1000 english proverbs
1000 ENGLISH PROVERBS
Written By:
Shamsul Amin (Jahanzebian)
Contact:0342-1963944
01.A bad beginning makes a bad ending.
02.
A bad corn promise is better than a good lawsuit.
03.
A bad workman quarrels with his tools.
04.
A bargain is a bargain.
05.
A beggar can never be bankrupt.
06.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
07.
A bird may be known by its song.
08.
A black hen lays a white egg.
09.
A blind leader of the blind.
10.
A blind man would be glad to see.
11.
A broken friendship may be soldered, but will never be sound.
12.
A burden of one's own choice is not felt.
13.
A burnt child dreads the fire.
14.
A cat in gloves catches no mice.
15.
A city that parleys is half gotten.
16.
A civil denial is better than a rude grant.
17.
A clean fast is better than a dirty
breakfast.
18.
A clean hand wants no washing..
19.
A clear conscience laughs at false accusations.
20.
A close mouth catches no flies.
21.
A cock is valiant on his own
dunghill.
22.
A cracked bell can never sound well.
23.
A creaking door hangs long on its hinges.
24.
A cursed cow has short horns.
25.
A danger foreseen is half avoided.
26.
A drop in the bucket.
27.
A drowning man will catch at a straw.
28.
A fair face may hide a foul heart.
29.
A fault confessed is half redressed.
30.
A fly in the ointment.
31.
A fool always rushes to the fore.
32.
A fool and his money are soon parted.
33.
A fool at forty is a fool indeed.
34.
A fool may ask more questions in an hour than a wise man can answer in
seven years.
35.
A fool may throw a stone into a well which a hundred wise men
cannot pull out.
36.
A fool's tongue runs before his wit.
37.
A forced kindness deserves no thanks.
38.
A foul morn may turn to a fair day.
39.
A fox is not taken twice in the same snare.
40.
A friend in need is a friend indeed.
43. A friend is never known till needed.
42.
A friend to all is a friend to none.
43.
A friend's frown is better than a foe's smile..
44.
A good anvil does not fear the hammer.
45.
A good beginning is half the battle.
46.
A good beginning makes a good ending.
47.
A good deed is never lost.
48.
A good dog deserves a good bone.
49.
A good example is the best sermon.
50.
A good face is a letter of recommendation.
51.
A good Jack makes a good Jill.
52.
A good marksman may miss.
53.
A good name is better than riches.
54.
A good name is sooner lost than won.
55.
A good name keeps its luster in the dark.
56.
A good wife makes a good husband.
57.
A great dowry is a bed full of brambles.
58.
A great fortune is a great slavery.
59.
A great ship asks deep waters.
60.
A guilty conscience needs no accuser.
61.
A hard nut to crack.
62.
A heavy purse makes a light heart.
63.
A hedge between keeps friendship green.
64.
A honey tongue, a heart of gall.
65.
A hungry belly has no ears.
66.
A hungry man is an angry man.
67.
A Jack of all trades is master of none.
68.
A Joke never gains an enemy but often loses a friend.
69.
A lawyer never goes to law himself.
70.
A lazy sheep thinks its wool heavy.
71.
A liar is not believed when he speaks the truth.
72.
A lie begets a lie.
73.
A light purse is a heavy curse.
74.
A light purse makes a heavy heart.
75.
A little body often harbors a great soul.
76.
A little fire is quickly trodden out.
77.
A man can die but once.
78.
A man can do no more than he can.
79.
A man is known by the company he keeps.
80.
A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds.
81.
A miserly father makes a prodigal son.
82.
A miss is as good as a mile.
83.
A new broom sweeps clean.
84.
A nod from a lord is a breakfast for a fool.
85.
A penny saved is a penny gained.
86.
A penny soul never came to twopence.
87.
A quiet conscience sleeps in thunder.
88.
A rolling stone gathers no moss.
89.
A round peg in a square hole.
90.
A shy cat makes a proud mouse.
91.
A silent fool is counted wise.
92.
A small leak will sink a great ship.
93.
A soft answer turns away wrath.
94.
A sound mind in a sound body.
95.
A stitch in time saves nine.
96.
A storm in a teacup.
97.
A tattler is worse than a thief.
98.
A thief knows a thief as a wolf knows a wolf.
99.
A thief passes for a gentleman when stealing has made him rich.
100. A threatened blow is seldom given.
101. A tree is known by its fruit.
102. A wager is a fool's argument.
103. A watched pot never boils.
104. A wise man changes his mind, a fool
never will.
105. A wolf in sheep's clothing.
106. A wonder lasts but nine days.
107. A word is enough to the wise.
108. A word spoken is past recalling.
109. Actions speak louder than words.
110. Adversity is a great schoolmaster.
111. Adversity makes strange bedfellows.
112. After a storm comes a calm.
113. After dinner comes the reckoning.
114. After dinner sit (sleep) a while,
after supper walk a mile.
115. After rain comes fair weather.
116. After us the deluge.
117. Agnes come on horseback, but go away
on foot.
118. All are good lasses, but whence come
the bad wives?
119. All are not friends that speak us
fair.
120. All are not hunters that blow the
horn.
121. All are not merry that dance lightly. 122. All are not saints that go to church.
123. All asses wag their ears.
124. All bread is not baked in one oven.
125. All cats are grey in the dark (in the
night).
126. All covet, all lose.
127. All doors open to courtesy.
128. All is fish that comes to his net.
129. All is not lost that is in peril.
130. All is well that ends well.
131. All lay load on the willing horse.
132. All men can't be first.
133. All men can't be masters.
134. All promises are either broken or
kept.
135. All roads lead to Rome .
136. All sugar and honey.
137. All that glitters is not gold.
138. All things are difficult before they
are easy.
139. All truths are not to be told.
140. All work and no play makes Jack a
dull boy.
141. "Almost" never killed a fly
(was never hanged).
142. Among the blind the one-eyed man is
king.
143. An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
144. An hole in a lion's skin.
145. An hole is but an hole, though laden
with gold.
146. An hole loaded with gold climbs to
the top of the castle.
147. An empty hand is no lure for a hawk.
148. An empty sack cannot stand upright.
149. An empty vessel gives a greater sound
than a full barrel.
150. An evil chance seldom comes alone.
151. An honest tale speeds best, being
plainly told.
152. An hour in the morning is worth two
in the evening.
153. An idle brain is the devil's
workshop.
154. An ill wound is cured, not an ill
name.
155. An oak is not felled at one stroke.
156. An old dog barks not in vain.
157. An open door may tempt a saint.
158. An ounce of discretion is worth a
pound of learning.
159. An ox is taken by the horns, and a
man by the tongue.
160. An unfortunate man would be drowned
in a teacup.
161. Anger and haste hinder good counsel.
162. Any port in a storm.
163. Appearances are deceitful.
164. Appetite comes with eating.
165. As drunk as a lord.
166. As innocent as a babe unborn.
167. As like as an apple to an oyster.
168. As like as two peas.
169. As old as the hills.
170. As plain as the nose on a man's face.
171. As plain as two and two make four.
172. As snug as a bug in a rug .
173. As sure as eggs is eggs.
174. As the call, so the echo.
175. As the fool thinks, so the bell
clinks.
176. As the old cock crows, so does the
young.
177. As the tree falls, so shall it lie.
178. As the tree, so the fruit.
179. As welcome as flowers in May.
180. As welcome as water in one's shoes.
181. As well be hanged for a sheep as for
a lamb.
182. As you brew, so must you drink.
183. As you make your bed, so must you lie
on it. 184.
As you sow, so shall you reap.
185. Ask no questions and you will be told
no lies.
186. At the ends of the earth.
187. Bacchus has drowned more men than
Neptune .
188. Bad news has wings.
189. Barking does seldom bite.
190. Be slow to promise and quick to
perform.
191. Be swift to hear, slow to speak.
192. Beauty is but skin-deep.
193. Beauty lies in lover's eyes.
194. Before one can say Jack Robinson.
195. Before you make a friend eat a bushel
of salt with him.
196. Beggars cannot be choosers.
197. Believe not all that you see nor half
what you hear.
198. Best defense is offense.
199. Better a glorious death than a
shameful life.
200. Better a lean peace than a fat
victory.
201. Better a little fire to warm us, than
a great one to burn us.
202. Better an egg today than a hen
tomorrow.
203. Better an open enemy than a false
friend.
204. Better be alone than in bad company.
205. Better be born lucky than rich.
206. Better be envied than pitied.
207. Better be the head of a dog than the
tail of a lion.
208. Better deny at once than promise
long.
209. Better die standing than live
kneeling.
210. Better early than late.
211. Better give a shilling than lend a
half-crown.
212. Better go to bed supperless than rise
in debt.
213. Better late than never.
214. Better lose a jest than a friend.
215. Better one-eyed than stone-blind.
216. Better the devil you know than the
devil you don't.
217. Better the foot slip than the tongue.
218. Better to do well than to say well.
219. Better to reign in hell, than serve
in heaven.
220. Better unborn than untaught.
221. Better untaught than ill-taught.
222. Between the cup and the lip a morsel
may slip.
223. Between the devil and the deep (blue)
sea.
224. Between two evils 'tis not worth
choosing.
225. Between two stools one goes (falls) to
the ground.
226. Between the upper and nether
millstone.
227. Betwixt and between.
228. Beware of a silent dog and still
water.
229. Bind the sack before it be full.
230. Birds of a feather flock together. 231. Blind men can judge no colours.
232. Blood is thicker than water.
233. Borrowed garments never fit well.
234. Brevity is the soul of wit.
235. Burn not your house to rid it of the
mouse.
236. Business before pleasure.
237. By doing nothing we learn to do ill.
238. By hook or by crook.
239. By the street of 'by-and-bye' one
arrives at the house of 'Never'.
240. Calamity is man's true touchstone.
241. Care killed the cat.
242. Catch the bear before you sell his
skin.
243. Caution is the parent of safety.
244. Charity begins at home.
245. Cheapest is the dearest.
246. Cheek brings success.
247. Children and fools must not play with
edged tools.
248. Children are poor men's riches.
249. Choose an author as you choose a
friend.
250. Christmas comes but once a year, (but
when it comes it brings good cheer).
251. Circumstances alter cases.
252. Claw me, and I will claw thee.
253. Cleanliness is next to godliness.
254. Company in distress makes trouble
less.
255.. Confession is the first step to repentance.
256. Counsel is no command..
257. Creditors have better memories than
debtors.
258. Cross the stream where it is
shallowest.
259. Crows do not pick crow's eyes.
260. Curiosity killed a cat.
261. Curses like chickens come home to
roost.
262. Custom is a second nature.
263. Custom is the plague of wise men and
the idol of fools.
264. Cut your coat according to your
cloth.
265. Death is the grand leveler.
266. Death pays all debts.
267. Death when it comes will have no
denial.
268. Debt is the worst poverty.
269. Deeds, not words.
270. Delays are dangerous.
271. Desperate diseases must have
desperate remedies.
272. Diligence is the mother of success
(good luck).
273. Diseases are the interests of
pleasures.
274. Divide and rule.
275. Do as you would be done by.
276. Dog does not eat dog.
277. Dog eats dog.
278. Dogs that put up many hares kill
none.
279. Doing is better than saying.
280. Don't count your chickens before they
are hatched.
281. Don't cross the bridges before you
come to them.
282. Don't have thy cloak to make when it
begins to rain.
283. Don't keep a dog and bark yourself.
284. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
285. Don't put all your eggs in one
basket.
286. Don't sell the bear's skin before you've
caught it.
287. Don't trouble trouble until trouble
troubles you.
288. Don't whistle (halloo) until you are
out of the wood.
289. Dot your i's and cross your t's.
290. Draw not your bow till your arrow is
fixed.
291. Drive the nail that will go.
292. Drunken days have all their tomorrow.
293. Drunkenness reveals what soberness
conceals.
294. Dumb dogs are dangerous.
295. Each bird loves to hear himself sing.
296. Early to bed and early to rise makes
a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
297. Easier said than done.
298. East or West ? home is best.
299. Easy come, easy go.
300.. Eat at pleasure, drink with measure.
301. Empty vessels make the greatest (the
most) sound.
302. Enough is as good as a feast.
303. Envy shoots at others and wounds
herself.
304. Even reckoning makes long friends.
305. Every hole loves to hear himself
bray.
306. Every barber knows that.
307. Every bean has its black.
308. Every bird likes its own nest.
309. Every bullet has its billet.
310. Every country has its customs.
311. Every dark cloud has a silver lining.
312. Every day is not Sunday.
313. Every dog has his day.
314. Every dog is a lion at home.
315. Every dog is valiant at his own door.
316. Every Jack has his Jill.
317. Every man has a fool in his sleeve.
318. Every man has his faults.
319. Every man has his hobby-horse.
320. Every man is the architect of his own
fortunes.
321. Every man to his taste.
322. Every miller draws water to his own
mill.
323. Every mother thinks her own gosling a
swan.
324. Every one's faults are not written in
their foreheads.
325. Every tub must stand on its own
bottom..
326. Every white has its black, and every
sweet its sour.
327. Every why has a wherefore.
328. Everybody's business is nobody's
business.
329. Everything comes to him who waits.
330. Everything is good in its season.
331. Evil communications corrupt good
manners.
332. Experience is the mother of wisdom.
333. Experience keeps a dear school, but
fools learn in no other.
334. Experience keeps no school, she
teaches her pupils singly.
335. Extremes meet.
336. Facts are stubborn things..
337. Faint heart never won fair lady.
338. Fair without, foul (false) within.
339. Fair words break no bones.
340. False friends are worse than open
enemies.
341. Familiarity breeds contempt.
342. Far from eye, far from heart.
343. Fasting comes after feasting.
344. Faults are thick where love is thin.
345. Feast today and fast tomorrow.
346. Fine feathers make fine birds.
347. Fine words butter no parsnips.
348. First catch your hare.
349. First come, first served.
350. First deserve and then desire.
351. First think, then speak.
352. Fish and company stink in three days.
353. Fish begins to stink at the head.
354. Follow the river and you'll get to
the sea.
355. Fool's haste is no speed.
356. Fools and madmen speak the truth.
357. Fools grow without watering.
358. Fools may sometimes speak to the
purpose.
359. Fools never know when they are well.
360. Fools rush in where angels fear to
tread.
361. For the love of the game.
362. Forbearance is no acquittance.
363. Forbidden fruit is sweet.
364. Forewarned is forearmed.
365. Fortune favors the brave (the bold).
366. Fortune is easily found, but hard to
be kept.
367. Four eyes see more (better) than two.
368. Friends are thieves of time.
369. From bad to worse.
370. From pillar to post.
371. Gentility without ability is worse
than plain beggary.
372. Get a name to rise early, and you may
lie all day.
373. Gifts from enemies are dangerous.
374. Give a fool rope enough, and he will
hang himself.
375. Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice. 376. Give him an inch and he'll take an ell.
377.. Give never the wolf the weather to keep.
378. Gluttony kills more men than the
sword.
379. Go to bed with the lamb and rise with
the lark.
380. Good clothes open all doors. 381. Good counsel does no harm.
382. Good health is above wealth.
383. Good masters make good servants.
384. Good words and no deeds.
385. Good words without deeds are rushes
and reeds.
386. Gossiping and lying go hand in hand.
387. Grasp all, lose all.
388. Great barkers are no biters.
389. Great boast, small roast.
390. Great cry and little wool.
391. Great spenders are bad lenders.
392. Great talkers are great liars.
393. Great talkers are little doers.
394. Greedy folk have long arms.
395. Habit cures habit.
396. Half a loaf is better than no bread.
397. "Hamlet" without the Prince
of Denmark .
398. Handsome is that handsome does.
399. Happiness takes no account of time.
400. Happy is he that is happy in his
children. 401. Hard words break no bones.
402. Hares may pull dead lions by the
beard.
403. Harm watch, harm catch.
404. Haste makes waste.
405. Hasty climbers have sudden falls.
406. Hate not at the first harm.
407. Hatred is blind, as well as love.
408. Hawks will not pick hawks' eyes.
409. He begins to die that quits his
desires.
410.. He cannot speak well that cannot hold his tongue.
411. He carries fire in one hand and water
in the other.
412. He dances well to whom fortune pipes.
413. He gives twice who gives in a trice.
414. He goes long barefoot that waits for
dead man's shoes.
415. He is a fool that forgets himself.
416. He is a good friend that speaks well
of us behind our backs.
417. He is happy that thinks himself so.
418. He is lifeless that is faultless.
419. He is not fit to command others that
cannot command himself.
420. He is not laughed at that laughs at
himself first.
421. He is not poor that has little, but
he that desires much.
422. He jests at scars that never felt a
wound.
423. He knows best what good is that has
endured evil.
424. He knows how many beans make five.
425. He knows much who knows how to hold
his tongue.
426. He laughs best who laughs last.
427. He lives long that lives well.
428. He must needs swim that is held up by
the chin.
429. He should have a long spoon that sups
with the devil.
430. He smells best that smells of
nothing.
431. He that comes first to the hill may
sit where he will.
432. He that commits a fault thinks
everyone speaks of it.
433. He that does you an i!i turn will
never forgive you.
434. He that fears every bush must never
go a-birding.
435. He that fears you present wiil hate
you absent.
436. He that goes a borrowing, goes a
sorrowing.
437.. He that goes barefoot must not plant thorns.
438. He that has a full purse never wanted
a friend.
439. He that has a great nose thinks
everybody is speaking of it.
440. He that has an ill name is half
hanged.
441. He that has no children knows not
what love is.
442. He that has He head needs no hat.
443. He that has no money needs no purse.
444. He that is born to be hanged shall
never be drowned.
445. He that is full of himself is very
empty.
446. He that is ill to himself will be
good to nobody.
447. He that is warm thinks all so.
448. He that knows nothing doubts nothing.
449. He that lies down with dogs must rise
up with fleas.
450. He that lives with cripples learns to
limp.
451. He that mischief hatches, mischief
catches.
452. He that never climbed never fell.
453. He that once deceives is ever
suspected.
454. He that promises too much means
nothing.
455. He that respects not is not respected.
456. He that seeks trouble never misses.
457. He that serves everybody is paid by
nobody.
458. He that serves God for money will
serve the devil for better wages.
459. He that spares the bad injures the
good.
460. He that talks much errs much.
461. He that talks much lies much.
462. He that will eat the kernel must
crack the nut.
463. He that will not when he may, when he
will he shall have nay.
464. He that will steal an egg will steal
an ox.
465. He that will thrive, must rise at
five.
466. He that would eat the fruit must
climb the tree.
467.. He that would have eggs must endure the cackling of
hens.
468. He who is born a fool is never cured.
469. He who hesitates is lost.
470. He who likes borrowing dislikes
paying.
471. He who makes no mistakes, makes
nothing.
472. He who pleased everybody died before
he was born.
473. He who says what he likes, shall hear
what he doesn't like.
474. He who would catch fish must not mind
getting wet.
475. He who would eat the nut must first
crack the shell.
476. He who would search for pearls must
dive below.
477. He will never set the Thames on fire.
478. He works best who knows his trade.
479. Head cook and bottle-washer.
480. Health is not valued till sickness
comes.
481. His money burns a hole in his pocket.
482. Honesty is the best policy.
483. Honey is not for the hole's mouth.
484. Honey is sweet, but the bee stings.
485. Honour and profit lie not in one
sack.
486. Honours change manners..
487. Hope is a good breakfast, but a bad
supper.
488. Hope is the poor man's bread.
489. Hunger breaks stone walls.
490. Hunger finds no fault with cookery.
491. Hunger is the best sauce.
492. Hungry bellies have no ears.
493. Idle folks lack no excuses.
494. Idleness is the mother of all evil.
495. Idleness rusts the mind.
496. If an hole (donkey) bray at you,
don't bray at him.
497. If ifs and ans were pots and pans...
498. If my aunt had been a man, she'd have
been my uncle.
499. If the blind lead the blind, both
shall fall into the ditch..
500. If the sky falls, we shall catch
larks.
501. If there were no clouds, we should
not enjoy the sun.
502. If things were to be done twice all
would be wise.
503. If we can't as we would, we must do as
we can.
504. If wishes were horses, beggars might
ride.
505. If you agree to carry the calf,
they'll make you carry the cow.
506. If you cannot bite, never show your
teeth.
507. If you cannot have the best, make the
best of what you have.
508. If you dance you must pay the
fiddler.
509. If you laugh before breakfast you'll
cry before supper.
510. If you run after two hares, you will
catch neither.
511. If you sell the cow, you sell her
milk too.
512. If you throw mud enough, some of it
will stick.
513. If you try to please all you will
please none.
514. If you want a thing well done, do it
yourself.
515. Ill-gotten gains never prosper.
516. Ill-gotten, ill-spent.
517. In every beginning think of the end.
518. In for a penny, in for a pound.
519. In the country of the blind one-eyed man
is a king.
520. In the end things will mend.
521. In the evening one may praise the
day.
522. Iron hand (fist) in a velvet glove.
523. It is a good horse that never
stumbles.
524. It is a long lane that has no
turning.
525. It is a poor mouse that has only one
hole.
526. It is an ill bird that fouls its own
nest.
527. It is an ill wind that blows nobody
good.
528. It is a silly fish, that is caught
twice with the same bait.
529. It is easy to swim if another holds
up your chin (head).
530. It is enough to make a cat laugh.
531. It is good fishing in troubled
waters.
532. It is never too late to learn.
533. It is no use crying over spilt milk.
534. It is the first step that costs.
535. It never rains but it pours.
536. It's as broad as it's long.
537. It's no use pumping a dry well.
538. It's one thing to flourish and another
to fight.
539. It takes all sorts to make a world.
540. Jackdaw in peacock's feathers.
541. Jest with an hole and he will flap
you in the face with his tail.
542. Judge not of men and things at first
sight.
543. Just as the twig is bent, the tree is
inclined.
544. Keep a thing seven years and you will
find a use for it.
545. Keep your mouth shut and your ears
open.
546. Keep your mouth shut and your eyes
open.
547. Last, but not least.
548. Laws catch flies, but let hornets go
free.
549. Learn to creep before you leap.
550. Learn to say before you sing.
551. Learn wisdom by the follies of
others.
552. Least said, soonest mended.
553.. Leaves without figs.
554. Let bygones be bygones.
555. Let every man praise the bridge he
goes over.
556. Let sleeping dogs lie.
557. Let well (enough) alone.
558. Liars need good memories.
559. Lies have short legs.
560. Life is but a span.
561. Life is not a bed of roses.
562. Life is not all cakes and ale (beer
and skittles).
563. Like a cat on hot bricks.
564. Like a needle in a haystack.
565. Like begets like.
566. Like cures like.
567. Like father, like son.
568. Like draws to like.
569. Like master, like man.
570. Like mother, like daughter.
571. Like parents, like children.
572. Like priest, like people.
573. Like teacher, like pupil.
574. Little chips light great fires.
575. Little knowledge is a dangerous
thing.
576.. Little pigeons can carry great messages.
577. Little pitchers have long ears.
578. Little strokes fell great oaks.
579. Little thieves are hanged, but great
ones escape.
580. Little things amuse little minds.
581. Live and learn.
582. Live and let live.
583. Live not to eat, but eat to live.
584. Long absent, soon forgotten.
585. Look before you leap.
586. Look before you leap, but having
leapt never look back.
587. Lookers-on see more than players.
588. Lord (God, Heaven) helps those (them)
who help themselves.
589. Lost time is never found again.
590. Love cannot be forced.
591. Love in a cottage.
592. Love is blind, as well as hatred.
593. Love me, love my dog.
594. Love will creep where it may not go.
595. Make haste slowly.
596. Make hay while the sun shines.
597. Make or mar.
598. Man proposes but God disposes.
599. Many a fine dish has nothing on it.
600. Many a good cow has a bad calf.
601. Many a good father has but a bad son.
602. Many a little makes a mickle.
603. Many a true word is spoken in jest.
604. Many hands make light work.
605. Many men, many minds.
606. Many words hurt more than swords.
607. Many words will not fill a bushel.
608. Marriages are made in heaven.
609. Measure for measure.
610. Measure thrice and cut once.
611. Men may meet but mountains never.
612. Mend or end (end or mend).
613. Might goes before right.
614. Misfortunes never come alone
(singly).
615. Misfortunes tell us what fortune is.
616. Money begets money.
617. Money has no smell.
618. Money is a good servant but a bad
master.
619. Money often unmakes the men who make
it.
620. Money spent on the brain is never
spent in vain.
621. More haste, less speed.
622. Much ado about nothing.
623. Much will have more.
624. Muck and money go together.
625. Murder will out.
626. My house is my castle.
627. Name not a rope in his house that was
hanged.
628. Necessity is the mother of invention.
629. Necessity knows no law.
630. Neck or nothing.
631. Need makes the old wife trot.
632. Needs must when the devil drives.
633. Neither fish nor flesh.
634. Neither here nor there.
635. Neither rhyme nor reason.
636. Never cackle till your egg is laid.
637. Never cast dirt into that fountain of
which you have sometime drunk.
638. Never do things by halves.
639. Never fry a fish till it's caught.
640. Never offer to teach fish to swim.
641. Never put off till tomorrow what you
can do (can be done) today.
642. Never quit certainty for hope.
643. Never too much of a good thing.
644. Never try to prove what nobody
doubts.
645. Never write what you dare not sign.
646. New brooms sweep clean.
647. New lords, new laws.
648. Nightingales will not sing in a cage.
649. No flying from fate.
650. No garden without its weeds.
651.. No great loss without some small gain.
652. No herb will cure love.
653. No joy without alloy.
654. No living man all things can.
655. No longer pipe, no longer dance.
656. No man is wise at all times.
657. No man loves his fetters, be they
made of gold.
658. No news (is) good news.
659. No pains, no gains.
660. No song, no supper.
661. No sweet without (some) sweat.
662. No wisdom like silence.
663. None but the brave deserve the fair.
664. None so blind as those who won't
see..
665. None so deaf as those that won't
hear.
666. Nothing comes out of the sack but
what was in it.
667. Nothing is impossible to a willing
heart.
668. Nothing must be done hastily but
killing of fleas. 669. Nothing so bad, as not to be good
for something.
670. Nothing succeeds like success.
671. Nothing venture, nothing have.
672. Oaks may fall when reeds stand the
storm.
673. Of two evils choose the least.
674. Old birds are not caught with chaff.
675. Old friends and old wine are best.
676. On Shank's mare.
677. Once bitten, twice shy.
678. Once is no rule (custom).
679. One beats the bush, and another
catches the bird.
680. One chick keeps a hen busy.
681. One drop of poison infects the whole
tun of wine.
682. One fire drives out another.
683. One good turn deserves another.
684. One law for the rich, and another for
the poor.
685. One lie makes many.
686. One link broken, the whole chain is
broken.
687. One man, no man.
688. One man's meat is another man's
poison.
689. One scabby sheep will mar a whole
flock.
690. One swallow does not make a summer.
691. One today is worth two tomorrow.
692. Open not your door when the devil
knocks.
693. Opinions differ.
694. Opportunity makes the thief.
695. Out of sight, out of mind.
696. Out of the frying-pan into the fire.
697. Packed like herrings.
698. Patience is a plaster for all sores.
699. Penny-wise and pound-foolish.
700. Pleasure has a sting in its tail.
701. Plenty is no plague.
702. Politeness costs little (nothing),
but yields much.
703. Poverty is no sin.
704. Poverty is not a shame, but the being
ashamed of it is.
705. Practice what you preach.
706. Praise is not pudding.
707. Pride goes before a fall.
708. Procrastination is the thief of time.
709. Promise is debt.
710. Promise little, but do much.
711. Prosperity makes friends, and
adversity tries them.
712. Put not your hand between the bark
and the tree.
713. Rain at seven, fine at eleven.
714. Rats desert a sinking ship.
715. Repentance is good, but innocence is
better.
716. Respect yourself, or no one else will
respect you.
717. Roll my log and I will roll yours.
718. Rome was not built in a day.
719. Salt water and absence wash away
love.
720. Saying and doing are two things. 721. Score twice before you cut once.
722. Scornful dogs will eat dirty
puddings.
723. Scratch my back and I'll scratch
yours.
724. Self done is soon done. 725. Self done is well done.
726. Self is a bad counselor.
727. Self-praise is no recommendation.
728. Set a beggar on horseback and he'll
ride to the devil.
729. Set a thief to catch a thief.
730. Shallow streams make most din.
731. Short debts (accounts) make long
friends.
732. Silence gives consent.
733. Since Adam was a boy.
734. Sink or swim!
735. Six of one and half a dozen of the
other.
736. Slow and steady wins the race.
737. Slow but sure.
738. Small rain lays great dust.
739. So many countries, so many customs.
740. So many men, so many minds.
741. Soft fire makes sweet malt.
742. Something is rotten in the state of
Denmark .
743. Soon learnt, soon forgotten.
744. Soon ripe, soon rotten.
745. Speak (talk) of the devil and he will
appear (is sure to appear).
746. Speech is silver but silence is gold.
747. Standers-by see more than gamesters.
748. Still waters run deep.
749. Stolen pleasures are sweetest.
750. Stretch your arm no further than your
sleeve will reach.
751. Stretch your legs according to the
coverlet.
752. Strike while the iron is hot.
753. Stuff today and starve tomorrow.
754. Success is never blamed.
755. Such carpenters, such chips.
756. Sweep before your own door.
757. Take care of the pence and the pounds
will take care of themselves.
758. Take us as you find us.
759. Tarred with the same brush.
760. Tastes differ.
761. Tell that to the marines.
762. That cock won't fight.
763. That which one least anticipates
soonest comes to pass.
764. That's a horse of another colour.
765. That's where the shoe pinches!
766. The beggar may sing before the thief
(before a footpad).
767. The best fish smell when they are
three days old.
768. The best fish swim near the bottom.
769. The best is oftentimes the enemy of
the good.
770. The busiest man finds the most
leisure.
771. The camel going to seek horns lost
his ears.
772. The cap fits.
773. The cask savours of the first fill.
774. The cat shuts its eyes when stealing
cream.
775. The cat would eat fish and would not
wet her paws.
776. The chain is no stronger than its
weakest link.
777. The cobbler should stick to his last.
778. The cobbler's wife is the worst shod.
779. The darkest hour is that before the
dawn.
780. The darkest place is under the
candlestick.
781. The devil is not so black as he is
painted.
782. The devil knows many things because
he is old.
783. The devil lurks behind the cross.
784. The devil rebuking sin.
785. The dogs bark, but the caravan goes
on.
786. The Dutch have taken Holland !
787. The early bird catches the worm.
788. The end crowns the work.
789. The end justifies the means.
790. The evils we bring on ourselves are
hardest to bear.
791. The exception proves the rule.
792. The face is the index of the mind.
793.. The falling out of lovers is the renewing of love.
794. The fat is in the fire.
795. The first blow is half the battle.
796. The furthest way about is the nearest
way home.
797. The game is not worth the candle..
798. The heart that once truly loves never
forgets.
799. The higher the ape goes, the more he
shows his tail.
800. The last drop makes the cup run over.
801. The last straw breaks the camel's
back.
802. The leopard cannot change its spots.
803. The longest day has an end.
804. The mill cannot grind with the water
that is past.
805. The moon does not heed the barking of
dogs.
806. The more haste, the less speed.
807. The more the merrier.
808. The morning sun never lasts a day.
809. The mountain has brought forth a
mouse.
810. The nearer the bone, the sweeter the
flesh.
811. The pitcher goes often to the well
but is broken at last. 812. The pot calls the
kettle black.
813. The proof of the pudding is in the
eating.
814. The receiver is as bad as the thief.
815. The remedy is worse than the disease.
816. The rotten apple injures its
neighbours.
817. The scalded dog fears cold water.
818. The tailor makes the man.
819. The tongue of idle persons is never
idle.
820. The voice of one man is the voice of
no one.
821. The way (the road) to hell is paved
with good intentions.
822. The wind cannot be caught in a net.
823. The work shows the workman.
824. There are lees to every wine.
825. There are more ways to the wood than
one.
826. There is a place for everything, and
everything in its place.
827. There is more than one way to kill a
cat.
828. There is no fire without smoke.
829. There is no place like home.
830. There is no rose without a thorn.
831. There is no rule without an
exception.
832. There is no smoke without fire.
833. There's many a slip 'tween (==
between) the cup and the lip.
834. There's no use crying over split
milk.
835. They are hand and glove.
836. They must hunger in winter that will
not work in summer.
837. Things past cannot be recalled.
838. Think today and speak tomorrow.
839. Those who live in glass houses should
not throw stones.
840. Time and tide wait for no man.
841. Time cures all things.
842. Time is money.
843. Time is the great healer.
844. Time works wonders.
845. To add fuel (oil) to the fire
(flames).
846. To angle with a silver hook.
847. To be born with a silver spoon in
one's mouth.
848. To be head over ears in debt.
849. To be in one's birthday suit.
850. To be up to the ears in love.
851. To be wise behind the hand.
852. To beat about the bush.
853. To beat the air.
854. To bring grist to somebody's mill.
855. To build a fire under oneself.
856. To buy a pig in a poke.
857. To call a spade a spade.
858. To call off the dogs.
859. To carry coals to Newcastle.
860. To cast pearls before swine.
861. To cast prudence to the winds.
862. To come away none the wiser.
863. To come off cheap.
864. To come off with a whole skin.
865. To come off with flying colours.
866. To come out dry.
867. To come out with clean hands.
868. To cook a hare before catching him.
869. To cry with one eye and laugh with
the other.
870. To cut one's throat with a feather.
871. To draw (pull) in one's horns.
872. To drop a bucket into an empty well.
873. To draw water in a sieve.
874. To eat the calf in the cow's belly.
875. To err is human.
876. To fiddle while Rome is burning.
877. To fight with one's own shadow.
878. To find a mare's nest.
879. To fish in troubled waters.
880. To fit like a glove.
881. To flog a dead horse.
882. To get out of bed on the wrong side.
883. To give a lark to catch a kite.
884. To go for wool and come home shorn.
885. To go through fire and water (through
thick and thin).
886. To have a finger in the pie. 887. To have
rats in the attic.
888. To hit the nail on the head.
889. To kick against the pricks.
890. To kill two birds with one stone.
891. To know everything is to know
nothing.
892. To know on which side one's bread is
buttered.
893. To know what's what.
894. To lay by for a rainy day.
895. To live from hand to mouth.
896. To lock the stable-door after the
horse is stolen.
897. To look for a needle in a haystack.
898. To love somebody (something) as the
devil loves holy water.
899. To make a mountain out of a molehill.
900. To make both ends meet.
901. To make the cup run over.
902. To make (to turn) the air blue.
903. To measure another man's foot by
one's own last.
904. To measure other people's corn by
one's own bushel.
905. To pay one back in one's own coin.
906. To plough the sand.
907. To pour water into a sieve.
908. To pull the chestnuts out of the fire
for somebody.
909. To pull the devil by the tail.
910. To put a spoke in somebody's wheel.
911. To put off till Doomsday.
912. To put (set) the cart before the
horse. 913.
To rob one's belly to cover one's back.
914. To roll in money.
915. To run with the hare and hunt with
the hounds.
916. To save one's bacon.
917. To send (carry) owls to Athens .
918. To set the wolf to keep the sheep.
919. To stick to somebody like a leech.
920. To strain at a gnat and swallow a
camel.
921. To take counsel of one's pillow.
922. To take the bull by the horns.
923. To teach the dog to bark.
924. To tell tales out of school.
925. To throw a stone in one's own garden.
926. To throw dust in somebody's eyes.
927. To throw straws against the wind.
928. To treat somebody with a dose of his
own medicine.
929. To use a steam-hammer to crack nuts.
930. To wash one's dirty linen in public.
931. To wear one's heart upon one's
sleeve.
932. To weep over an onion.
933. To work with the left hand.
934. Tomorrow come never.
935. Too many cooks spoil the broth.
936. Too much knowledge makes the head
bald.
937. Too much of a good thing is good for
nothing.
938. Too much water drowned the miller .
939. Too swift arrives as tardy as too
slow.
940. True blue will never stain.
941. True coral needs no painter's brush.
942. Truth comes out of the mouths of
babes and sucklings.
943. Truth is stranger than fiction.
944. Truth lies at the bottom of a well.
945. Two blacks do not make a white.
946. Two heads are better than one.
947. Two is company, but three is none.
948. Velvet paws hide sharp claws.
949. Virtue is its own reward.
950. Wait for the cat to jump.
951. Walls have ears.
952. Wash your dirty linen at home.
953. Waste not, want not.
954. We know not what is good until we
have lost it.
955. We never know the value of water till
the well is dry.
956. We shall see what we shall see.
957. We soon believe what we desire.
958. Wealth is nothing without health.
959. Well begun is half done.
960. What can't be cured, must be endured.
961. What is bred in the bone will not go
out of the flesh.
962. What is done by night appears by day.
963. What is done cannot be undone.
964. What is got over the devil's back is
spent under his belly.
965. What is lost is lost.
966. What is sauce for the goose is sauce
for the gander.
967. What is worth doing at alt is worth
doing well.
968. What must be, must be.
969. What the heart thinks the tongue
speaks.
970. What we do willingly is easy.
971. When angry, count a hundred.
972. When at Rome, do as the Romans do.
973. When children stand quiet, they have
done some harm.
974. First deserve and then desire.
975. First think, then speak.
976. Fish and company stink in three days.
977. Fish begins to stink at the head.
978. Follow the river and you'll get to
the sea.
979. Fool's haste is no speed.
980. Fools and madmen speak the truth.
981. Fools grow without watering.
982. Fools may sometimes speak to the
purpose.
983. Fools never know when they are well.
984. Fools rush in where angels fear to
tread.
985. For the love of the game.
986. Forbearance is no acquittance.
987. Forbidden fruit is sweet.
988. Forewarned is forearmed.
989. Fortune favors the brave (the bold).
990. Fortune is easily found, but hard to
be kept.
991. Four eyes see more (better) than two.
992. Friends are thieves of time.
993. From bad to worse.
994. From pillar to post.
995. Gentility without ability is worse
than plain beggary.
996. If you run after two hares, you will
catch neither.
997. If you sell the cow, you sell her
milk too.
998. If you throw mud enough, some of it
will stick.
999. If you try to please all you will
please none.
1000.
If you want a thing well done, do it yourself.
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