List of proverbial phrases

Georgian proverb

A

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 drowning man will clutch at a straw

A fool and his money are soon parted

A friend in need is a friend indeed

A golden key can open any door

A good beginning makes a good ending

A good man is hard to find

A house divided against itself cannot stand

A house is not a home

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

A leopard cannot change its spots

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing

A little of what you fancy does you good

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

A miss is as good as a mile

A new broom sweeps clean

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

A penny saved is a penny earned

A person is known by the company he keeps

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 rising tide lifts all boats

A rolling stone gathers no moss

A soft answer turneth away wrath

A stitch in time saves nine

A swarm in May is worth a load of hay; a swarm in June is worth a silver spoon; but a swarm in July is not worth a fly

A thing of beauty is a joy forever

A trouble shared is a trouble halved

A volunteer is worth twenty pressed men

A watched pot never boils

A woman's place is in the home

A woman's work is never done

A word to the wise is enough

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Absolute power corrupts absolutely

Accidents will happen (in the best-regulated families).

Actions speak louder than words

Adversity makes strange bedfellows

All good things come to he who waits

All good things must come to an end

All is grist that comes to the mill

All roads lead to Rome

All that glisters is not gold

All the world loves a lover

All things come to those who wait

All things must pass

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

A miss is as good as a mile

An apple a day keeps the doctor away

An army marches on its stomach

An Englishman's home is his castle

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

Any port in a storm

Any publicity is good publicity

April showers bring forth May flowers

As you make your bed, so you must lie upon it

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

Attack is the best form of defence

B

Bad news travels fast

Barking dogs seldom bite

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Beauty is only skin deep

Beggars can't be choosers

Behind every great man there's a great woman

Better late than never

Better safe than sorry

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

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

Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness

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

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts

Big fish eat little fish

Birds of a feather flock together

Blood is thicker than water

Boys will be boys

Brevity is the soul of wit

Business before pleasure

C

Caesar's wife must be above suspicion

Charity begins at home

Cheats never prosper

Children should be seen and not heard

Cleanliness is next to godliness

Clothes make the man

Cold hands, warm heart

Comparisons are odious

Count you blessings

Cowards may die many times before their death

Crime doesn't pay

Cut your coat to suit your cloth

D

Dead men tell no tales

Devil take the hindmost

Discretion is the better part of valor

Do as I say, not as I do

Do as you would be done by

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

Don't bite the hand that feeds you

Don't burn your bridges behind you

Don't change horses in midstream

Don't count your chickens before they are hatched

See Aesop's fable "the Milkmaid and Her Pail".

Don't cross the bridge till you come to it

Don't cut off your nose to spite your face

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 the cart before the horse

Don't put new wine into old bottles

Don't rock the boat

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

Don't throw pearls to swine

Don't teach your Grandma to suck eggs

Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater

Don't try to walk before you can crawl

Don't upset the apple-cart

Don't wash your dirty linen in public

Doubt is the beginning not the end of wisdom

E

Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise

East is east, and west is west

East, west, home's best

Easy come, easy go

Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die

Empty vessels make the most noise

Enough is as good as a feast

Enough is enough

Even a worm will turn

Every cloud has a silver lining

Every dog has his day

Every Jack has his Jill

Every little helps

Every man for himself, and the Devil take the hindmost

Every man has his price

Every picture tells a story

Every stick has two ends

Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die

F

Fact is stranger than fiction

Failing to plan is planning to fail

Faint heart never won fair lady

Fair exchange is no robbery

Faith will move mountains

Familiarity breeds contempt

Feed a cold and starve a fever

Fight fire with fire

Finders keepers, losers weepers

Fine words butter no parsnips

First come, first served

First impressions are the most lasting

First things first

Fish always stinks from the head downwards

Fish and guests smell after three days

Flattery will get you nowhere

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread

For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for want of a horse the man was lost

Forewarned is forearmed

Fortune favours the brave

From the sublime to the ridiculous is only one step

G

Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains

Give a dog a bad name and hang him

Give a man rope enough and he will hang himself

Give credit where credit is due

God helps those who help themselves

Good fences make good neighbors

Good talk saves the food

Good things come to those who wait

Great (or good) minds think alike

H

Half a loaf is better than no bread

Handsome is as handsome does

Hard cases make bad law

Hard work never did anyone any harm

Haste makes waste

He that goes a-borrowing, goes a-sorrowing

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 laughs last laughs longest

He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword

He who pays the piper calls the tune

He who sups with the Devil should have a long spoon

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned

Hindsight is always twenty-twenty

History repeats itself

Home is where the heart is

Honesty is the best policy

Hope springs eternal

Horses for courses

I

If anything can go wrong, it will

If a job is worth doing it is worth doing well

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 life deals you lemons, make lemonade

If the cap fits, wear it

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

If wishes were horses beggars would ride

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 lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas

If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys

If you want a thing done well, do it yourself

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

In for a penny, in for a pound

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

It goes without saying

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 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's all grist to the mill

It's an ill wind that blows no one any 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 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 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

J

Jack of all trades, master of none

Judge not, that ye be not judged

K

Keep your chin up

Keep your powder dry

L

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

Laughter is the best medicine

Least said, soonest mended

Less is more

Let bygones be bygones

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 alone

Life begins at forty

Life is what you make it

Life's not all beer and skittles

Lightening never strikes twice in the same place

Like father, like son

Little pitchers have big ears

Little strokes fell great oaks

Little things please little minds

Live for today for tomorrow never comes

Look before you leap

Love is blind

Love makes the world go round

Love will find a way

M

Make hay while the sun shines

Make love not war

Man does not live by bread alone

Manners maketh man

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

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

Marriages are made in heaven

Marry in haste, repent at leisure

Might is right

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow

Misery loves company

Moderation in all things

Monday's child is fair of face,

   Tuesday's child is full of grace,

   Wednesday's child is full of woe,

   Thursday's child has far to go,

   Friday's child is loving and giving,

   Saturday's child works hard for its living,

   And a child that's born on the Sabbath day

   Is fair and wise and good and gay.

Money doesn't grow on trees

Money is the root of all evil

Money isn't everything

Money makes the world go round

Money talks

More haste, less speed

Music has charms to soothe the savage breast

N

Nature abhors a vacuum

Necessity is the mother of invention

Needs must when the devil drives

Ne'er cast a clout till May be out

Never give a sucker an even break

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 put off until tomorrow what you can do today

Never speak ill of the dead

Never tell tales out of school

Nine tailors make a man

No man can serve two masters

No man is an island

No names, no pack-drill

No news is good news

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent

No pain, no gain

No rest for the wicked

Nothing is certain but death and taxes

Nothing succeeds like success

Nothing venture, nothing gain

O

Oil and water don't mix

Old soldiers never die, they just fade away

Once a thief, always a thief

Once bitten, twice shy

One good turn deserves another

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

One hand washes the other

One man's meat is another man's poison

One might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb

One law for the rich and another for the poor

One swallow does not make a summer

One year's seeding makes seven years weeding

Only fools and horses work

Opportunity never knocks twice at any man's door

Out of sight, out of mind

P

Parsley seed goes nine times to the Devil

Patience is a virtue

Pearls of wisdom

Penny wise and pound foolish

People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones

Physician, heal thyself

Possession is nine points of the law

Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely

Practice makes perfect

Practise what you preach

Prevention is better than cure

Pride goes before a fall

Procrastination is the thief of time

Put your best foot forward

R

Red sky at night shepherds delight; red sky in the morning, shepherds warning

Revenge is a dish best served cold

Revenge is sweet

Rome wasn't built in a day

S

See a pin and pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck; see a pin and let it lie, bad luck you'll have all day

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil

Seeing is believing

Seek and ye shall find

Set a thief to catch a thief

Shrouds have no pockets

Silence is golden

Slow but sure

Softly, softly, catchee monkey

Spare the rod and spoil the child

Speak as you find

Speak softly and carry a big stick

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

Still waters run deep

Strike while the iron is hot

Stupid is as stupid does

Success has many fathers, while failure is an orphan

T

Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves

Talk is cheap

Talk of the Devil, and he is bound to appear

Tell the truth and shame the Devil

That which does not kill us makes us stronger

The age of miracles is past

The apple never falls far from the tree

The best defence is a good offence

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

The best things in life are free

The bigger they are, the harder they fall

The boy is father to the man

The bread never falls but on its buttered side

The child is the father of the man

The cobbler always wears the worst shoes

The course of true love never did run smooth

The customer is always right

The darkest hour is just before the dawn

The devil finds work for idle hands to do

The devil looks after his own

The early bird catches the worm

The end justifies the means

The exception which proves the rule

The female of the species is more deadly than the male

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 husband is always the last to know

The labourer is worthy of his hire

The leopard does not change his spots

The longest journey starts with a single step

The more the merrier

The more things change, the more they stay the same

The only good Indian is a dead Indian

The pen is mightier than sword

The proof of the pudding is in the eating

The road to hell is paved with good intentions

The shoemaker's son always goes barefoot

The squeaking wheel gets the grease

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

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

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's an exception to every rule

There's always more fish in the sea

There's honour among thieves

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

There's many a slip 'twixt cup and lip

There's many a slip twixt cup and lip

There's more than one way to skin a cat

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 none so blind as those who will not see

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

There's nowt so queer as folk

There's one born every minute

There's safety in numbers

They that sow the wind, shall reap the whirlwind

Third time lucky

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

Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones

Those who sleep with dogs will rise with fleas

Time and tide wait for no man

Time flies

Time is a great healer

Time is money

Time will tell

'tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all

To err is human, to forgive divine

To the victor go the spoils

To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive

Tomorrow is another day

Tomorrow never comes

Totally not exactly practical shit that we convince ourselves we need more than money are the spices of life

Too many cooks spoil the broth

Truth is stranger than fiction

Truth will out

Two blacks don't make a white

Two heads are better then one

Two is company, but three's a crowd

Two wrongs don't make a right

V

Variety is the spice of life

W

Walk softly but carry a big stick

Walls have ears

Walnuts and pears you plant for your heirs

Waste not want not

What can't be cured must be endured

What goes up must come down

What you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts

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 the oak is before the ash, then you will only get a splash; when the ash is before the oak, then you may expect a soak

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

Where there's a will there's a way

Where there's muck there's brass

While there's life there's hope

Whom the Gods love die young

Why keep a dog and bark yourself?

Wonders will never cease

Work expands so as to fill the time available

Worrying never did anyone any good

Y

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't have your cake and eat it

You can't get blood out of a stone

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

You can't make an omelette 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 tell a book by looking at its cover

You can't win them all

You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar

You catch juust as many flies with shit as you do honey

You pays your money and you takes your choice

Youth is wasted on the young