife."
• "Two wrongs don't make a right."

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 doesn't kill you, makes you stronger."
• "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 hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras."
• "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."