English proverbs and sayings

A
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Accidents will happen.
Actions speak louder than words.
Advice is cheap.
Advice is least heeded when most needed.
Advisers run no risks.
All cats are grey in the dark.
All good things come to those who wait.
All that glitters is not gold.
All days are short to Industry and long to Idleness.
All is fair in love and war.
All's well that ends well.
All that glitters is not gold.
All things grow with time - except grief.
All things are difficult before they are easy.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.*
An empty purse frightens away friends.
An Englishman's home is his castle.
An idle brain is the devil's workshop.
An onion a day keeps everyone away.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I
Anger is the one thing made better by delay.
Any time means no time.
April showers bring May flowers.
A bad tree does not yield good apples.
A bad workman blames his tools.
A bird in hand is worth two in a bush.
A broken friendship may be soldered but will never be sound.
A burden of one's own choice is not felt.
A burnt child dreads the fire.
A cat has nine lives.
A chain is no stronger than its weakest link.
A change is as good as a rest.
A dry March, a wet April and a cool May fill barn and cellar and bring much hay.
A fault confessed is half redressed.
A flower blooms more than once.
A fool and his money are soon (easily) parted.
A fool at forty is a fool forever.
A friend in need is a friend indeed.
A friend to all is a friend to none.
A friend's eye is a good mirror.
A good example is the best sermon.
A good beginning makes a good end.
A good conscience is a soft pillow.
A guilty conscience needs no accuser.
A leopard cannot change its spots.
A loaded wagon makes no noise.
A loveless life is a living death.
A man can die but once.
A man is as old as he feels himself to be.
A man is known by the company he keeps.
A monkey in silk is a monkey no less.
A new broom sweeps clean.
A rising tide lifts all boats.
A rolling stone gathers no moss.
A rotten apple spoils the barrel.
A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner.
A stitch in time saves nine.
A stumble may prevent a fall.
A swallow does not make the summer.
A tree is known by its fruit.
A watched pot never boils.
A young idler, an old beggar.
After dinner rest a while, after supper walk a mile.
As you sow, so shall you reap.

B
Bad news travels fast.
Beauty is only skin deep.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Beauty is the wisdom of women.
Be swift to hear, slow to speak.
Better be alone than in bad company.
Better be the head of a dog then the tail of a lion.
Better flatter a fool than fight him.
Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know.
Better late than never.
Better lose the saddle than the horse.
Better safe than sorry.
Better untaught than ill-taught.
Birds of a feather flock together.
Blood is thicker than water.
Blood will out.

C
Charity begins at home.
Children and fools tell the truth.
Cleanliness is next to godliness.
Clear moon, frost soon.
Clothes don't make the man.
Constant occupation prevents temptation.

D
Dead men tell no tales.
Diamond cuts diamond.
Diligence is the mother of good fortune.
Discretion is the better part of valour.
Diseases of the soul are more dangerous than those of the body.
Distance makes the heart grow fonder.
Dogs of the same street bark alike.
Don't bark if you can't bite.
Don't count your chickens before they're hatched.
Don't dig your grave with your own knife and fork.
Don't judge a book by its cover.

E
Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
Easier said than done.
Elbow grease is the best polish.
Empty vessels make the most noise.
Every ass likes to hear himself bray.
Every cloud has a silver lining.
Every man for himself.
Every man has his price.
Every man is the architect of his own fortune.
Every path has its puddle.
Every why has a wherefore.
Everything in the garden is rosy.
Experience is the father of wisdom.

F
Facts speak louder than words.
Failure teaches success.
False friends are worse than open enemies.
Familiarity breeds contempt.
Fine words butter no parsnips.
First come, first served.
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
Friendship is love with understanding.

G
Gardens are not made by sitting in the shade.
Give someone an inch and they will take a mile (or yard).
Give someone enough rope and they will hang themselves.
God helps those who help themselves.
Good and quickly seldom meet.
Good management is better than good income.
Great minds think alike.
Great oaks grow from little acorns.
Grief divided is made lighter.

H
Half a loaf is better than none.
Hard words break no bones.
Haste makes waste.
Hatred is a blind as love.
He has enough who is content.
He who hesitates is lost.
He who is everywhere is nowhere.
He who knows nothing, doubts nothing.
He who pays the piper calls the tune.
He who plays with fire gets burnt.
He who wills the end wills the means.
He laughs best who laughs last.
Health is better than wealth.
Home is where the heart is.
Honesty is the best policy.
Honey catches more flies than vinegar.
However long the night, the dawn will break.
Hunger is a good sauce.

I
In times of prosperity friends are plentiful.
If a camel gets his nose in a tent, his body will follow.
If in February there be no rain, 'tis neither good for hay nor grain.
If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will avoid 100 days of sorrow.
If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one.
If two ride a horse, one must ride behind.
If you want a friend, be a friend.
If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride.
Ignorance is bliss.
In for a penny, in for a pound.
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
It never rains but it pours.
It is always darkest before the dawn.
It's no use crying over spilt milk.
It takes all sorts to make a world.

J
Justice delayed is justice denied.

K
Knowledge in youth is wisdom in age.
Knowledge is power.
Kill one to warn a hundred.
Kill the goose that lays the golden egg.
Kindness begets kindness.

L
Laughter is the best medicine.
Learn to walk before you run.
Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.
Least said soonest mended.
Let bygones be bygones.
Liars need good memories.
Lightning never strikes in the same place twice.
Like father, like son.
Look before you leap.
Loose lips sink ships
Losers weepers, finders keepers.
Love is blind.

M
Make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
Man is the head of the family; woman is the neck that turns the head.
Man proposes, God disposes.
Manners make the man.
Many hands make light work.
Marry in haste, repent at leisure.
Memory is the treasure of the mind.
Men make houses, women make homes.
Might as well be hanged for a sheep as (for) a lamb.
Money begets money.
Money doesn't grow on trees.
Money is the root of all evil.

N
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Need teaches a plan.
Never put off till tomorrow what can be done today
Never say die.
Nobody is perfect.
No man can serve two masters.
No man is an island.
No news is good news.
No smoke without fire.
No wind, no waves.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

O
Once bitten, twice shy.
One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters.
One good turn deserves another.
One of these days is none of these days.
One today is worth two tomorrow.
One man's meat is another man's poison
One man's trash is another man's treasure.
One swallow doesn't make a summer.
Only real friends will tell you when your face is dirty.
Opportunity seldom knocks twice.
Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings
Out of sight, out of mind.

P
Penny wise, pound foolish.
People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
Poverty waits at the gates of idleness.
Practice makes perfect.
Practise what you preach.
Prevention is better than cure.
Pride comes before a fall.
Procrastination is the thief of time.
Put all your eggs in one basket.

R
Revenge is sweet.
Rome was not built in a day.

S
Save me from my friends.
Saying is one thing, doing is another.
Short reckonings make long friends.
Sickness in the body brings sadness to the mind.
Silence gives consent.
Snug as a bug in a rug.
Spare the rod and spoil the child.
Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me.
Still waters run deep.
A stitch in time saves nine.
Stolen fruit is the sweetest.

T
Tall oaks grow from little acorns.
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
The best advice is found on the pillow.
The darkest hour is just before dawn.
The devil looks after his own.
The devil makes work for idle hands
The die is cast.
The early bird catches the worm.
The end justifies the means.
The first step is the hardest.
The more haste, the less speed.
The more you have, the more you want.
The mouse that has but one hole is quickly taken.
The pen is mightier than the sword
The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
The tongue wounds more than a lance.
The truth is in the wine.
The way to a man's heart is through his stomach.
The wish is father to the thought.
There is a black sheep in every flock.
There is a trick in every trade.
There is no fool like an old fool.
There is safety in numbers
Time and tide wait for no man.
Time has wings.
Time is money.
To err is human, to forgive divine
Too many cooks spoil the broth.
Trust not a horse's heel nor a dog's tooth.
Truth is stranger than fiction.
Two wrongs don't make a right

U
Union is strength.
Unwillingness easily finds an excuse.

V
Variety is the spice of life.
Virtue is its own reward.

W
Walls have ears.
Waste not, want not.
What the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve over.
What a man says drunk, he thinks sober.
What soberness conceals, drunkenness reveals.
When the cat's away, the mice play.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
When poverty come in the door, love goes out the window.
Where there's life there's hope.
Where there's a will, there's a way.
Who makes himself a sheep will be eaten by the wolves.
Wisdom is better than strength.
Wonders will never cease!
Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.

Y
You are what you eat.
You are never too old to learn.
You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.
You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
You never know what you can do until you try.
You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.