List of proverbial phrases
Below is an alphabetical list of widely used and repeated proverbial phrases. If known, their origins are noted.
A proverbial phrase or expression is a type of conventional saying similar to a proverb and transmitted by oral tradition. The difference is that a proverb is a fixed expression, while a proverbial phrase permits alterations to fit the grammar of the context.
In 1768, John Ray defined a proverbial phrase as:
A
- A bad excuse is better than none
- A bad penny always turns up
- A bad workman blames his tools
- A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
- A cat may look at a king
- A chain is only as strong as its weakest link
- A dog is a man's best friend
- A drowning man will clutch at a straw
- A fool and his money are soon parted
- A friend in need
- A friend to everyone is a friend to no one
- A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
- A little learning is a dangerous thing
- A leopard cannot change its spots
- A man can do what he wills but he cannot will what he wills
- A mill cannot grind with the water that is past
- A miss is as good as a mile
- A new language is a new life
- A penny saved is a penny earned
- A picture is worth a thousand words
- A rising tide lifts all boats
- A rolling stone gathers no moss
- A ship in a harbour is safe, but that's not what a ship is for
- A stitch in time
- A watched man never plays
- A watched pot/kettle never boils
- Absence makes the heart grow fonder
- Absolute power corrupts absolutely
- Accidents will happen
- Actions speak louder than words
- Adversity makes strange bedfellows
- All good things come to him who waits
- All good things must come to an end
- All hands on deck/to the pump
- All is grist that comes to the mill
- All roads lead to Rome
- All that glitters/glistens is not gold
- All the world loves a lover
- All things come to those who wait
- All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare
- All things must pass
- All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
- All you need is love
- All is fair in love and war
- All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds
- All is well that ends well
- An apple a day keeps the doctor away
- An army marches on its stomach
- An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
- An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind
- An Englishman's home is his castle/A man's home is his castle
- Another day, another dollar
- Another happy landing
- An honest man doesn't need to remember much
- 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
- Anything worth doing is hard
- As a tree bends, so shall it grow
- As queer as a three dollar bill
- As the twig is bent, so is the tree inclined
- As you make your bed, so you must lie upon it
- As you sow so shall you reap
- Ask a silly question and you will get a silly answer
- Ask my companion if I be a thief
- Ask no questions and hear no lies
- Attack is the best form of defense
- At the end of my rope
B
- Bad news travels fast
- Bad money drives out good
- Barking dogs seldom bite
- Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
- Beauty is only skin deep
- Before setting out on a mission of vengeance, dig two graves
- Beggars cannot be choosers
- Behind every great man, there is a great woman * behind every win, is a 1000 losses *
- Better late than never
- Better safe than sorry
- Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven
- Be yourself
- Better the Devil you know
- 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 than to speak and remove all doubt
- Better wear out than rust out
- Beware of Greeks bearing gifts
- Big fish eat little fish
- Birds of a feather
- Blood is thicker than water
- Born with a silver spoon in one's mouth
- Boys will be boys
- Brevity is the soul of wit
- Business before pleasure
C
- Caesar's wife must be above suspicion
- Calm seas never made a good sailor
- Careless talk costs lives
- Charity begins at home
- Cheats never prosper
- Cheese, wine, and friends must be old to be good.
- Children should be seen and not heard
- Christmas comes but once a year
- Civility costs nothing and buys everything
- Cleanliness is next to godliness
- Clothes don't make the man
- Clothes make the man
- Coffee and love taste best when hot. Ethiopian proverb
- Cold hands, warm heart
- Comparisons are odious
- Count your blessings
- Courage is the measure of a Man, Beauty is the measure of a Woman
- Cowards may die many times before their death
- Crime does not pay
- Cream rises
- Criss-cross, applesauce
- Cross the stream where it is shallowest
- Cut your coat according to your cloth
- Cut the head off the snake
- Curiosity killed the cat
D
- Dead men tell no tales
- Denial is not a river in Egypt
- Devil take the hindmost
- Discretion is the better part of valour
- Do as I say, not as I do
- Do as you would be done by
- Do not bite the hand that feeds you
- Do not burn your bridges behind you
- Do not carry coals to Newcastle
- Do not cast your pearls before swine
- Do not cry over spilled milk
- Do not change horses in midstream
- Do not count your chickens before they are hatched
- Do not cross the bridge till you come to it
- Do not cut off your nose to spite your face
- Do not dish it if you can't take it
- Do not judge a book by its cover
- Do not keep a dog and bark yourself
- Do not let the bastards grind you down
- Do not let the grass grow beneath feet
- Do not look a gift horse in the mouth
- Do not make a mountain out of a mole hill
- Do not meet troubles half-way
- Do not put all your eggs in one basket
- Do not put the cart before the horse
- Do not put too many irons in the fire
- Do not put new wine into old bottles
- Do not rock the boat
- Do not shut/lock the stable door after the horse has bolted
- Do not spend it all in one place
- Do not spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar
- Do not throw pearls to swine
- Do not teach your Grandmother to suck eggs
- Do not throw the baby out with the bathwater
- Do not try to walk before you can crawl
- Do not upset the apple-cart
- Do not wash your dirty linen in public
- Do not sympathize with those who can not empathize
- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
- Doubt is the beginning, not the end, of wisdom
- Don't take any wooden nickels
E
- Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise
- Easier said than done
- East is east, and west is west
- East, west, home is best
- Easy come, easy go
- Easy, times easy, is still easy
- Early marriage, earlier pregnant
- Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper
- Eat, drink and be merry,
- Empty vessels make the most noise
- Enough is as good as a feast
- Even a worm will turn
- Even from a foe a man may learn wisdom
- Every cloud has a silver lining
- Every dog has his day
- Every Jack has his Jill
- Every little bit helps
- Every man for himself
- 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
- Everyone has their price
- Everything comes to those who wait
- Every tide has its ebb
F
- Failing to plan is planning to fail
- Faint heart never won fair lady
- Fair exchange is no robbery
- Faith will move mountains
- Fall seven times, stand up eight
- False friends are worse than open enemies
- Fake it till you make it
- Familiarity breeds contempt
- Feed a cold, starve a fever
- Fight fire with fire
- Fine feathers make fine birds
- Finders keepers
- Fine words butter no parsnips
- First come, first served
- First impressions are the most lasting
- First things first
- Fish always rots from the head downwards
- Fish and guests smell after three days
- Flattery will get you nowhere
- Fools rush in
- 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 bold/brave
- Free is for me
- From the sublime to the ridiculous
G
- Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains
- Give a dog a bad name and hang him
- 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 a man rope enough and he will hang himself
- Give credit where credit is due
- Give him an inch and he will take a mile
- Give the devil his/her due
- God helps those who help themselves
- Good fences make good neighbours
- Good talk saves the food
- Good things come to those who wait
- Great 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 hesitates is lost
- He who laughs last laughs longest
- He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword
- He who loves the world as his body may be entrusted with the empire – Laozi, Chinese philosopher
- He who makes a beast out of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man
- He who pays the piper calls the tune
- He who knows does not speak. He who speaks does not know – Laozi, Chinese philosopher
- He who sups with the Devil should have a long spoon
- Health is wealth.
- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned; Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd, Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn'd – William Congreve, The Mourning Bride, Act III scene viii
- Hindsight is always twenty-twenty
- History repeats itself
- Home is where the heart is
- Honesty is the best policy
- Hope for the best, and prepare for the worst
- Hope springs eternal
- Horses for courses
- How long is a piece of string?
- Hunger never knows the taste, sleep never knows the comfort