Friday, 27 April 2012

English Proverbs - It's Your Choice


English proverbsWiktionary-logo-en.svgLook up Appendix:English proverbs in Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Contents

  [hide] 
A
  • Ability can take you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.
  • Zig Ziglar
    • , in See You at the Top (1975), p. 380
  • Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
  • Spears, Richard A (2006). McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 2. 0071469346.
  • Actions speak louder than words.
  • Hill Festetits, Kate Neely (2011). McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. BiblioBazaar. pp. 248. 1179034821.
  • All cats love fish but hate to get their paws wet.
  • Meaning: Everyone wants success but many lack the self-discipline to become successful.
  • Martyn, Elizabeth (2007). Why Do Cats. 477. Love Eating Fish But Hate Getting Wet Paws. New Holland Publishers. pp. 272. 1845379535.
  • All for one and one for all.
  • Although people associate it with Alexandre Dumas's The Three Musketeers it is much older. It is a translating of the Latin Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno, the motto for Switzerland.
  • All good things must come to an end.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. BLANK. ISBN 0199539537.
  • All's well that ends well.
  • Variant: All is well that ends well. - Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721 [1]
  • All that glisters is not gold.
  • Often corrupted to: All that glitters is not gold.
  • An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
  • Cf. Notes and Queries magazine, Feb. 24, 1866, p. 153: "Eat an apple on going to bed, // And you'll keep the doctor from earning his bread." [2]
  • Adapted to its current form in the 1900s as a marketing slogan used by American growers concerned that the temperance movement would cut into sales of apple cider. (Michael Pollan, The Botany of Desire, Random House, 2001, ISBN 0375501290, p. 22, cf. p. 9 & 50)
  • Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies.
  • Cf. Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer (1773): "Ask me no questions, and I’ll tell you no fibs"
B
  • A bad workman blames his tools.
  • George Herbert
    •  reports early English variants in Jacula Prudentum; or, Outlandish Proverbs, Sentences, Etc. (1640):
  • Never hand an ill workman good tools.
  • An ill labourer quarrels with his tools.
  • Compare the older French proverb:
  • Outil: ... Meſchant ouvrier ne trouvera ia bons outils: Prov.
    •  A bungler cannot find (or fit himself with) with good tools.
  • Galen
    •  explains clearly, if less succinctly, in De Causis Procatarcticis (2nd c. A.D.), VI. 63–65:
  • They blame their tools: why did the carpenter make the bed so badly, if he was any good? He will reply: "Because I used a poor axe and a thick gimlet, because I did not have a rule, I lost my hammer, and the hatchet was blunt", and other things of this kind. And the scribe, asked why he wrote so badly, will say that the paper was rough, the ink too fluid, the pen blunt, that he did not have a smoother, so that he could not write any better. Once again, this man holds his material responsible, and blames his tools as well, in mentioning the pen and smoother. And who does not know that artisans make themselves responsible for the deficiencies in their work too, when they cannot pin the blame on material and tools?
  • Barking dogs seldom bite.
  • A person who often threatens rarely carries out his threats.
  • Devraj, Venkat (2000). The Sterling Book Of Prose Compositions. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. p. 5. 8120721381.
  • Before criticizing a man, walk a mile in his shoes.
  • Preston, R. Preston (2005). Competitive solutions: the strategist's toolkit. Princeton University Press. p. XV. 0691124035.
  • Beggars can't be choosers.
  • Meaning: If you are in a bad situation or do not have much to offer you must be content with whatever help you can get.
  • Hiner, Kirk (2002). Mowin' the Heavenly Lawn. iUniverse. p. 87. 0595236839.
  • The belly has no ears.
  • This Proverb intimates, that there is no arguing the Matter with Hunger,
  • the Mother of Impatience and Anger.
    •  - Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721 [3]
  • Better the devil you know (than the one you don't).
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
  • Variant: Better to remain silent and thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt. (often attributed to Abraham Lincoln but taken from Solomon's Proverbs)
  • Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.
  • From Virgil's Aeneid Book II, line 48: timeo Danaos et dona ferentes. Translation: I fear the Grecians even when they offer gifts.
  • A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
  • John Bunyan
    •  cites this traditional proverb in The Pilgrim's Progress, (1678):
  • So are the men of this world: They must have all their good things now; they cannot stay till the next year, that is, until the next world, for their portion of good. That proverb, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," is of more authority with them than are all the divine testimonies of the good of the world to come.
  • A blow with a word strikes deeper than a blow with a sword.
  • Robert Burton
    •  cites this traditional proverb in The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621):
  • It is an old saying, "A blow with a word strikes deeper than a blow with a sword:" and many men are as much galled with a calumny, a scurrilous and bitter jest, a libel, a pasquil, satire, apologue, epigram, stage-play or the like, as with any misfortune whatsoever.
  • Part I, Section II, Member IV, Subsection IV
  • Compare: "The pen is mightier than the sword."
  • Contrast: "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me."
  • Bloom where you are planted.
  • Meaning: Accept your lot in life, but make the best out of it.; Take advantage of whatever gifts you have.
  • Szerlip (2004). Grow Where You Are Planted: Learning by Design. Martha Szerlip. pp. 320. ISBN 0974567507.
  • Boys will be boys.
  • Miedzian, Myriam (2002). Boys will be boys: breaking the link between masculinity and violence. Lantern Books. pp. 386. ISBN 1590560353.
  • Brag is a good Dog, but Holdfast is a better
  • Meaning: A variation of "Talk is cheap".
  • This Proverb is a Taunt upon Braggadoccio's, who talk big, boast, and rattle:
  • It is also a Memento for such who make plentiful promises to do well for the
  • future but are suspected to want Constancy and Resolution to make
  • them good.
    •  - Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721 [4]
  • A broken watch is right two times a day.
  • Meaning: A person who is wrong will eventually be right about something.
  • Honthaner, Eve Light (2010). I Hollywood drive: what it takes to break in, hang in & make it in the entertainment industry. Elsevier. p. 341. ISBN 0240806689.
  • A burnt child dreads the fire.
  • Meaning: You will avoid an activity which has given you a bad experience for the rest of your life.
  • Chinese Version: One bitten by a snake for a snap dreads a rope for a decade.一朝被蛇咬，十年怕井绳
  • Indian Version: The one burnt by hot milk drinks even cold buttermilk with precaution. Transliteration: Doodh ka jala chhanchh ko bhi phoonk phoonk ke peeta hai.
  • Cf. "Once bitten, twice shy"
  • This Proverb intimates, That it is natural for all living Creatures, whether rational or irrational,
  • to consult their own Security, and Self-Preservation; and whether they act by Instinct or Reason, it still
  • tends to some care of avoiding those things that have already done them an Injury.
    •  - Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721 [5]
C
  • A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.
  • You don't lose anything by enlightening others.
  • Groft, Jan (2010). As We Grieve: Discoveries of Grace in Sorrow. Greenleaf Book Group. p. 19. 0984230602.
  • A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
  • Variant.: A chain is no stronger than its weakest link.
  • Meaning: The efficiency of an organization is determined by the most incompetent member within its hierarchy.
  • Cf. Thomas Reid Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man, 1786, Vol. II, p.377, Essay VII, Of Reasoning, and of Demonstration, ch. 1: "In every chain of reasoning, the evidence of the last conclusion can be no greater than that of the weakest link of this chain, whatever may be the strength of the rest." [6]
  • The child is father to the man.
  • Cometh the hour, cometh the man.
  • Meaning: Someone will come to help in a precarious situation.
  • Common sense is not so common
  • From Voltaire's Dictionnaire philosophique portatif (1765)
  • Paraphrased by graphic designers as 'Comic Sans is not so comic'.
  • A coward dies a thousand times before his death. The valiant never taste of death but once.
  • From William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar The original is spoken by Caesar (Act II scene 2). The actual words as written were: 'Cowards die many times before their deaths;
D
  • Discretion is the better part of valor.
  • Meaning: It is better to avoid a dangerous situation than to confront it.
  • Derived from "The better part of valour is discretion, in the which better part I have saved my life." Falstaff in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1.
  • Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
  • Based on the Bible (Matthew 7:12; Luke 6:31). "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets" in the King James version; "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." in the New International Version
  • Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
  • Thang, Chilung Mark (2002). The essential biotech investment guide: how to invest in the healthcare biotechnology & life sciences sector. World Scientific. p. 131. ISBN 9812381392.
  • Don't put the cart before the horse.
  • Cf. Dan Michael of Northgate, Ayenbite of Inwyt (1340): "Many religious folk set the plough before the oxen." (Middle English: "Moche uolk of religion зetteþ þe зuolз be-uore þe oksen.")
  • Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
  • Meaning: Don't reject something entirely because parts of it are bad.
  • Brown, James Kyle (2001). I Give God a Chance: Christian Spirituality from the Edgar Cayce Readings. Jim Brown. p. 8. ISBN 0759621705.
  • The door swings both ways.
  • Meaning: What you do to me, I can do to you.
  • Borcherdt, Bill (1996). Making families work and what to do when they don't: thirty guides for imperfect parents of imperfect children. Routledge. p. 65. 0789000733.
E
  • Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
  • Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.
  • Will Durant
    • , quoted in "Books: The Great Gadfly", Time magazine, 8 October 1965
  • The ends justify the means.
  • Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
  • Meaning: An incompetent person will be right sometimes.
  • Tassone, John J. (2002). Go For It!. Cypress House. p. 11. 187938485X.
  • Even a dog can distinguish between being stumbled over and being kicked.
  • Gill, Peter Edward (2006). Moral judgments of violence among Irish and Swedish adolescents. Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis. p. 70. 9173460761.
  • Every dog has its day.
  • Meaning: Everyone gets their chance eventually.
  • Variation on a quote from Hamlet: "...whatever Hercules says, the cat will mew and dog will have its day."
  • Everyone talks of changing the world, but no one talks of changing himself.[Leo Tolstoy]
  • Tome, Brian (2010). Free Book. Thomas Nelson Inc. p. 132. 084992006X.
  • An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
  • Justice, G. (2004). Jesus the Maverick King. AuthorHouse. p. 56. 1418486698.
  • A response, often attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, is "An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind."
  • Bregman, Lucy (2009). Religion, Death, and Dying: Volume 3: Bereavement and Death Rituals. ABC-CLIO. p. 177. 0313351791.
F
  • Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
  • Meaning: Fools are often reckless in dangerous situations.
  • For want of a nail the shoe is lost, for want of a shoe the horse is lost, for want of a horse the rider is lost.
  • Meaning: A seemingly insignificant thing that goes wrong can result in problems of enormous proportions.
  • Proverb reported by George Herbert, Jacula Prudentum (1651), #495
  • From those to whom much is given, much is expected.
  • Biblical quote Luke 12:48
  • Fortune favours the brave.
  • Meyer, Bruce (2004). Fortune Favors the Brave. St. Martin's Press. p. 8. ISBN 0312996802.
  • Footprints on the sands of time are not made by sitting down.
  • Meaning: Idle people will quickly be forgotten by history.
  • Manser, Martin H.; Fergusson, Rosalind; Pickering, David (2007). The Facts on File dictionary of proverbs. Infobase Publishing. pp. 499. 0816066736.
G
  • Garbage in, garbage out.
  • Meaning: Faulty instructions will only result in faulty results.
  • Manser, Martin H (2007). The Facts on File dictionary of proverbs. Infobase Publishing. p. 98. 0816066736.
  • Give a dog a bad name and hang him.
  • Meaning: Once you have lost your reputation, it is very hard to regain it.
  • Dickens, Charles (1999). Our Mutual Friend. ARcade Publishing. p. 373. 1559705485.
  • Give a dog a bad name and he'll live up to it. (or repay you for it)
  • Meaning: How well a dog behaves depends on how he has been treated.
  • Clarke, Nick (1865). Alistair Cooke: a biography. Routledge. p. 174. 1420931989.
  • Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
  • Blue, Kevin (2006). Practical Justice: Living Off-Center in a Self-Centered World. InterVarsity Press. p. 51. 0830833684.
  • Give and take is fair play.
  • Meaning: It is fair to treat someone equally bad as you have been treated yourself.
  • Manser, Martin H (2007). The Facts on File dictionary of proverbs. Infobase Publishing. p. 133. 0816066736.
  • Give, and ye shall receive.
  • Luke 6:38
  • Give credit where credit is due.
  • Derived from Romans 13:7
  • Variant: Give the Devil his due.
  • Give him an inch and he'll take a yard.
  • Variant: Give the Camel an inch and it will take an ell.
  • Variant: Give a nigger an inch and he'll take an ell.
  • Twain, Mark (1885). Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Charles L. Webster and Company. p. 222 (EBook).
  • Variant: Give him an inch and he'll take a mile.
  • Strauss, Emanuel (1998). Concise dictionary of European proverbs. Routledge. p. 240. 0415160502.
  • Go with the flow
  • Meaning: Accept your lot, but make the best out of it.
  • Ellis, Rex (2009). Go with the Flow. Wakefield Press. pp. 208. ISBN 1862548536.
  • God cures and the physician takes the fee.
  • Collier, Robert (2008). Secret of the Ages. Wilder Publications. p. 143. ISBN 1604590467.
  • A good beginning makes (for) a good ending.
  • Manser, Martin H (2007). The Facts on File dictionary of proverbs. Infobase Publishing. p. 105. 0816066736.
  • Chinese Version: A good beginning is half a succession
  • Good eating deserves good drinking.
  • Littell, Eliakim (1844). The living age, Volume 1. Littell, Son and Co.. p. 252.
  • Good fences make good neighbors.
  • Manser, Martin H (2007). The Facts on File dictionary of proverbs. Infobase Publishing. p. 106. 0816066736.
  • Good men are hard to find.
  • O'Connor, Flannery; Asals, Frederick (1844). A good man is hard to find. Littell, Son and Co.. p. 252.
  • A good surgeon has an eagle's eye, a lion's heart, and a lady's hand.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 449.
  • Good wine needs no bush.
  • Note: It was customary since early times to hang a grapevine, ivy or other greenery over the door of a tavern or way stop to advertise the availability of drink within.
  • Meaning: A good product does not need advertising: it will spread through word of mouth or by the sight of others using it.
  • Martin (2010). Good Wine Needs No Bush. Arthur Bruce Martin. pp. 200. ISBN 0646539477.
  • The grass is always greener on the other side...
  • Manser, Martin H (2007). The Facts on File dictionary of proverbs. Infobase Publishing. p. 105. 0816066736.
  • Great events cast their shadows before them.
  • The Edinburgh review, Volym 132
    • . A. and C. Black. 1870. p. 231.
  • Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.
  • Buziak, Cari (2011). Calligraphy Magic: How to Create Lettering, Knotwork, Coloring and More. North Light Books. p. 79.
  • A guilty conscience needs no accuser.
  • Manser, Martin H (2007). The Facts on File dictionary of proverbs. Infobase Publishing. p. 112. 0816066736.
H
  • A half truth is a whole lie.
  • Tal (2005). Double Crossing. Cinco Puntos Press. p. 78. ISBN 0938317946.
  • (You can't) Have your cake and eat it too
  • Cf. George Herbert The Sizz "Wouldst thou both eat thy cake and have it"
  • Haste makes waste.
  • Manser, Martin H (2007). The Facts on File dictionary of proverbs. Infobase Publishing. p. 115. 0816066736.
  • The head and feet keep warm, the rest will take no harm.
  • Manser, M. (2006). The Wordsworth dictionary of proverbs. Wordsworth Editions. p. 272. ISBN 1840223111.
  • He laughs best who laughs last
  • Ammer, Christine (1997). The American Heritage dictionary of idioms. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 368. 039572774X.
  • He who dares wins
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 174.
  • Health is wealth
  • Manser, M. (2006). The Wordsworth dictionary of proverbs. Wordsworth Editions. p. 273. ISBN 1840223111.
  • Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned
  • Manser, Martin H (2007). The Facts on File dictionary of proverbs. Infobase Publishing. p. 117. 0816066736.
  • Hindsight is always twenty-twenty
  • 20-20 refers to perfect vision.
  • Brenner, Gail Abel (2003). Concise dictionary of European proverbs. Wiley. p. 284. 0764524771.
  • Home is where the heart is
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • He who hesitates is lost.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 492.
  • Handsome is what handsome does.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
I
  • I complained I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.
  • Letshabo, Ronnie (2010). No Limits. Quickfox Publishing. p. 68. ISBN 0620459018.
  • Idle hands are the devil's playthings.
  • Lowry, Lois (1980). Autumn street. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 59. ISBN 0395278120.
  • If a job is worth doing, it is worth doing well.
  • Manser, Martin H (2007). The Facts on File dictionary of proverbs. Infobase Publishing. p. 133. 0816066736.
  • If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
  • Cf. William Edward Hickson's Try and Try again
  • "Tis a lesson you should heed:
  • Try, try, try again.
  • If at first you don't succeed,
  • Try, try, try again"
  • Butts, Darlene Gudrie (2009). Lessons from the Depression. Lessons from the Depression. p. 102. ISBN 1440135800.
  • If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
  • Variation: If it isn't broken, don't fix it.
  • Perkins, David N (2007). Outsmarting intelligence quotient. Simon and Schuster. p. 123. 0029252121.
  • If it can't be cured, it must be endured.
  • If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.
  • Meaning: If something seems to be in a certain way, that is probably the case.
  • Cryer, Max (2011). Who Said That First?: The Curious Origins of Common Words and Phrases. ReadHowYouWant.com. p. 163. 1458785599.
  • If it's too good to be true, then it probably is.
  • Else, David (2005). England. Lonely Planet. p. 96. 1740599225.
  • If God had wanted man to fly, he would have given him wings.
  • Bennett, W. J. (1993). The Book of Virtues, Simon & Schuster.
  • If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
  • Meaning: If you have had many bad experiences, make something good out of it.
  • Jenkins, Jayme (2011). Garden Rules: The Snappy Synopsis for the Modern Gardener. Cool Springs Press. p. 80. 1610598148.
  • If something can go wrong, it will.
  • Dowis, Richard (2000). Autumn street. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. p. 242. ISBN 0814470548.
  • If the shoe fits, wear it.
Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. BLANK. ISBN 0199539537.
  • If the truth hurts, you are not living right.
  • From the television show "The Killing".
  • If wishes were fishes, we'd all cast nets.
  • Marsden, John (2009). Circle of Flight. Scholastic Inc.. p. 114. ISBN 0439783216.
  • If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
  • Marsden, John (2009). Circle of Flight. Scholastic Inc.. p. 114. ISBN 0439783216.
  • If you buy cheaply, you pay dearly.
  • Alternatively: You get what you pay for
  • Herrero Ruiz, Javier (2009). Understanding Tropes: At the Crossroads Between Pragmatics and Cognition. Peter Lang. p. 101. 3631592620.
  • If you buy quality, you only cry once.
  • Burch, Geoff (2010). Irresistible Persuasion: The Secret Way to Get to Yes Every Time. John Wiley and Sons. p. 138. 190731248X.
  • If you can't be good, be careful.
  • Sandburg, C. (2002). The Complete Poems of Carl Sandburg: Revised and Expanded Edition, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
  • If you can't beat them, join them.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. BLANK. ISBN 0199539537.
  • If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
  • Ammer, Christine (1997). The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 640. ISBN 039572774X.
  • If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all
  • Morem, Susan (2005). One hundred one tips for graduates. Infobase Publishing. p. 69. 0816056765.
  • If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don't, they never were.
  • Israel, Yahdon (2009). Show Me a Nigger and I'll Show You a Racist: The Mind of a Psychopathic Genius. AuthorHouse. p. 100. ISBN 1438976607.
  • If you snooze you lose
  • Lane, L. (2004). Confessions Of A Stripper: Tales From The Vip Room, Huntington Pr.
  • If you sup with the devil, use a long spoon.
  • Meaning: Someone who treats others badly will eventually turn on you.
  • Coulter, Ann H (2005). How to talk to a liberal (if you must): the world according to Ann Coulter. Thorndike Press. p. 13. 0786275200.
  • If you trust before you try, you may repent before you die.
  • Divers Proverbs
    • , Nathan Bailey, 1721 [8]
  • If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.
  • Kreuger (2008). The college grad job hunter: insider techniques and tactics for finding a top-paying job. Adams Media. p. 65. ISBN 1598695479.
  • If you want a thing done right, do it yourself.
  • Manser, Martin H (2007). The Facts on File dictionary of proverbs. Infobase Publishing. p. 139. 0816066736.
  • If you want breakfast in bed, sleep in the kitchen.
  • Meurer, D. (2004). If You Want Breakfast in Bed, Sleep in the Kitchen, David C. Cook.
  • If you're in a hole, stop digging.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. BLANK. ISBN 0199539537.
  • If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
  • Kahane, Adam (2010). Power and love: a theory and practice of social change. Tate Publishing. p. 125. ISBN 1605093041.
  • Ignorance is bliss.
  • Common mal-shortening of "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise.
  • Thomas Gray, "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College" [[9]]
  • In for a penny, in for a pound.
  • Alternate version: In for a dime, in for a dollar.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. BLANK. ISBN 0199539537.
  • In one ear and out the other.
  • Cf. Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales: "One eare it heard, at the other out it went"
  • In order to get where you want to go, you first have to leave where you are.
  • From Sandy Elsberg's Bread Winner, Bread Baker; Upline Press, Charlottesville, VA; 1977, p. 80
  • In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. BLANK. ISBN 0199539537.
  • In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity
  • O'Hara, K. (2011). Lost and Found in London: How the Railway Tracks Hotel Changed Me, Xlibris Corp.
  • Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.
  • Alternatively "Stupidity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results"
  • Smart, S. (2005). Flight Pattern, Lulu.com.
  • Variation: Church ain't over until the fat lady sings.
  • It's a cracked pitcher that goes longest to the well.
  • Project, M. o. A. (1870). Harper's magazine, Harper's Magazine Co.
  • It's a good horse that never stumbles.
  • Chambers, W. and R. Chambers (1858). Chamber's information for the people: A popular encyclopædia, J.L. Gihon.
  • It's a long lane that has no turning.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. BLANK. ISBN 0199539537.
  • It's always darkest before the dawn
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 174.
  • It's an ill wind that blows no good.
  • Ammer, Christine (1997). The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 316. ISBN 039572774X.
  • It's better to be safe than sorry.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. BLANK. ISBN 0199539537.
  • It's better to be silent and thought a fool, than to speak up and remove all doubt.
  • Marques, J. F. (2004). Empower The Leader In You!: An Analysis Of The Most Important Factors That Distinguish A Great Leader From An Average One, Authorhouse.
  • It is better to die on one's feet than live on one's knees.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. BLANK. ISBN 0199539537.
  • It's better to give than to receive.
  • Spears, R. A. (2005). McGraw-Hill's dictionary of American idioms and phrasal verbs, McGraw-Hill.
  • It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. BLANK. ISBN 0199539537.
  • It's cheaper to keep her.
  • Dattilio, F. M. (2001). Case Studies in Couple and Family Therapy: Systemic and Cognitive Perspectives, Guilford Press.
  • It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission.
  • It's easy to be wise after the event.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. BLANK. ISBN 0199539537.
  • It's never too late to mend.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 602.
  • It's no use crying over spilt milk.
  • Ammer, Christine (1997). The American Heritage dictionary of idioms. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 139. 039572774X.
  • It ain't over till it's over.
  • Often attributed to sportscaster Dan Cook (1978)
  • Meaning: No matter how the outlook is things can always turn back. In other words you should not celebrate until you are 100% sure there is a reason to do so.
  • Goldman, Steven (2008). It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over: The Baseball Prospectus Pennant Race Book. pp. 480.
  • It's the early bird that gets the worm.
  • Meaning: Those who are first or joins something at it's outlook gets much.
  • Ayres, Gene (2010). Inside the New China: An Ethnographic Memoir. p. 36. ISBN 1412813506.
  • It's the empty can that makes the most noise.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. BLANK. ISBN 0199539537.
  • It takes all sorts to make a world.
  • Alternatively:
    •  It takes all sorts to make the world go round.
  • Alternatively:
    •  It takes all kinds to make the world go round.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. BLANK. ISBN 0199539537.
  • It takes two to make a quarrel.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. BLANK. ISBN 0199539537.
  • It takes two to tango.
  • Oshry, Barry (1996). Seeing systems: unlocking the mysteries of organizational life. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. p. 59. 1881052990.
J
  • Jack of all trades and master of none. (18th Century)
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. BLANK. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Joan is as good as my lady in the dark. (17th Century)
  • Manser, M. (2006). The Wordsworth dictionary of proverbs, Wordsworth Editions, Limited.
  • A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.
  • Laozi
    • , Tao Te Ching, Ch. 64, line 12. 千里之行，始于足下
  • Justice delayed is justice denied.(Legal Proverb, India)
  • Sanda, Akin A (2001). Justice delayed is justice denied: problems and solutions. Spectrum Books. pp. 54. ISBN 9780292519.
  • Justice pleaseth few in their own house.
  • Manser, M. (2006). The Wordsworth dictionary of proverbs, Wordsworth Editions, Limited.
K
  • Keep your mouth shut and your eyes open.
  • Titelman, G. (2000). Random House dictionary of America's popular proverbs and sayings, Random House.
  • Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.
  • Meaning: It is best to gather as much information about your enemies as possible. This might give the false impression that your enemies are your friends.
  • Williams, Spencer D (2011). The Man Book: The 100 Things Every Man Should Know, Or Live by. Xlibris Corporation. p. 195. 1456899333.
  • Keep your mouth shut and your ears open.
  • Manser, M. H., R. Fergusson, et al. (2007). The Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbs, Facts On File.
  • Kindness, like grain, increase by sowing.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 426.
  • A kingdom is lost for want of a shoe.
  • See: "For want of a nail the shoe is lost, ..."
  • Knaves and fools divide the world.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 213.
  • Knowledge is power. (17th Century)
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. BLANK. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Kindness, like a boomerang, always returns
  • Cavitt, C. (2007). Customer Service Superstars, Lulu.
L
  • Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and you cry alone.
  • Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and your mascara runs. - variation by advice columnist Ann Landers.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 165.
  • Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.
  • Richardson, B. (2001). Working with challenging youth: lessons learned along the way, Brunner-Routledge.
  • The law is a jealous mistress.
  • - Professor Ferdinand Fairfax Stone, Tulane Law School, early and mid 1960s.
  • Law is the solemn expression of legislative will.
  • Johnson, A. and P. H. Bergeron (1997). The papers of Andrew Johnson: September 1867-March 1868, University of Tennessee Press.
  • Lead by example
  • Baldoni, John (2009). Lead by example: 50 ways great leaders inspire results. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. 0814412947.
  • Learn to walk before you run.
  • Meaning: Learn the basics of any subject first.
  • Rich, David A (2006). 7 Biblical Truths You Won't Hear in Church: But Might Change Your Life. Harvest House Publishers. p. 145. 0736916075.
  • Least said sooner mended.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 699.
  • Less is more.
  • Campbell, Cimberly Hill (2007). Less is more: teaching literature with short texts, grades 6-12. Stenhouse Publishers. 157110710X.
  • Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.
  • Let sleeping dogs lie.
  • From Troilus and Criseyde (bk. III, 764) by Geoffrey Chaucer - Chaucer wrote this in just the reverse form -- 'It is nought good a slepyng hound to wake.'
  • Let the cobbler stick to his last.
  • Meaning: Don't talk about things you don't know anything about.
  • Whitling, Bartlett Jere (1977). Early American proverbs and proverbial phrases. Harvard University Press. p. 145. 0674219813.
  • A lie can be halfway around the world before the truth gets its boots on.
  • Charles Spurgeon
    • . A great lie may be widely accepted before the truth comes to light.
  • Lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 224.
  • Life begins at forty.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 626.
  • Life imitates art
  • Bloom, H. (2007). Arthur Miller, Bloom's Literary Criticism.
  • Kasparov, G. (2008). How Life Imitates Chess, Random House.
  • Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.
  • Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.
  • Life is too short to drink bad wine.
  • Hoggart, S. (2009). Life's Too Short to Drink Bad Wine: 100 Wines for the Discerning Drinker, Quapuba.
  • Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
  • Life is what you do while you're waiting to die.
  • Quote from song sung by Zorba from the musical 'Zorba' by Kander and Ebb
  • Life is what you make of it. Always has been, always will be.
  • Life's battle don't always go to the stronger or faster man, but sooner or later the man who wins is the one who thinks he can.
  • Lucier, T. J. (2005). How to make money with real estate options: low-cost, low-risk, high-profit strategies for controlling undervalued property-- without the burdens of ownership!, Wiley.
  • Lightning never strikes twice in the same place.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 634.
  • Like cures like.
  • Mallandaine, C. E., C. Shepperson, et al. (1901). Like cures like, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
  • Like father, like son.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. BLANK. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Like water off a duck's back.
  • Manser, M. (2006). The Wordsworth dictionary of proverbs, Wordsworth Editions, Limited.
  • Little by little and bit by bit.
  • Meaning: Many incremental changes will after some time transform what is pathetic into something grand.
  • Dickens, Charles (1867). Nicholas Nickleby, Volumes 1-4. Hurd & Houghton. p. 145. 0814412947.
  • A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
  • A little Learning is a dangerous Thing;
  • Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian Spring:
  • There shallow Draughts intoxicate the Brain,
  • A little pot is easily hot.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. BLANK. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Live and let live.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. BLANK. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Alternative: Live simply to let others simply live.
  • Long absent, soon forgotten.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. XII.
  • The longest mile is the last mile home.
  • Meaning: It is always the end of something that feels the most difficult.
  • Macfarlane, David (2001). The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Proverbs. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.. p. 296. ISBN 0806974893.
  • Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. BLANK. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Look before you leap.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. BLANK. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Look on the sunny side of life.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 788.
  • Loose lips sink ships.
  • Eugene, D. (2002). 20 Good Reasons to Stay Sober, Booksurge Llc.
  • Love is blind.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 657.
  • Love is like war, Easy to start, Hard to end, Impossible to forget.
  • Kumar, E. S. The Unofficial Joke book of New SMS, Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd.
  • Love is not finding someone to live with; it's finding someone whom you can't live without.
  • Lipper, D. and E. Sagehorn (2008). The Everything Wedding Vows Book: How to Personalize the Most Important Promise You'll Ever Make, Adams Media.
  • Love is stronger than any addiction, baby. Hell, it is one. - Madea
  • Williams, T. M. (2008). Black pain: it just looks like we're not hurting : real talk for when there's nowhere to go but up, Scribner.
  • Love laughs at locksmiths.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. BLANK. ISBN 0199539537.
M
  • Make hay while the sun shines.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 467.
  • Make the best of a bad bargain.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. lxxv.
  • A man is known by the company he keeps.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 125.
  • A man's home is his castle.
  • And the law of England has so particular and tender a regard to the immunity of a man's house, that it stiles it his castle, and will never suffer it to be violated with immunity: agreeing herein with the sentiments of ancient Rome, as expressed in the works of Tully; quid enim sanctius, quid omni religione munitius, quam domus unusquisque civium?
  • Translation: What more sacred, what more strongly guarded by every holy feeling, than a man's own home?
  • Manners maketh the man.
  • Many a true word is spoken in jest
  • ** Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Many hands make light work
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Many things are lost for want of asking.
  • Canfield, J. and M. V. Hansen (2003). Chicken Soup for the Soul: Living Your Dreams : Inspirational Stories, Powerful Principles, and Practical Techniques to Help You Make Your Dreams Come True, Health Communications.
  • Many words will not fill a bushel.
  • This Proverb is a severe Taunt upon much Talking.
    •  - Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721 [10]
  • Marry in haste, and repent at leisure.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 463.
  • Measure twice, cut once.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 171.
  • Mind your P's and Q's.
  • Makhene, E. R. W. (2008). Mind Your Ps and Qs, Lulu.com.
  • Misery loves company.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 125.
  • Misfortunes never come singly.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 704.
  • A miss by an inch is a miss by a mile.
  • Meaning: A miss is a miss regardless the distance
  • Cf. Scottish Proverbs Collected and Arranged by Andrew Henderson, 1832, p.103: "An inch o' a miss is as gude as a span." [11]
  • Missing the wood for the trees.
  • Meaning: While tending to every detail you might miss out the big picture.
  • Singh, Amita (2006). Administrative reforms: towards sustainable practices. Sage Publications. p. 169. 0761933921.
  • Money cannot buy happiness.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 457.
  • (love of) Money is the root of all evil.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 276.
  • Money makes the mare go.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 407.
  • Money makes the world go around.
  • Garson, B. (2002). Money makes the world go around, Penguin Books.
  • Money talks.
  • Variant: Money talks, bullshit walks.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Related: Talk is cheap.
  • Related: Actions speak louder than words.
  • Monkey see, monkey do.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 709.
  • More haste, less speed.
  • Meaning: Hurry, but work slowly to make sure what you attend to gets done properly.
  • Sharma, B. D (2006). General English for Competitive Examinations. Lotus Press. p. 25. 8183820808.
  • The more things change, the more they stay the same.
  • From the French: Plus ça change, plus c'est pareil.
  • Meaning: The only thing consistent is the absence of consistency.
  • Washington, Ruth (2007). The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same: A Behind the Scenes Look at United Airlines Maintenance Base. Authorhouse. pp. 132. ISBN 1425985386.
  • The more you study, the more you know. The more you know, the more you forget. The more you forget, the less you know. The less you know the more you study.
  • Riggs, J. L. and L. L. Bethel (1979). Industrial organization and management, McGraw-Hill.
N
  • The nail that sticks up will be hammered down.
  • Whatling (2009). A Vigil for Joe Rose: Stories of Being Out in High School. iUniverse. p. 13. ISBN 1440178550.
  • Nature never did betray the heart that loved her.
  • Robinson, J. F. and J. J. Marshall (1902). The flora of the East Riding of Yorkshire: including a physiographical sketch, A. Brown & Sons.
  • Nature, time, and patience are three great physicians.
  • Manser, M. (2006). The Wordsworth dictionary of proverbs, Wordsworth Editions, Limited.
  • Necessity is the mother of invention.
  • Manser, M. (2006). The Wordsworth dictionary of proverbs, Wordsworth Editions, Limited.
  • Ne'er cast a clout till May be out.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Never judge a book by its cover.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 32.
  • Never let the right hand know what the left hand is doing.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 447.
  • Never lie to your doctor.
  • Huler, Scott (1999). From Worst to First: Behind the Scenes of Continental's Remarkable Comeback. John Wiley & Sons. p. 200. 0471356522.
  • Never lie to your lawyer.
  • Huler, Scott (1999). From Worst to First: Behind the Scenes of Continental's Remarkable Comeback. John Wiley & Sons. p. 200. 0471356522.
  • Never look a gift horse in the mouth.
  • Goudreau, Colleen Patric (2011). Vegan's Daily Companion: 365 Days of Inspiration for Cooking, Eating, and Living Compassionately. Quarry Books. p. 133. 1592536794.
  • Never put off till (until) tomorrow what you can do today.
  • Templeton (2002). Wisdom from world religions: pathways toward heaven on earth. Templeton Foundation Press. p. 264.
  • Never say die.
  • Jacoby, S. (2011). Never Say Die: The Myth and Marketing of the New Old Age, Pantheon Books.
  • Never say never.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Never trouble trouble 'til trouble troubles you.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 734.
  • A new broom sweeps clean.
  • Meaning: Newcomers are the most ambitious.
  • Oxnam, Robert B. (2005). A fractured mind: my life with multiple personality disorder. Hyperion. p. 159. 1401302270.
  • A night with Venus and a life with mercury.
  • Anti-promiscuity adage, alluding to a 18th-century mercury-based folk treatment for syphilis
  • No man can serve two masters.
  • No man is an island
  • Meaning: We are all interdependent.
  • Merton, Thomas (2005). No Man Is an Island. Shambhala Publications. pp. 272. ISBN 1590302532.
  • No news is good news.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 734.
  • No pain, no gain.
  • Manser, M. (2006). The Wordsworth dictionary of proverbs, Wordsworth Editions, Limited.
  • No time like the present.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Noblesse oblige.
  • French expression: the nobility is obligated to care for the lower classes.
  • Applegate, S. (2009). Noblesse Oblige: Spending Your Life on What Matters Most, Tate Pub & Enterprises Llc.
  • None but the brave deserve the fair.
  • Nothing succeeds like success.
  • Manser, M. (2006). The Wordsworth dictionary of proverbs, Wordsworth Editions, Limited.
  • Nothing to be feared in life, but understood.
  • Templeton, J. M. (1998). Worldwide Laws of Life: 200 Eternal Spiritual Principles, Templeton Foundation Press.
  • Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
  • Variant: Nothing ventured, nothing have. - Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721 ..[12]
O
  • An old dog will learn no tricks.
  • Divers Proverbs
    • , Nathan Bailey, 1721[13]
  • Old habits die hard.
  • Hunt, La Jill (2009). Old Habits Die Hard. Urban Books. pp. 280. ISBN 1601621949.
  • One good turn deserves another.
  • Divers Proverbs
    • , Nathan Bailey, 1721[14]
  • One grain of sand can tip the scale.
  • Waldman, S. (2005). Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, Feldheim Publishers.
  • One hand washes the other.
  • From the Latin MANUS MANAM LAVAT, meaning "Hand washes hand," or "One hand washes the other"; or impliedly, "You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours."
  • One man's junk is another man's treasure.
  • Guyer, C. S. (2011). On the Money Journal, Atlasbooks Distribution.
  • One man's meat is another man's poison.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. - Ronald Reagan
  • Abdul-Nabi, R. (2002). "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter": the role of the media in constructing Palestinian identity.
  • One might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb. - English, 17th century
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • One murder makes a villain, millions a hero.
  • Milton, J. (1996). Tramp: The Life of Charlie Chaplin: The Life Of Charlie Chaplin, HarperCollins.
  • One rotten apple will spoil the whole barrel.
  • Cf. Dan Michael of Northgate, Ayenbite of Inwyt (1340): "A rotten apple will spoil a great many sound ones." (Middle English: "A roted eppel amang þe holen: makeþ rotie þe yzounde.")
  • One scabbed sheep mars the whole flock.
  • This Proverb is apply'd to such Persons who being vicious themselves,
  • labour to debauch those with whom they converse.
    •  - Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721 [15]
  • One swallow doesn't make a summer.
  • Webb, P. and C. Bain (2010). Essential Epidemiology: An Introduction for Students and Health Professionals, Cambridge University Press.
  • Once bitten, twice shy
  • William Caxton, the first English printer, gave the earliest version of this saying in 'Aesope' (1484), his translation of Aesop's fables: 'He that hath ben ones begyled by somme other ought to kepe hym wel fro(m) the same.' Centuries later, the English novelist Robert Surtees referred to the saying in 'Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour' (1853) with '(He) had been bit once, and he was not going to give Mr. Sponge a second chance.' The exact wording of the saying was recorded later that century in 'Folk Phrases of Four Counties' (1894) by G.G. Northall and was repeated by, among others, the English novelist Joseph Conrad (1920, 'The Rescue'), the novelist Aldous Huxley (1928, 'Point Counter Point'), and the novelist Wyndham Lewis (1930, 'The Apes of God'). 'Once bitten, twice shy' has been a familiar saying in the twentieth century. From Wise Words and Wives' Tales by Stuart Flexner and Doris Flexner (Avon Books, New York, 1993).
  • A variation, once burned, twice shy, is also traced back to Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour. Once burned was First attested in the United States in 'Dead Sure' (1949) by S. Sterling. The meaning of the saying is One who had an unpleasant experience is especially cautious. From the Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996).
  • The only free cheese is in the mouse trap.
  • Russian saying.
  • Gage, R. (2010). Why You're Dumb, Sick & Broke...And How to Get Smart, Healthy & Rich!, John Wiley & Sons.
  • The only stupid question is the one that is not asked.
  • Hull, E., K. Jackson, et al. (2005). Requirements engineering, Springer.
  • Only the good die young
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Opportunity knocks only once.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 752.
  • An ounce of discretion is worth a pound of wit.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 906.
  • Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.
  • Confucius
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 153.
  • Out of sight... Out of mind
  • Cf. Fulke Greville's sonnet "And out of minds as soons as out of sight"
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Out of small acorns grow mighty oaks.
  • A meager beginning can still result in something magnificent.
  • Waters Yarsinke, Amy (2000). Mighty Oaks from Little Acorns Grow: The History of Norfolk Collegiate School. Hallmark Pub Co Inc. pp. 144. 0965375994.
  • Owt for Nowt
  • Northern English, Anything for nothing...
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
P
  • Paddle your own canoe.
  • Meaning: Act independently.
  • Lababidi, Lesley Kitchen (1997). Paddle your own canoe: an American woman's passage into Nigeria. Spectrum. pp. 168. ISBN 9782463132.
  • The pen is mightier than the sword.
  • Mazer, Anna (2009). The Pen Is Mightier Than the Sword. Baker & Taylor. 1442012889.
  • A penny saved is a penny earned.
  • Manser, M. (2006). The Wordsworth dictionary of proverbs, Wordsworth Editions, Limited.
  • Penny wise, pound foolish.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. BLANK.
  • People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
  • Variation:
    •  Whose house is of glasse, must not throw stones at another.
  • George Herbert
    • , Outlandish Proverbs, 1640; cited in "Proverbs 120". The Yale Book of Quotations. 2006. pp. p. 613. ISBN 0-300-10798-6.*** George Herbert, Jacula Prudentum, 1651, number 196
  • Perfect Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. (a.k.a The six P's)
  • Mitchell, D. A. (2006). An Introduction to Oral And Maxillofacial Surgery, Oxford University Press.
  • A picture is worth a thousand words.
  • (Originally a marketing slogan, promoting magazine display ads.)
  • Sexton, P. (2008). A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words, F+W Media.
  • The pitcher which goes too often to the well gets broken.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 131.
  • Politeness costs nothing and gains everything. <M.W. Montagu>
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 143.
  • Politics makes strange bedfellows.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.
  • Attributed to Lord Acton
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Practice before you preach.
  • Variation:
    •  Practice what you preach
  • Maister, David H (2001). Practice What You Preach: What Managers Must Do To Create A High Achievement Culture. Simon and Schuster. pp. 272. 0815776314.
  • Practice makes perfect.
  • James, Julie (2009). Practice Makes Perfect. Berkley Sensation. 0425226743.
  • Prevention is better than cure.
  • Variation:
    •  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
  • Meaning: It is best to be proactive.
  • Russell, Louise B (1986). Is prevention better than cure?. Brookings Institution Press. p. 159. 0815776314.
  • Pride comes before a fall
  • Jakes, TD (2010). Help Me I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up. ReadHowYouWant.com. p. 1. 1459600363.
  • The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Procrastination is the thief of time.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. 233. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Proverbs run in pairs.
  • Meaning
    • : Every proverb seems to be contradicted by another proverb with an opposed message, such as "too many cooks spoil the broth" and "many hands make light work."
  • Burton, Richard Francis
    •  (1863). Abeokuta and the Camaroons Mountains: an exploration, Volym 1. Tinsley Brothers. p. 309.
  • Put a beggar on horseback and he'll ride it to death.
  • Ammer, Christine (1997). The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. xciii. ISBN 039572774X.
  • Put a beggar on horseback and he'll ride to the devil.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Put your money where your mouth is.
  • Barry M, Casper (2000). Lost in Washington: finding the way back to democracy in America. Univ of Massachusetts Press. p. 190. 155849247X.
R
  • Reality is not only stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine.
  • Caper, R. (1999). A mind of one's own: a Kleinian view of self and object, Routledge.
  • Reality is often stranger than fiction
  • Pearce, G. and C. McLaughlin (2007). Truth or dare: art & documentary, Intellect.
  • Repetition is the mother of memory.
  • Latin: REPETITIO MATER MEMORIAE
  • Rowlingson, Cameron B. (1919). Fundamentals of memory development. University Pub. Co.. p. 15.
  • Revenge is a dish best served cold.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • A rising tide lifts all boats.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • As they say on my own Cape Cod, a rising tide lifts all the boats.
  • The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
  • Earlier variants of this proverb are recorded as Hell is paved with good intentions. recorded as early as 1670, and an even earlier variant by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux Hell is full of good intentions or desires.
  • Similar from Latin: "The gates of hell are open night and day; Smooth the descent, and easy is the way" — Virgil, the Aeneid Book VI line 126
  • A rolling stone gathers no moss.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 770.
  • Early versions include:
  • Saxum volutum non obducitur musco
  • A rolling stone does not gather moss.
  • Publius Syrus
    •  (var. Publilius), Sententiae (c. 42 BC), Maxim 524
  • Musco lapis volutus haud obducitur.
  • A rolling stone is not covered with moss.
  • The rollyng ſtone neuer gathereth moſſse.
  • The rolling stone never gathers moss.
  • Rome wasn't built in a day.
  • Meaning: It takes time to create something impressive.
  • Coady, Linus J. (1984). Rome wasn't built in a day: the history of the foundation of Brent's Cove Parish, 1959-1965. L.J. Coady. pp. 86.
  • The rotten apple injures its neighbors.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Rules were meant to be broken.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
S
  • Say something nice or say nothing at all.
  • Fluke, Joanne (2010). Plum Pudding Murder. Kensington Books. p. 270. 0758210256.
  • Seek and ye shall find.
  • Seek water in the sea.
  • Luther, M., E. G. Rupp, et al. (1969). Luther and Erasmus: Free Will and Salvation, Westminster Press.
  • Seeing is believing.
  • Meaning: You believe in something when it is confirmed by concrete evidence.
  • Martin, Elena (2005). Seeing Is Believing. Capstone Press. pp. 16. 0736852638.
  • Self trust is the first secret of success.
  • Scorza, J. A. (2008). Strong liberalism: habits of mind for democratic citizenship, University Press of New England.
  • Sell a man a fish, he eats for a day, teach a man how to fish, he eats for the rest of his life.
  • D'Ambrosio-Crabtree, G. (2008). Secondhand Hope, Lulu.com.
  • Set a thief to catch a thief.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Shit or get off the pot.
  • Gaddis, W. (1975). J R, Knopf : distributed by Random House.
  • Silence is golden.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Slow and steady wins the race.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 734.
  • Variant: Slowly but surely wins the race.
  • Smile, and the world smiles with you; cry, and you cry alone.
  • Dela Riva, M. Pebbles in the Pond, Goodwill Trading Co., Inc.
  • Some days you get the bear, other days the bear gets you.
  • (2002). The economist, Economist Newspaper Ltd.
  • Someone who gossips to you will gossip about you.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 424.
  • Something is better than nothing.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • A son is a son 'till he gets him a wife; a daughter's a daughter all her life.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. BLANK.
  • Spare the rod, spoil the child.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 99.
  • The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
  • The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
  • Meaning: A person that complains about a service often gets much.
  • King, Jim (2009). Writings of a Cave Man. Jim King. p. 309. 0981688470.
  • Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.
  • Contrast: "A blow with a word strikes deeper than a blow with a sword."
  • A still tongue makes a wise head.
  • From Lewis the (Black) Barber; Lake Charles, LA; who always told people, "Never let the right hand know what the left hand is doing; a still tongue makes a wise head; still water runs deep."
  • Still waters run deep.
  • Meaning: Taciturn people have the most interesting things to say.
  • Knoebel, Suzanne (2004). Still Waters Run Deep: A Health Care Novel. Warren H. Green Inc. pp. 200. 0875275443.
  • A stitch in time saves nine.
  • Cf. Gnomologia: Adagies and Proverbs Collected by Thomas Fuller, 1732, Vol. II, p. 283, Nr. 6291 : "A Stitch in Time // May save nine." [16]
  • Stolen fruit is the sweetest.
  • Meaning: Forbidden things are the most desirable.
  • Manser, Martin H (2007). The Facts on File dictionary of proverbs. Infobase Publishing. p. 93. 0816066736.
  • Strike while the iron is hot.
  • George Farquhar
    • , The Beaux' Stratagem, Act IV, scene 2; reported as a proverb in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 642. Walter Scott, The Fair Maid of Perth, Chapter V. Webster, Westward Ho, III. 2. Geoffrey Chaucer, Troylus and Cresseyde, Book II, Stanza 178.
  • Success (only) comes after every necessary precaution.
  • Only time will tell (what was, or wasn't, necessary).
  • Success grows out of struggles to overcome difficulties.
  • Peterson, C. W. and D. C. Jones (1989). Wake up, Canada!: reflections on vital national issues, University of Alberta Press.
  • Success is a journey not a destination.
  • Puckridge, P. (2006). Success Is a Journey, Not a Destination, Success Technologies.
  • Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
  • Meaning: Don't worry about the future; focus on today's worries.
  • From Matthew 6:34
T
  • Take an old dirty, hungry, mangy, sick and wet dog and feed him and wash him and nurse him back to health, and he will never turn on you and bite you. This is how man and dog differ.
  • Take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Talk of the devil and he's sure to appear.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 197.
  • That which does not kill you, makes you stronger.
  • Meaning: Unpleasant experiences will make you wiser.
  • The worth of a thing is what it will bring.
  • Carr, D. H., D. R. E. Education, et al. (2003). Mastering Real Estate Appraisal, Kaplan Publishing.
  • There is luck in odd numbers.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • The teacher has not taught, until the student has learned.
  • Nater, Swen; Gallimore, Ronald; Walton, Bill; Sinegal, Jim (2010). You Haven't Taught Until They Have Learned: John Wooden's Teaching Principles and Practices. Fitness Information Technology, Incorporated, 2010. pp. 151. 1935412086.
  • There are no small parts, only small actors.
  • Southgate, M. (2006). Third Girl from the Left, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
  • There is a thin line between love and hate
  • William T. Golson, J. (2007). On the Matter of Relationships, Xulon Press.
  • There's always a calm before a storm.
  • Mills, J. (2001). The Sacred Seal, Key Porter Books.
  • or The calm before the storm.
  • There's many a slip 'twixt cup and lip.
  • This comes from a Greek legend, as follows: One of the Argonauts returned from his voyage, and went home to his winery. He called for the local soothsayer, who had predicted before his voyage that he would die before he tasted another drop of his wine, from his vinery. As he finished saying this, he raised a cup filled with wine to his lips, in toast to the soothsayer, who said something in reply. Just then, he was called away to hunt a wild boar that was approaching, and died in his attempt to kill it. The phrase that the soothsayer said is translated best as, There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip.
  • Where there's muck there's brass.
  • ** Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • There's more than one way to skin a cat.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 81.
  • There's no accounting for taste.
  • From the Latin: De gustibus non est disputandum.
  • Kramer, Gary M (2006). Independent queer cinema: reviews and interviews. Routledge. p. 1. 1560233435.
  • There's no fool like an old fool.
  • Meaning: An old person's experiences are supposed to make him wise.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 351.
  • There's no peace for the wicked
  • Granger, P. (2011). No Peace For The Wicked, Transworld.
  • There's no place like home.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 503.
  • There is no royal road to learning.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • There's no such thing as a free lunch.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • There's no time like the present.
  • Elkin, A. (1999). Stress management for dummies, John Wiley & Sons.
  • There is only eight years between success and failure in politics.
  • Jim Brown, Louisiana statesman
  • A thief thinks everyone steals.
  • Sweeney, J. (1995). 350 Fabulous Writing Prompts: Thought-Provoking Springboards for Creative, Expository, and Journal Writing, Scholastic.
  • Think before you speak.
  • Lewicki, R. J., A. Hiam, et al. (1996). Think before you speak: the complete guide to strategic negotiation, J. Wiley.
  • This, too, shall pass.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 3.
  • Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 405.
  • Time and tide wait for none.
  • Spender, D. (1984). Time and tide wait for no man, Pandora Press.
  • Time flies.
  • Cosby, B. (1988). Time flies, Bantam Books.
  • Latin: Tempus fugit!
  • Time flies when you're having fun.
  • Hauser, J. R., G. L. Urban, et al. (1992). Time flies when you're having fun: how consumers allocate their time when evaluating products, Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  • Time is money
  • Leonard, F. (1995). Time is money: a million dollar investment plan for today's twenty- and thirty-somethings, Perseus Books Group.
  • Time will tell.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • 'Tis better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.
  • (Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "In Memoriam:27")
  • Tit for tat.
  • Smith, J. G. (2008). Tit for Tat: BiblioLife.
  • To each, his own.
  • Sciascia, L., & Foulke, A. W. (2000). To each his own: New York Review Books.
  • To err is human; to forgive, divine.
  • Pope, Essay on Criticism
  • To know the road ahead ask those coming back.
  • Peltason, R. (2008). I Am Not My Breast Cancer: Women Talk Openly about Love & Sex, Hair Loss & Weight Gain, Mothers & Daughters, and Being a Woman with Breast Cancer: HarperCollins.
  • Tomorrow is another day.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Too many cooks spoil the broth.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 139.
  • Too much of one thing, good for nothing.
  • From Shakespeare
  • Meaning: You can have too much of something good.
  • Hattaway, Michael (2000). As you like it. Cambridge University. p. 165. 052122232X.
  • Tread on a worm and it will turn.
  • This Proverb is generally used by Persons who have received gross insults and
  • Injuries from others (which they have for some time bore with Patience) to excuse their
  • being at last transported to some Warmth of Resentment and Passion.
    •  - Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721 [17]
  • Trouble shared is trouble halved.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Truth is stranger than fiction.
  • "Truth is always strange — stranger than fiction." Lord Byron, Don Juan
  • The truth shall set you free, or The truth will set you free.
  • In the Bible, John 8:32.
  • Truth will out.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Try not to become a man of success but a man of value.
  • Wiersbe, W. W. (2001). Be Successful (1 Samuel): Attaining Wealth That Money Can't Buy: David C. Cook.
  • Two heads are better than one.
  • Homzie, H., & Phillips, M. (2009). Two Heads Are Better Than One: Baker & Taylor, CATS.
  • Two things prolong your life: A quiet heart and a loving wife.
  • Manser, M. (2006). The Wordsworth dictionary of proverbs, Wordsworth Editions, Limited.
  • Two wrongs don't make a right.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Two's company; three's a crowd.
  • William Ickes, P. D., & Ickes, W. K. (2004). Two's Company; Three's a Crowd: Booksurge Llc.
U
  • Unprepare to prepare, be prepared to be unprepared
  • supposedly said by W.B.Govo in 1916
  • Use it or lose it
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Use it up, wear it out, make do with, or do without
  • Great depression era proverb.
V
  • Variety is the spice of life.
  • An early version is found in William Cowper, The Task (1785), Book II, "The Timepiece", lines 606–7:
  • Variety's the very spice of life,
  • That gives it all its flavour.
  • Virtue which parleys is near a surrender.
  • Divers Proverbs
    • , Nathan Bailey, 1721 [18]
  • Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare. (Japanese proverb)
  • Kushner, M. (2011). Presentations For Dummies: John Wiley & Sons.
W
  • Walk softly, carry a big stick.
  • Variant of an African proverb that was made famous in the U.S. by Teddy Roosevelt, "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far".
  • Walk the walk and talk the talk.
  • Meaning: First do your task, then talk about it.
  • Skoll, Geoffrey R (1992). Walk the walk and talk the talk: an ethnography of a drug abuse treatment facility. Temple University Press. pp. 198. 0877229171.
  • Waste not, want not.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 872.
  • A watched pot never boils.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 872.
  • The way to a man's heart is through his stomach.
  • Manser, M. (2006). The Wordsworth dictionary of proverbs. Wordsworth Editions. p. 272. ISBN 1840223111.
  • We can't always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.
  • We have nothing to fear but fear itself.
  • We must take the bad with the good.
  • Variant: We must take the bitter with the sweet.
  • We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean,but the ocean would be less without that drop.
  • Chinoda, A. K. (2009). Simply Significant: Leaving a Legacy of Hope: Morgan James Publishing.
  • The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
  • Attributed to Mahatma Gandhi
  • Well begun is half done.
  • Variant: Well begun is half ended.
  • Divers Proverbs
    • , Nathan Bailey, 1721 [19]
  • "Well done" is better than "well said".
  • Whiting, B. J. (1977). Early American proverbs and proverbial phrases: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
  • What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.
  • Meaning: A lie will always spawn a bigger lie.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 875.
  • What goes around comes around.
  • ** Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • What goes up must come down.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • What you see is what you get.
  • McLenighan, Valjean (1981). What you see is what you get. Follett Pub. Co.. p. 4. 0695313703.
  • What you sow is what you reap.
  • Goodwin, F. A. (2005). You Reap What You Sow. R.A.N. Pub id = 1411643550. pp. 203.
  • Where there is a will, there is a way.
  • Similar to You reap what you sow
  • Based on the Bible (Gal. 6:7): "for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." [20]
  • What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. BLANK.
  • When a thing is done advice comes too late.
  • Richardson, S. (2010). Clarissa Harlowe and Pamela: Clarissa Harlowe or the history of a young lady (in 9 volumes) and Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (Mobi Classics): MobileReference.
  • When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • When one door closes, another door opens.
  • Meaning: When you lose something, an opportunity for something else presents itself.
  • Bachom, Sandi (2007). Hell in the Hallway: When One Door Closes Another Door Opens--But It's. Hazelden Publishing. pp. 125. 1592853684.
  • When the cat is away, the mice will play.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 81.
  • When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
  • Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs. Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.
  • Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise. [[21]]
  • Thomas Gray, "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College"
  • Where there's a will, there's a way.
  • Maguire, L. (2006). Where there's a will there's a way: or, all I really need to know I learned from Shakespeare: Perigee Book.
  • Where vice goes before, vengeance follows after.
  • Divers Proverbs
    • , Nathan Bailey, 1721 [22]
  • The whole dignity of man lies in the power of thought.
  • B. Pascal
  • Willful waste makes woeful want.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 872.
  • The wish is father to the thought.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 303.
  • A woman is like a tea bag; you'll never know how strong she is until she's in hot water
  • Massing, M. (2000). The Fix: University of California Press.
  • A woman's work is never done.
  • From a folk rhyme - "A man may work from sun to sun, but woman's work is never done."
  • Women need men like a fish needs a bicycle.
  • Gurian, M. (2002). The Wonder of Girls: Understanding the Hidden Nature of Our Daughters: Pocket Star.
  • A word spoken is past recalling.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 925.
  • The world is your oyster.
  • Opdyke, J. D. (2008). The World Is Your Oyster: The Guide to Finding Great Investments Around the Globe, Crown Business.
  • Worship the Creator not His creation.
  • McDowell, S. (2010). Apologetics Study Bible for Students: B&H Publishing Group.
  • The worst way to miss someone is to be sitting right beside them knowing you can't have them.
  • Hall, M., & Hunt, J. (2005). FW: FW : through the firewall: Publish On Demand.
  • Work is worship.
  • Furuseth, A. (1927). Work is worship: a call to and defense of freedom, labor and labor unions based upon Christian belief and historical evolution : delivered to the students at the California University, Labor Day, 1927: s.n.
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  • You always admire what you really dont understand.
  • Cook, J., S. Deger, et al. (2007). The Book of Positive Quotations, Fairview Press.
  • You always find something in the last place you look.
  • Mass, W. (2008). Jeremy Fink and the meaning of life, Scholastic.
  • You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.
  • Meaning: You can give someone an opportunity, but you can't force him to take advantage of it.
  • Medlin, Carl (2008). Second Great Reformation: Man Shall Not Live by Faith Only. Xulon Press. p. 74. 1606476459.
  • Similar to What you sow is what you reap
  • The younger brother the better gentleman.
  • Divers Proverbs
    • , Nathan Bailey, 1721 [23]
  • You can't have an omelette unless you break the egg.
  • Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 259.
  • You don't shit where you eat.
  • Meaning: Different segments of your life must remain contiguous such as business, your love life and leisure.
  • Iles, Greg (2007). Third Degree. Simon and Schuster. p. 159. 0743292502.


Source: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/English_proverbs
Proverbs are popularly defined as short expressions of popular wisdom. Efforts to improve on the popular definition have not led to a more precise definition. The wisdom is in the form of a general observation about the world or a bit of advice, sometimes more nearly an attitude toward a situation.

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The valiant never taste of death but once.' Complete text at [7]

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