1000 Proverbs in English with Meaning
Rome was not built in a day.
Patience is a plaster for all sores.
Measure thrice and cut once.
Learn wisdom by the follies of others.
Judge not of men and things at first sight.
He jests at scars that never felt a wound.
He knows best what good is that has endured evil.
Curses like chickens come home to roost.
Custom is a second nature.
Everybody’s business is nobody’s business.
Everything comes to him who waits.
All are not saints that go to church.
All asses wag their ears.
Give a fool rope enough, and he will hang himself.
Curiosity killed a cat.
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.
Many a true word is spoken in jest.
Many hands make light work.
Many men, many minds.
Last, but not least.
Laws catch flies, but let hornets go free.
Learn to creep before you leap.
Oaks may fall when reeds stand the storm.
Of two evils choose the least.
Old birds are not caught with chaff.
Old friends and old wine are best.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Out of the frying-pan into the fire.
Packed like herrings.
Learn to say before you sing.
Least said, soonest mended.
Leaves without figs.
Let bygones be bygones.
Many words hurt more than swords.
Many words will not fill a bushel.
Self done is soon done.
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.
Pleasure has a sting in its tail.
Plenty is no plague.
Politeness costs little (nothing), but yields much.
Poverty is no sin.
They are hand and glove.
They must hunger in winter that will not work in summer.
Things past cannot be recalled.
Think today and speak tomorrow.
The busiest man finds the most leisure.
The camel going to seek horns lost his ears.
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.
Idleness is the mother of all evil.
Idleness rusts the mind.
If an hole (donkey) bray at you, don’t bray at him.
If ifs and ans were pots and pans…
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 sky falls, we shall catch larks.
Men may meet but mountains never.
Mend or end (end or mend).
Might goes before right.
Misfortunes never come alone (singly).
Misfortunes tell us what fortune is.
After rain comes fair weather.
After us the deluge.
Agnes 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.
Custom is the plague of wise men and the idol of fools.
Cut your coat according to your cloth.
Death is the grand leveler.
Death pays all debts.
Death when it comes will have no denial.
Hungry bellies have no ears.
Idle folks lack no excuses.
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 mouth shut and your ears open.
Keep your mouth shut and your eyes open.
Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
Time and tide wait for no man.
Time cures all things.
Time is money.
Time is the great healer.
From pillar to post.
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 every man thy ear, but few thy voice.
Creditors have better memories than debtors.
Cross the stream where it is shallowest.
Crows do not pick crow’s eyes.
A bad beginning makes a bad ending.
A bad corn promise is better than a good lawsuit.
A bad workman quarrels with 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 cat in gloves catches no mice.
A city that parleys is half gotten.
A civil denial is better than a rude grant.
Two is company, but three is none.
Velvet paws hide sharp claws.
Virtue is its own reward.
Wait for the cat to jump.
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 is fish that comes to his net.
All is not lost that is in peril.
All is well that ends well.
All lay load on the willing horse.
All men can’t be first.
All men can’t be masters.
All promises are either broken or kept.
All roads lead to Rome .
All sugar and honey.
All that glitters is not gold.
All things are difficult before they are easy.
All truths are not to be told.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
“Almost” never killed a fly (was never hanged).
Among the blind the one-eyed man is king.
Walls have ears.
Wash your dirty linen at home.
Waste not, want not.
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 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 heart thinks the tongue speaks.
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 cursed cow has short horns.
A danger foreseen is half avoided.
A drop in the bucket.
A drowning man will catch at a straw.
A fair face may hide a foul heart.
A fault confessed is half redressed.
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 fly in the ointment.
A fool always rushes to the fore.
A threatened blow is seldom given.
A tree is known by its fruit.
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 wonder lasts but nine days.
A word is enough to the wise.
A word spoken is past recalling.
Actions speak louder than words.
Adversity is a great schoolmaster.
Adversity makes strange bedfellows.
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.
Agnes 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.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
An hole in a lion’s skin.
An hole is but an hole, though laden with gold.
An hole 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 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 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.
Any port in a storm.
Appearances are deceitful.
Appetite comes with eating.
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 sow, so shall you reap.
Ask no questions and you will be told no lies.
At the ends of the earth.
Bacchus has drowned more men than Neptune .
Bad news has wings.
Barking does seldom bite.
Be slow to promise and quick to perform.
Be swift to hear, slow to speak.
Beauty is but 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.
Believe not all that you see nor half what you hear.
Best defense is offense.
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 the devil you know than the devil you don’t.
Better the foot slip than the tongue.
Better to do well than to say well.
Better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven.
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 two evils ’tis not worth choosing.
Between two stools one goes (falls) to the ground.
Between the upper and nether millstone.
Betwixt and between.
Beware of a silent dog and still water.
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.
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’.
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.
Cheek brings success.
Children and fools must not play with edged tools.
Children are poor men’s riches.
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.
Company in distress makes trouble less.
Confession is the first step to repentance.
Counsel is no command..
Creditors have better memories than debtors.
Cross the stream where it is shallowest.
Crows do not pick crow’s eyes.
Curiosity killed a 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.
Death is the grand leveler.
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.
Diligence is the mother of success (good luck).
Diseases are the interests of pleasures.
Divide and rule.
Do as you would be done by.
Dog does not eat dog.
Dog eats dog.
Dogs that put up many hares kill none.
Doing is better than saying.
Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched.
Don’t cross the bridges before you come to them.
Don’t have thy cloak to make when it begins to rain.
Don’t keep a dog and bark yourself.
Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Don’t sell the bear’s skin before you’ve caught it.
Don’t trouble trouble until trouble troubles you.
Don’t whistle (halloo) until you are out of the wood.
Dot your i’s and cross your t’s.
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 or West ? home is best.
Easy come, easy go.
Eat at pleasure, drink with measure.
Empty vessels make the greatest (the most) sound.
Enough is as good as a feast.
Envy shoots at others and wounds herself.
Even reckoning makes long friends.
Every hole 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 country has its customs.
Every dark cloud has a silver lining.
Every day is not Sunday.
Every dog has his day.
Every dog is a lion at home.
Every dog is valiant at his own door.
Every Jack has his Jill.
Every man has a fool in his sleeve.
Every man has his faults.
Every man has his hobby-horse.
Every man is the architect of his own fortunes.
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 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.
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..
Faint heart never won fair lady.
Fair without, foul (false) within.
Fair words break no bones.
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.
Fine feathers make fine birds.
Fine words butter no parsnips.
First catch your hare.
First come, first served.
First deserve and then desire.
First think, then speak.
Fish and company stink in three days.
Fish begins to stink at the head.
Follow the river and you’ll get to the sea.
Fool’s haste is no speed.
Fools and madmen speak the truth.
Fools grow without watering.
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.
Fortune favors 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.
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 fool rope enough, and he will hang himself.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.
Give him an inch and he’ll take an ell.
Give never the wolf the weather to keep.
Gluttony kills more men than the sword.
Go to bed with the lamb and rise with the lark.
Good clothes open all doors.
Good counsel does no harm.
Good health is above wealth.
Good masters make good servants.
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 spenders are bad lenders.
Great talkers are great liars.
Great talkers are little doers.
Greedy folk have long arms.
Habit cures habit.
Half a loaf is better than no bread.
“Hamlet” without the Prince of Denmark .
Handsome is that handsome does.
Happiness takes no account of time.
Happy is he that is happy in his children.
Hard words break no bones.
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 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 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 no children knows not what love is.
He that has He head needs no hat.
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 is born a fool is never cured.
He who hesitates is lost.
He who likes borrowing dislikes paying.
He who makes no mistakes, makes nothing.
He who pleased everybody died before he was born.
He who says what he likes, shall hear what he doesn’t like.
He who would catch fish must not mind getting wet.
He who would eat the nut must first crack the shell.
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.
His money burns a hole in his pocket.
Honesty is the best policy.
Honey is not for the hole’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.
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 an hole (donkey) bray at you, don’t bray at him.
If ifs and ans were pots and pans…
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 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, 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 dance you must pay the fiddler.
If you laugh before breakfast you’ll cry before supper.
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 well done, do it yourself.
Ill-gotten gains never prosper.
Ill-gotten, ill-spent.
In every beginning think of the end.
