PROVERBS

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Proverbs: page 2

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I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - Y

 

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I

 

118. "It takes both rain and sunshine to make rainbows."

119. "I think, therefore I am."

120. "It is better to die on one's feet than live on one's knees."

121. "Idle hands are the devil's playthings."

122. "If it can't be cured, it must be endured."

123. "If you're in a hole, stop digging."

124. "If you want to judge a man's character, give him power."

125. "If you snooze you lose."

126. "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."

127. "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king."

J

 

128. "Jack is as good as his master."

 

K

 

129. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

130. "Knowledge is power."

131. "Keep thy shop, and thy shop will keep thee."

 

L

 

133. "Laughter is the best medicine."

134." Let him who is without sin cast the first stone."

135. "Lightning never strikes twice in the same place."

136. "Light a man, he shall be warm for a night. Light a man on fire and he shall be warm for the rest of his life."

137. "Long absent, soon forgotten."

138. "Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves."

• Possible interpretation: Take care of the details. (12 pence to the shilling, 20 shillings to the pound.)
• Alteternative interpretation: Save every penny you can and it will build up into a significant amount of money.
• variant: "Little drops of water make the mighty ocean."

139. "Look before you leap."

140. "Loose lips sink ships."

• World Wartime mantra encouraging people to avoid talking about things which could have been overheard by spies.

141. "Love is a bridge between two hearts."

142. "Love is blind."

143. "Love is not finding someone to live with ; it's finding some one whom you can’t live without."

 

M

 

144. "Make hay while the sun shines. "

• Possible interpretation: Do the task while it is possible.

145. "Man wasn't Born to suffer but to carry on."

146. "Many hands make light work."

147. "Many things are lost for want of asking."

148. "Meaning of life is not meaningful."

• Allen Zimama.

149. "Measure twice, cut once."

150. "Mind your P's and Q's."

• British: Mind your manners (Pleases and Thank yous)

151. "Mirrors do everything we do, but they cannot think for themselves."

152. "Missing the wood for the trees."

• Overlooking the more important issue.

153. "Money makes the mare go."

154. "Money makes the world go around."

155. "Money talks."

156. "Money cannot buy happiness."

 157. "Money cant buy everything, but everything needs money."

• meaning: its time to stop living in the fantasy world, and live in the real world.

 158. "Monkey see, Monkey do. "

 158. "More haste, less speed."

• More haste at a task will lead to the task being completed less speedily. As with many English proverbs, it describes consequences rather than giving an order.

 

N

 

159. "Nature, time, and patience are three great physicians."

160. "Necessity is the mother of all invention."

161. "Never judge the book by its cover."

162. "Never put off till (until) tomorrow what you can do today."

163. "Never let the right hand know what the left hand is doing."

• Do not boast in giving to the poor (anonymous is best.)
• Secrecy insures security

164. "Never say die."

• Possible interpretation: Never give up.

 165. "Never say never."
 
 166. "Never trouble trouble 'til trouble troubles you."
 
167. "Noblesse oblige.

• French expression: To be a member of the nobility carries obligations to care for the lower classes.

168. "No man can serve two masters."

• Christian New Testament

169. "No man is content with his lot."

170. "No man is an island."

• Everybody needs other people.
• Everyone's actions impact others.

171. "No news is good news."

172. "No pain, no gain."

173. "No time like the present."

174. "Nobody leaves us, we only leave others."

175. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

• Varient: Nothing ventured, nothing have

176. "Nothing to be feared in life, but understood."

177. "Now we have doors so we can hide."

 

O

 

178. "One good turn deserves another.

• Meaning: You should return a favour done to you.

179. "One man's junk is another man's treasure."

180. "One man's meat is another man's poison."

• Meaning: What is beloved to a person is hated by someone else.

181. "Only losers say 'Winning isn't everything.' "

182. "Opportunity is waiting; you need but to open the door."

183. "Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising everytime we fall."

• Confucius

184. "Our costliest expenditure is time."

185. "Out of sight... Out of mind."

 

P

 

186. "Pain is only weakness leaving the body."

• U.S. Marines proverb

187. "Patience is a virtue."

188. "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones."

• Variation: Whose house is of glasse, must not throw stones at another.
• Meaning: Don't criticize other people when you yourself have faults and weaknesses.

189. "Politics makes strange bedfellows."

190. "Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely."

191. "Practice makes perfect."

192. "Put a beggar on horseback and he'll ride to the devil."

193. "Prevention is better than cure."

194. "Proverbs are long life experiences, told in one short sentence."

195. "Politeness cost nothing and gains everything."

 

S

 

196. "Say something nice or say nothing at all."

197. "Self trust is the first secret of success."

198. "Set a thief to catch a thief."

199. "Slow and steady wins the race."

• Variant: Slow but sure.

200. "Smile, and the world smiles with you; cry, and you cry alone."

201. "Speak of the devil and he's sure to appear."

• Abbreviation: Speak of the devil.

202. "Stolen fruit is the sweetest."

• The Bible
• Possible interpretation: forbidden things are the most tempting

203. "Still waters run deep."

• Possible interpretation: Looks can be deceiving, quiet people are often the most deep.

204. "Strike while the iron is hot."

• Possible interpretation: Seize the moment. Take the opportunity now; don't waste it.

205. "Success is a journey not a destination."

206. "Spare the rod, spoil the child. "

• Meaning: Lack of deserved discipline develops undesired behavior in a child.

207. "Success grows out of struggles to overcome difficulties."

 

T

 

208. "Talk of the devil and he's sure to appear."

209. That which does not kill you, makes you stronger."

• Friedrich Nietzsche, The Twilight of the Idols (1888)

210. "The belly has no ears."

• This Proverb intimates, that there is no arguing the matterr with Hunger.
  

211. "The calm comes before the storm."

212. "The early bird gets the worm."

213. "The longest mile is the last mile home."

214. "The more you know, the more you know you don't know."

215. "The only free cheese is in the mouse trap."

• Russian saying

216; "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

• Possible interpretation: A man loves a woman who can cook (well).

217. "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."

• Attributed to Mahatma Gandhi.

218. "The whole is greater than its parts."

219. "The exception proves the rule."

220. "The first step to health is to know that we are sick."

221. "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence."

222. "The key to all action lies in belief."

223. "The only stupid question is the one that is not asked."

224. "The proof of the pudding is in the eating."

225. "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak."

226. "The teacher has not taught, until the student has learned."

227. "There are no endings only new beginnings."

228. "There are no facts; only interpretations of facts."

229. "There are so many things to say that are better left unsaid."

230. "There's no place like home."

231. "There's no time like the present."

232. "Think before you speak."

234. "Thinking the worst always prepares you for the worst."

235. "To err is human; to forgive, divine."

• Pope, Essay on Criticism.

236. " Tomorrow is another day."

237. "Too many cooks spoil the broth."

238. "Too much of one thing, good for nothing."

• Meaning: Don't overspecialize

239. "Trouble shared is trouble halved."

240. "Try not to become a man of success but a man of value."
 
241. "Two's company; three's a crowd."

242. "Two things prolong your life: A quiet heart and a loving wife."

243. "The whole dignity of man lies in the power of thought."

• B. Pascal

 

 

U

 

244. " United we stand, divided we fall."

• Together we are stronger

   

V

 

245. "Variety is the spice of life."

246. "Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare. "

• Japanese proverb.

 

 

W

 

247. " Waste not, want not."

248. "We can't always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future."

• By: Franklin D. Roosevelt

249. "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."

• By: Franklin D. Roosevelt

250. "Well begun is half done."

• Variant: Well begun is half ended

251. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

• Friedrich Nietzsche

252. "What goes up must come down."

253. "What you sow is what you reap."

254. "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

254. "When one door closes, another door opens."

255. "Where there's a will, there's a way."

256. "Where vice goes before, vengeance follows after."

257."Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?"

258. "Willful waste makes woeful want."

259. "Winning is earning. Losing is learning."

300. "We ourselves feel that we are doing is just a drop in the ocean,but the ocean would be less without that drop."

301. "Words uttered only causes confusion. Words written only causes history."

302. "Worship the Creator not His creation."

 

Y

 

303. "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink."

• Another version: One can take a horse to water, twenty can not make him drink.

304. "You can choose your friends, but you can't pick/choose your family."

305. "You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs."

306. "You can't teach an old dog new tricks."

307. "You don't have to be faster than the bear, just faster than the slowest guy running from the bear."

308. "You have to crawl before you can walk."

309. "You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

310. "You must never confuse your feelings with your duties."

311. "You need to bait the hook to catch the fish."

312. "You never know what you have till it's gone."

313. "You reap what you sow."

314. "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours."

315."You win some, you lose some."

316. "You never miss your water....until your well runs dry

• Until you are without what to need or want, you cannot appreciate it.

317. "You've got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.

I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - Y

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