Category:English proverbs

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• Appendix:English proverbs

A

• April showers bring May flowers

G

• God helps those who help themselves
• God works in mysterious ways

R

• Rome wasn't built in a day

a

• a bad workman always blames his tools
• a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
• a camel is a horse designed by a committee
• a cat may look at a king
• a chain is only as strong as its weakest link
• a closed mouth gathers no feet
• a dumb priest never got a parish
• 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 house is not a home
• a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
• a leopard cannot change its spots
• a lie has no legs
• a man is known by the company he keeps
• a man's home is his castle
• a miss is as good as a mile
• a new broom sweeps clean
• a nod is as good as a wink
• a penny saved is a penny earned
• a picture paints a thousand words
• a rising tide lifts all boats
• a rolling stone gathers no moss
• a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
• a stitch in time saves nine
• a stopped clock is right twice a day
• a watched kettle never boils
• a watched pot never boils
• absence makes the heart grow fonder
• actions speak louder than words
• all cats are gray at night
• all cats are gray in the dark
• all cats are grey at night
• all cats are grey in the dark
• all roads lead to Rome
• all that glitters is not gold
• all things come to those who wait
• all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
• all's fair in love and war
• all's well that ends well
• almost doesn't count
• an Englishman's home is his castle
• an apple a day keeps the doctor away
• any press is good press
• as you sow, so shall you reap

b

• bad money drives out good
• barking dogs never bite
• barking dogs seldom bite
• beauty is in the eye of the beholder
• beauty is only skin deep
• beggars can't be choosers
• better safe than sorry
• better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all
• better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness
• bird in the hand
• birds of a feather flock together
• birds of the feather flock together
• blood is thicker than water
• boys will be boys
• business before pleasure

c

• carpe diem

c cont.

• carpe diem cras
• caveat lector
• cheaters never prosper
• clothes don't make the man
• cold hands, warm heart
• correlation does not imply causation
• curiosity killed the cat

d

• devil is in the details
• diamonds are a girl's best friend
• discretion is the better part of valour
• divide and conquer
• don't be penny wise and pound foolish
• don't count your chickens before they're hatched
• don't cry over spilled milk
• don't cry over spilt milk
• don't look a gift horse in the mouth
• don't put all your eggs in one basket
• don't shoot the messenger

e

• e pluribus unum
• each to his own
• early bird catches the worm
• early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise
• easy come, easy go
• empty vessels make the most sound
• enough is as good as a feast
• enough is enough
• every cloud has a silver lining
• every day is a school day
• every dog has its day
• every little helps
• every man has a price
• every rule has an exception
• everything happens for a reason
• experience is the best teacher

f

• faith will move mountains
• familiarity breeds contempt
• feed a cold, starve a fever
• finders keepers
• fine feathers make fine birds
• fine words butter no parsnips
• first things first
• fools rush in where angels fear to tread
• forbidden fruit is the sweetest
• forewarned is forearmed
• fortune favors the bold
• fortune favors the brave
• fortune favours the bold
• fortune favours the brave

g

• give a man a fish
• 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 him enough rope and he'll hang himself
• good fences make good neighbors
• good things come to those who wait
• great minds think alike

h

• haste makes waste
• he who smelt it dealt it
• hell hath no fury like a woman scorned
• hic Rhodus, hic salta
• 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 a good sauce
• hunger is the best sauce
• hunger is the best spice

i

• if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail

i cont.

• if my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle
• if pigs had wings they would fly
• if the mountain won't come to Muhammad
• if you can't beat them, join them
• if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen
• if you want a thing done well, do it yourself
• ignorance is bliss
• in for a dime, in for a dollar
• in for a penny, in for a pound
• in for an inch, in for a mile
• in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king
• in unity there is strength
• in vino veritas
• it ain't the whistle that pulls the train
• it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God
• it is easy to find a stick to beat a dog
• it is not the whistle that pulls the train
• it isn't the whistle that pulls the train
• it never rains but it pours
• it takes all kinds to make a world
• it takes two to tango
• it wasn't meant to be
• it's a long road that has no turning
• it's all grist to the mill
• it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good
• it's never too late to mend
• it's not the whistle that pulls the train
• it's not what you know but who you know

k

• keep your friends close, and your enemies closer
• knowledge is power

l

• ladies first
• less is more
• lex dubia non obligat
• life's a bitch
• life's not all skittles and beer
• like father, like son
• little pitchers have big ears
• little pitchers have long ears
• live by the sword, die by the sword
• long absent, soon forgotten
• look before you leap
• love is blind

m

• make hay while the sun shines
• man proposes, God disposes
• many a mickle makes a muckle
• many hands make light work
• marry in haste, repent at leisure
• measure twice and cut once
• measure twice, cut once
• mills of the gods grind slowly
• mind over matter
• mocking is catching
• money can't buy happiness
• money doesn't grow on trees
• money talks
• more haste, less speed
• murder will out

n

• ne'er cast a clout til May be out
• nearly never bulled a cow
• necessity is the mother of innovation
• necessity is the mother of invention
• never change a running system
• never look a gift horse in the mouth
• no man is an island
• no news is good news
• no pain, no gain