Proverb quotes

To speak kindly does not hurt the tongue.
Proverb
Courtesy

It s tough trying to keep your feet on the ground, your head above the clouds, your nose to the grindstone, your shoulder to the wheel, your finger on the pulse, your eye on the ball and your ear to the ground.
Proverb
Concentration

The end justifies the means.
Proverb
Expediency

Attack is the best form of defense.
Proverb
Defense

He who does not have common sense at age thirty will never have it.
Proverb
Common Sense

All criminals turn preachers under the gallows.
Proverb
Crime and Criminals

Great thieves punish little ones.
Proverb
Crime and Criminals

In times of trouble leniency becomes crime.
Proverb
Crime and Criminals

How to dress? When the money is going from you wear anything you like. When the money is coming to you, dress your best.
Proverb
Dress

From listening comes wisdom and from speaking, repentance.
Proverb
Communication

Better a living dog than a dead lion.
Proverb
Discretion

You cannot be lost on a road that is straight.
Proverb
Direction

Step by step one goes very far.
Proverb
Direction

It is better to run back than run the wrong way.
Proverb
Direction

People lend only to the rich.
Proverb
Borrowing

First deserve then desire.
Proverb
Desire

Measure three times before you cut once.
Proverb
Detail

The charitable give out the door and God puts it back through the window.
Proverb
Charity

Speak the truth and shame the devil.
Proverb
Devil

Who goes a borrowing, goes a sorrowing.
Proverb
Borrowing

Quick to borrow is always slow to pay.
Proverb
Borrowing

Confess you were wrong yesterday; it will show you are wise today.
Proverb
Confession

The hardest work of all is to do nothing.
Proverb
Idleness

He that is doing nothing is seldom in need of helpers.
Proverb
Idleness

Custom is a tyrant.
Proverb
Custom

Good men must die, but death cannot kill their names.
Proverb
Death and Dying

We come and cry and that is life, we cry and go and that is death.
Proverb
Death and Dying

Unbridled gratification produces unbridled desire.
Proverb
Desire

Talk well of your friends and of your enemies say nothing.
Proverb
Enemies

Some have been thought brave because they didn t have the courage to run away.
Proverb
Courage

Better to go to bed hungry than to wake up in debt.
Proverb
Debt

Curses are like chickens, they always come home.
Proverb
Curses

Some who will not speak against another, in the end does them harm.
Proverb
Correction

Every cloud has a silver lining.
Proverb
Deception

Out of debt, out of danger.
Proverb
Debt

Rebuke with soft words and hard arguments.
Proverb
Correction

Conscience is the dog that can t bite, but never stops barking.
Proverb
Conscience

Caution is the parent of safety.
Proverb
Caution

When two friends have a common bank account, one sings and the other weeps.
Proverb
Business

Rebuke should have a grain more of salt than of sugar.
Proverb
Correction

There is nothing certain, but the uncertain.
Proverb
Certainty

A wicked book cannot repent.
Proverb
Books - Reading

Private reproof is the best grave for private faults.
Proverb
Correction

When difficulties are overcome they begin blessing.
Proverb
Difficulties

Who ever does not respect confidence will never find happiness in their path.
Proverb
Confidence

The first step toward greatness is to be honest.
Proverb
Greatness

We all end up in a single bed sooner or later.
Proverb
Cooperation

When a fox preaches, take care of your geese.
Proverb
Caution

A fool and his money are soon parted.
Proverb
Fools and Foolishness

The heart that truly loves never forgets.
Proverb
Heart

Not the glittering weapon fights the fight, but rather the hero s heart.
Proverb
Heart

The most dangerous food to eat is a wedding cake.
Proverb
Food and Eating

The face is the index of the mind.
Proverb
Faces

No sheath shall hold what finds its home in flesh.
Proverb
Heart

Seven s a banquet nine a brawl.
Proverb
Food and Eating

Where one is wise two are happy.
Proverb
Happiness

Much meat, much disease.
Proverb
Food and Eating

Hunger is a good cook.
Proverb
Food and Eating

Gluttony kills more than the sword.
Proverb
Food and Eating

They say is often a great liar.
Proverb
Lies and Lying

Many lick before they bite.
Proverb
Flattery

That which is escaped now is pain to come.
Proverb
Pain

The fool is always beginning to live.
Proverb
Fools and Foolishness

Think of many things, do only one.
Proverb
Focus

He who fears to suffer, suffers from fear.
Proverb
Fear

That fear may reach all, punish but few.
Proverb
Fear

Acts of kindness may soon be forgotten, but the memory of an offense remains.
Proverb
Fights and Fighting

Fire is never a gentle master
Proverb
Fire

If we did not flatter ourselves the flattery from others would not harm us.
Proverb
Flattery

A scalded cat dreads cold water.
Proverb
Fear

Gifts dissolve rocks.
Proverb
Gifts

The time to make friends is before you need them.
Proverb
Friends and Friendship

Force without forecast is to little avail.
Proverb
Force

Good habits result from resisting temptation.
Proverb
Habit

Grief is light that is capable of counsel.
Proverb
Grief

Tomorrow never comes.
Proverb
Future

Rule: Never perform card tricks for the people you play poker with.
Proverb
Gambling

Precept guides, but example draws.
Proverb
Example

Short judgments make long friends.
Proverb
Friends and Friendship

An ounce of practice is worth a pound of preaching.
Proverb
Example

Weave in faith and God will find the thread.
Proverb
Faith

Don t cross the bridge till you come to it.
Proverb
Expectation

Gifts make their way through stone walls.
Proverb
Gifts

A bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives you roses.
Proverb
Giving

Gossiping and lying go hand in hand.
Proverb
Gossip

One s best fortune, or, their worst is their spouse.
Proverb
Fortune

Speedy exception is the mother of good fortune.
Proverb
Fortune

It is better to finish something than begin.
Proverb
Goals

Man does what he can, God does what he will.
Proverb
God

Practice what you preach.
Proverb
Example

Many can bear adversity, but few contempt.
Proverb
Hatred

Forgive and forget.
Proverb
Forgiveness

Never repeat old grievances.
Proverb
Forgiveness

The eye is the mirror of the soul.
Proverb
Eyes

It is prosperity that gives us friends, adversity that proves them.
Proverb
Friends and Friendship

Six feet of earth make all men equal.
Proverb
Equality

A reconciled friend is a double enemy.
Proverb
Forgiveness

What the eye does not admire the heart does not desire.
Proverb
Eyes

Those that do you a very ill deed will never forgive you.
Proverb
Forgiveness

Some evils are cured by contempt.
Proverb
Hatred

When someone is going downhill everyone likes to give them a kick.
Proverb
Failure

A friend is someone who doesn t like the same people you do.
Proverb
Friends and Friendship

Be slow in choosing a friend, but slower in changing him.
Proverb
Friends and Friendship

Broken friendships can be soldered, but never sound.
Proverb
Friends and Friendship

Love laughs at locksmiths.
Proverb
Love

Love rules his kingdom without a sword.
Proverb
Love

The law helps those who watch, not those who sleep.
Proverb
Law and Lawyers

People blame themselves for the purpose of being praised.
Proverb
Praise

The more laws the less justice.
Proverb
Law and Lawyers

Even rabbits insult an dead lion.
Proverb
Insults

He who begins and does not finish loves their pains.
Proverb
Procrastination

Among the blind the one eyed is king.
Proverb
Leaders and Leadership

A jack of both sides, is before long, trusted by nobody, and abused by both parties.
Proverb
Loyalty

Little enemies and little wounds must not be despised.
Proverb
Insults

Where the law is uncertain there is no law.
Proverb
Law and Lawyers

Luck is the idol of the idle.
Proverb
Luck

Follow love and it will flee, flee love and it will follow.
Proverb
Love

One lives in the world s memory only by what they have done in the world s behalf.
Proverb
Memory

Quit not certainty for hope.
Proverb
Hope

Kings have many ears and eyes.
Proverb
Kings

Who knows most believes least.
Proverb
Knowledge

Choose your wife as you wish your children to be.
Proverb
Marriage

Never tell your story to a deaf man.
Proverb
Listening

Love can neither be bought or sold, its only price is love.
Proverb
Love

He who allows his day to pass by without practicing generosity and enjoying life s pleasures is like a blacksmith s bellows. He breathes, but does not live.
Proverb
Life and Living

He has hard work who has nothing to do.
Proverb
Leisure

Those that marry for money sell their liberty.
Proverb
Marriage

Nature surpasses nurture.
Proverb
Nature

Three things drive a man outdoors; smoke, a leaking roof and a scolding wife.
Proverb
Marriage

God helps them that help themselves.
Proverb
Self-reliance

Better to be known as a sinner than a hypocrite.
Proverb
Hypocrisy

Lawyers and woodpeckers have long bills.
Proverb
Law and Lawyers

A light heart lives long.
Proverb
Life and Living

A hundred years cannot repair a moment s loss of honor.
Proverb
Honor

Live today for tomorrow it will all be history.
Proverb
Life and Living

Young people talk of what they are doing; old people of what they have done; and fools of what they have a mind to do.
Proverb
Life and Living

Nothing is more noble than politeness, and nothing more ridiculous than ceremony.
Proverb
Manners

Civility costs nothing.
Proverb
Manners

Masters who sacrifice for servants will receive the gift of loyalty.
Proverb
Mastery

The word that is heard perishes, but the letter that is written remains.
Proverb
Letters

The multitude is always wrong.
Proverb
Masses

You ll repent if you marry, and repent if you don t.
Proverb
Marriage

Praise makes good people better and bad people worse.
Proverb
Praise

By doing nothing we learn to do ill.
Proverb
Laziness

Sloth is the key to poverty.
Proverb
Laziness

We learn by teaching.
Proverb
Learning

A misty morning does not signify a cloudy day.
Proverb
Hope

Whom God wishes to destroy, he first makes mad.
Proverb
Insanity

He who lives by medical prescriptions lives miserably.
Proverb
Medicine

Quackery has no friend like gullibility.
Proverb
Medicine

Kind words are worth much and they cost little.
Proverb
Kindness

A hungry stomach has no ears.
Proverb
Listening

Ease and honor are seldom bedfellows.
Proverb
Honor

Lawyers and painters can soon make what s black, white.
Proverb
Law and Lawyers

Better to ask a question than to remain ignorant.
Proverb
Ignorance

What you don t know can t hurt you .
Proverb
Ignorance

Marrying is easy, it s housework that s hard.
Proverb
Marriage

Fools and obstinate men make lawyers rich.
Proverb
Law and Lawyers

An army of deer would be more formidable commanded by a lion, than a an army of lions commanded by a stag.
Proverb
Leaders and Leadership

Possession is nine tenths of the law.
Proverb
Law and Lawyers

Birds of a feather flock together.
Proverb
Loyalty

Let not turn fun to mischief.
Proverb
Moderation

Time tries truth.
Proverb
Truth

Tell the truth and then run.
Proverb
Truth

When money is taken freedom is forsaken.
Proverb
Money

Merit is often an obstacle to fortune; the reason is it produces two bad effects, envy and fear.
Proverb
Merit

One hour in the execution of justice is worth seventy years of prayer.
Proverb
Prayer

Money spent on the mind is never spent in vain.
Proverb
Mind

Many talk like philosophers yet live like fools.
Proverb
Philosophers and Philosophy

If you wish for peace be ready for war.
Proverb
Peace

When poverty comes in the door love flies out the window.
Proverb
Poverty and The Poor

When we can t find peace in ourselves it is vain to look for it elsewhere.
Proverb
Peace

Truth is the daughter of time.
Proverb
Truth

There is no greater misfortune, than to not be able to endure misfortune.
Proverb
Misfortunes

Poverty has no greater foe than bashfulness.
Proverb
Poverty and The Poor

Every convenience brings its own inconveniences along with it.
Proverb
Progress

We hate delays by others, but sometimes it makes us wise.
Proverb
Procrastination

One of these days, is none of these days.
Proverb
Procrastination

He loses his thanks who promises and delays.
Proverb
Promises

Don t spur a willing horse.
Proverb
Motivation

There are no greater promisers than those who have nothing to give.
Proverb
Promises

Opportunities neglected can never be recovered.
Proverb
Opportunity

Rome was not built in a day.
Proverb
Patience

No one can pray well, but those who live well.
Proverb
Prayer

The poor man s budget is full of schemes.
Proverb
Money

Truth fears nothing but concealment.
Proverb
Truth

Persuasion is better than force.
Proverb
Persuasion

That which proves too much, proves nothing!
Proverb
Persuasion

Pride and poverty don t get along, but often live together.
Proverb
Pride

No price is too low for a bear or too high for a bull.
Proverb
Price

When a heart is on fire, sparks always fly out of the mouth.
Proverb
Persuasion

The back of one door is the face of another.
Proverb
Opportunity

The Irish ignore anything they can t drink or punch.
Proverb
Nationalities and Nationalism

Silent men like still waters, are deep and dangerous.
Proverb
Men

Short prayers reach heaven.
Proverb
Prayer

Ownership is to fear.
Proverb
Ownership

A mother s heart is always with her children.
Proverb
Mothers

If you can t get people to listen to you any other way, tell them it s confidential.
Proverb
Persuasion

Offenders never pardon.
Proverb
Mercy

Patience, money and time bring all things to past.
Proverb
Patience

Hedges between keep friendships green.
Proverb
Neighbors

The one who pleased everybody died before they were born.
Proverb
Popularity

Unless a serpent devour a serpent it will not become a dragon. Unless one power absorb another, it will not become great.
Proverb
Power

Short lived pleasure is the parent of pain.
Proverb
Pleasure

He who pays the piper calls the tune.
Proverb
Power

Patience when teased is often transformed into rage.
Proverb
Patience

The darkest hour is just before the dawn.
Proverb
Perseverance

Never say die.
Proverb
Perseverance

The longest day soon comes to an end.
Proverb
Time and Time Management

Soon enough is well enough.
Proverb
Time and Time Management

Now is the watchword of the wise.
Proverb
Time and Time Management

Lost time is never found again.
Proverb
Time and Time Management

To teach well, we need not say all that we know, Successful teachers are effective in spite of the psychological theories they suffer under.
Proverb
Teachers and Teaching

Never offer to teach a fish to swim.
Proverb
Teachers and Teaching

The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord.
Proverb
Spirit and Spirituality

In teaching others we teach ourselves.
Proverb
Teachers and Teaching

What is a big shot except a little shot that kept on shooting.
Proverb
Success

A soft answer turneth away wrath.
Proverb
Tenderness

He who does not research has nothing to teach.
Proverb
Teachers and Teaching

Whatever you teach, be brief; what is quickly said the mind readily receives and faithfully retains, while everything superfluous runs over as from a full container. Who knows much says least.
Proverb
Teachers and Teaching

Riches have wings.
Proverb
Riches

Speak when you are spoken to.
Proverb
Speakers and Speaking

Talking without thinking is like shooting without taking aim.
Proverb
Speakers and Speaking

The less people think the more they talk.
Proverb
Speakers and Speaking

Quicker by taking more time.
Proverb
Quality

Battle doesn t need a purpose; the battle is its own purpose.
Proverb
Purpose

Pay beforehand if you would have your work poorly done.
Proverb
Quality

The soul is not where it lives, but where it loves.
Proverb
Soul

Simplicity is the seal of truth.
Proverb
Simplicity

Speak little and to the purpose.
Proverb
Speakers and Speaking

Could everything be done twice it would be done better.
Proverb
Quality

The silent dog is the first to bite.
Proverb
Silence

Silence implies consent.
Proverb
Silence

The burden one likes is cheerfully carried.
Proverb
Responsibility

Speak and the man shall be shown.
Proverb
Speakers and Speaking

Visits always give pleasure; if not the arrival, the departure.
Proverb
Travel and Tourism

A little body often harbors a great soul.
Proverb
Soul

Respect starts with yourself.
Proverb
Respectability

How beautiful is it to do nothing, and then rest afterward.
Proverb
Rest

If the young knew and the old could, there is nothing that couldn t be done.
Proverb
Age and Aging

Danger past, God forgotten.
Proverb
Danger

He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.
Proverb
Anger

A wreck on shore is a beacon at sea.
Proverb
Danger

Never find fault with the absent.
Proverb
Absence

There is not so much comfort in having children as there is sorrow in parting with them.
Proverb
Children

There are two things a person should never be angry at, what they can help, and what they cannot.
Proverb
Anger

No one is as angry as the person who is wrong.
Proverb
Anger

The gods sell all things at a fair price.
Proverb
Cost

A colt is worth little if it does not break its halter.
Proverb
Discipline

Children and drunks always speak the truth.
Proverb
Children

A rich child often sits in a poor mothers lap.
Proverb
Children

Neither blame or praise yourself.
Proverb
Blame

The first mistake are theirs who commit them, the second are theirs that permit them.
Proverb
Blame

Any landing you can walk away from is a good one.
Proverb
Airplane and Aviation

Slow help is no help.
Proverb
Aid and Assistance

Footprints on the sands of time are not made by sitting down.
Proverb
Action

Try and trust will move mountains.
Proverb
Action

The wrath of brothers is fierce and devilish.
Proverb
Anger

Good advice is beyond all price.
Proverb
Advice

The wolf changes his coat, but not his disposition.
Proverb
Behavior

People who have little to do are excessive talkers.
Proverb
Behavior

Contraries are cured by contraries.
Proverb
Behavior

No one is worse, for knowing the worst of themselves.
Proverb
Faults

If an ass goes traveling it will not come home a horse.
Proverb
Character

If a job s worth doing, it s worth doing well.
Proverb
Effort

Soft words win hard hearts.
Proverb
Argument

Two dogs strive for a bone and the third one runs off with it.
Proverb
Argument

One can easily judge the character of a person by the way they treat people who can do nothing for them.
Proverb
Character

Some people are born hammers, others anvils.
Proverb
Character

Give neither counsel or salt till you are asked for it.
Proverb
Counsel

Write down the advice of him who loves you, though you like it not at present.
Proverb
Advice

Old age though despised, is coveted by all.
Proverb
Age and Aging

All things are becoming to good people.
Proverb
Appearance

The owl of ignorance lays the egg of pride.
Proverb
Animals

Absence and a friendly neighbor washes away love.
Proverb
Absence

The counsel you would have another keep, first keep yourself.
Proverb
Counsel

The best counselors are the dead.
Proverb
Counsel

We pay when old for the excesses of youth.
Proverb
Age and Aging

An eagle does not catch flies.
Proverb
Animals

The best mirror is an old friend.
Proverb
Appearance

Better a lean agreement than a fat lawsuit.
Proverb
Agreement

From our ancestors come our names from our virtues our honor.
Proverb
Ancestry

By bravely enduring it, an evil which cannot be avoided is overcome
Proverb
Evil

Wide will wear, but tight will tear.
Proverb
Appearance

A Sunday well-spent brings a week of content.
Proverb
Contentment

Something you don t want is dear at any price.
Proverb
Cost

A rich widow weeps with one eye and signals with the other.
Proverb
Wealth

Great is the victory that is gained without bloodshed.
Proverb
Victory

A good wife and health is a mans best wealth.
Proverb
Wives

Too much zeal spoils everything.
Proverb
Zeal

As the person who has health is young, so the person who owes nothing is rich.
Proverb
Wealth

A dog that barks much is never a good hunter.
Proverb
Work

No bees, no honey; no work, no money.
Proverb
Work

Plaster thick, some will stick.
Proverb
Work

The noblest vengeance is to forgive.
Proverb
Vengeance

Zeal is like fire: it needs both feeding and watching.
Proverb
Zeal

When the will is ready the feet are light.
Proverb
Will and Will Power

By others faults the wise correct their own.
Proverb
Wisdom

You can t take it with you when you go.
Proverb
Wealth

Who wills the end, wills the means.
Proverb
Will and Will Power

Want is the mother of industry.
Proverb
Work

The one who wills is the one who can.
Proverb
Will and Will Power

No wonder lasts over three days.
Proverb
Wonder

Between the wish and the thing life lies waiting.
Proverb
Wish and Wishing