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The Proverbs are arranged by geographical/national locations.
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| Proverb - T
'Tis altogether vain to learn wisdom, and yet live foolishly.'Tis an easy thing to find a staff to beat a dog.'Tis an ill dog that deserves not a crust.'Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.'Tis day still, while the sun shines.'Tis either a hare or a brake-bush.'Tis gold
Which makes the true man killed, and saves the thief;
Nay, sometimes hangs both thief and true man; what
Can it not do, and undo?'Tis his turn to-day, it will be mine to-morrow.'Tis never too late to mend.'Tis not for everyone to catch a salmon.'Tis one beggar's woe, to see another by the door go.'Tis sweet at certain times to drop the sage.'Tis the last straw that breaks the camel's back.'Tis too late to spare,
When the bottom is bare.Tailors and writers must mind the fashion.Tak awa' Averdeen and twal' mile round aboot, an' far are ye?Take a farthing from a thousand pounds, it will be a thousand pounds no longer.Take a hair of the dog that has bitten you.Take away fuel, take away flame.Take away my good name, take away my life.Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves.Take heed is a good reed.Take heed of a stepmother: the very name of her sufficeth.Take heed of the vinegar of sweet wine.Take heed you find not that you do not seek.Take hold of a good minute.Take in laundry before you take in partners.Take not a musket to kill a butterfly.Take off your hat to your yesterdays; take off your coat for your tomorrows.Take the bit and the buffet with it.Take the goods the gods provide.Take the will for the deed.Take things as they come.Take things as you find them.Take time by the forelock.Take time to smell the roses.Take time when time is, for time will away.Take time while time is, for the time will away.Take your wife's first advice and not her second.Take your will of it, as the cat did of the haggis.Talk is but talk; but 'tis money buys lands.Talk is cheap.Talk less, think more.Talk much, and err much.Talk of an angel and you'll hear his wings.Talk of the Devil, and he is bound to appear.Talking comes by nature, silence by wisdom.Talking pays no toll.Tarry-long brings little home.Tastes differ.Teach an eagle to fly, a dolphin to swim.Teach your grandam to spin.Teach your grandame to suck eggs.Teach your grandmother to suck eggs.Teaching others teacheth yourself.Tell that to the Marines!Temperance is the best medicine.Tempest in a teapot.Thank 'ee for nothing.That cock won't fight.That grief is light which is capable of counsel.That is a game that two can play.That is but an empty purse that is full of other' men's money.That is true which all men say.That is well spoken that is well taken.That suit is best that best fits me.That suit is best that best suits me.That that comes of a cat will catch mice.That which doth blossom in the spring will bring forth fruit in the autumn.That which is easily done is soon believed.That which is evil is soon learned.That which is good for the back is bad for the head.That which one most forehets soonest comes to pass.That which proves too much proves nothing.That which was bitter to endure may be sweet to remember.That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly.The applause of the people is a blast of air.The apple does not fall far from the tree.The ass does not know the value of his tail till he has lost it.The ass that brays most eats least.The axe forgets what the tree remembers.The axe goes to the wood where it borrowed its helve.The back door robbeth the house.The bear, he never can prevail
To lion it for want of tail.The bee, from her industry in the summer, eats honey all the winter.The beggar may sing before the thief.The belly hates a long sermon.The belly is not filled with fair words.The belly robs the back.The best doctors are Dr. Diet, Dr, Quiet, and Dr. Merryman.The best fish swim near the bottom.The best go first, the bad remain to mend.The best horse needs breaking, and the aptest child needs teaching.The best is behind.The best is the enemy of the good.The best mirror is an old friend.The best mode of instruction is to practise what we preach.The best of friends must part.The best of men are but men at best.The best of the sport is to do the deed and say nothing.The best patch is off the same cloth.The best thing for the inside of a man is the outside of a horse.The best things are worst to come by.The best things come in small packages.The best things in life are free.The best throw of the dice is to throw them away.The best you get is an even break.The best-laid schemes of mice and men gang aft agley.The better the day the better the deed.The better the day, the better the deed.The better workman, the worse husband.The bigger they are, the harder they fall.The bird hunting a locust is unaware of the hawk hunting him.The black ox has trod on his foot.The bleating of the lamb merely arouses the tiger.The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.The body is sooner dressed than the soul.The boot is on the other leg.The boughs that bear most hang lowest.The boy is father to the man.The brain, that sows not corn, plants thistles.The bread never falls but on its buttered side.The brightest of all things, the sun, hath its spots.The brother had rather see the sister rich than make her so.The busiest men have the most leisure.The buyer has need of a hundred eyes. the seller but one.The calf, the goose, the bee:
The world is ruled by these three.The camel asking for horns lost also his ears. [In grasping for things we need not, we often lose what we have.]The cat and dog may kiss, yet are none the better friends.The cat is hungry when a crust contents her.The cat knows whose lips she licks.The cat would eat fish but would not wet her feet.The cat would eat fish, but would not wet her feet.The chamber of sickness is the chapel of devotion.The charitable gives out at the door and God puts in at the window.The chickens are the country's, but the city eats them.The child is the father of the man.The child saith nothing but what he heard at the fireside.The child says nothing, but what it heard by the fire.The church is an anvil which has worn out many hammers.The clartier the cosier.The coaches won't run over him.The cobbler always wears the worst shoes.The cobbler to his last and the gunner to his linstock.The comforter's head never aches.The common horse is worst shod.The company makes the feast.The course of true love never did run smooth.The covetous spends more than the liberal.The cow gives good milk, but kicks over the pail.The cow knows not what her tail is worth until she has lost it.The credit got by a lie lasts only till the truth comes out.The cross on his breast, and the devil in his heart.The crow thinks her own bird fairest.The cuckold is the last that knows of it.The cuckoo comes in April,
Sings a song in May;
Then in June another tune,
And then she flies away.The cunning wife makes her husband her apron.The cure is worse that the disease.The customer is always right.The danger past, and God forgotten.The darkest hour is just before dawn.The day has eyes and the night has ears.The day is short and the work is long.The dead have few friends.The devil always leaves a stink behind him.The devil can quote Scripture for his own ends.The devil dances in an empty pocket.The devil dies brooding in the miser's chest.The devil divides the world between atheism and superstition.The devil finds work for idle hands to do.The devil gets up to the belfry by the vicar's skirts.The devil is a busy bishop in his own diocese.The devil is good when he is pleased.The devil is in the dice.The devil is kind to his own.The devil looks after his own.The devil makes his Christmas pies of lawyers' tongues and clerk's fingers.The devil rebukes sin.The devil take the hindmost.The devil was sick, the Devil a saint would be; the Devil was well, the devil a saint was he.The devil was so fond of his children that he plucked out their eyes.The devil wipes his tail with the poor man's pride.The devil's meal is all bran.The difficult is done at once, the impossible takes a little longer.The dog returns to its vomit.The dog that quits barking can get some sleep.The drowning man is not troubled by rain.The drunkard and the glutton come to poverty, and drowsiness clothes a man with rags.The early bird catches the early worm.The early bird catches the worm.The early bird catcheth the worm.The early man never borrows from the late man.The earthen pot must keep clear of the brass vessel.The ebb will fetch off what the tide brings in.The end justifies the means.The end of passion is the beginning of repentance.The English are a nation of shopkeepers.The English never know when they are beaten.The Englishman weeps, the Irishman sleeps, but the Scotchman gangs while he gets it.The envious man shall never want woe.The epicure puts his purse into his belly.The evening crowns the day.The evil wound is cured, but not the evil name.The evils we bring on ourselves are the hardest to bear.The exception proves the rule.The exception which proves the rule.The eye is the pearl of the face.The eye of a master does more work than both his hands.The eye of the master will do more than both his hands.The eye that sees all things else sees not itself.The eye will often wander
The road that love has taught.The faded rose
No suitor knows.The fairer the hostess the fouler the reckoning.The fairer the paper the fouler the blot.The fairest rose at last is withered.The fairest silk is soonest stained.The fall of the leaf; is a whisper to the living.The fast faggot is not easily broken.The fat is in the fire.The father to the bough, the son to the plough.The feet of the deities are shod with wool.The female of the species is more deadly than the male.The fewer his years, the fewer his tears.The fire which lights us at a distance will burn us when near.The first blow is half the battle.The first blow makes the wrong, but the second makes the fray.The first breath is the beginning of death.The first duty of a soldier is obedience.The first faults are theirs that commit them, the second theirs that permit them.The first glass for thirst, the second for nourishment, the third for pleasure, and the fourth for madness.The first hen that cackles is the one that laid the egg.The first thing to do is to fall in love with your work.The first year let your house to your enemy; the second to your friend; the third, live in it yourself.The fish always stinks from the head downwards.The fun is in the search, not the finding.The further you go, the further behind.The furthest way about is the nearest way home.The gallows will have its own at last.The German's wit is in his fingers.The glaciers didn't freeze overnight.The gods send nuts to those who have no teeth.The good die first:
And those, whose hearts are dry as summer dust,
Burn to the socket.The good die young.The good is the enemy of the best.The good mother says not, Will you? but gives.The good or ill hap of a good or ill life
Is the good or ill choice of a good or ill wife.The goodman is the last who knows what's amiss at home.The gown is hers that wears it; and the world is his who enjoys it.The gown is his that wears it, and the world his that enjoys it.The grace of God is gear enough.The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.The great and the little have need of one another.The great would have none great, and the little all little.The greater the truth, the greater the libel.The greatest barkers bite not sorest.The greatest hate springs from the greatest love.The greatest king must at last go to bed with a shovel.The greatest oaks have been little acorns.The greatest talkers are always the least doers.The greatest things are done by the help of small ones.The greatest wealth is contentment with a little.The grey mare is the better horse.The groat is ill saved that shames the master.The grounded speaks not, save what it heard of the hinges.The gull comes against the rain.The half is better than the whole.The hand that gives gathers.The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.The handsomest flower is not the sweetest.The harder you fall, the higher you bounce.The hardest step is over the threshold.The hare starts when a man least expects it.The hasty angler loses the fish.The hasty hand catches frogs for fish.The hasty man never wants woe.The husband is always the last to know.The issue of all contention is uncertain. [Witness the glorious uncertainty of the law, and of the turf.]The Jews spend at Easter, the Moors at marriages, the Christians in suits.The king can do no wrong.The king can make a knight, but not a gentleman.The king's cheese goes half away in parings.The king's word is more than another man's oath.The laborer is worthy of his hire.The lame post brings the truest news.The lame tongue gets nothing.The lapwing cries farthest from her nest.The last drop makes the cup run over.The last drop maketh the cup run over.The last straw breaks the camel's back.The last suitor wins the maid.The late comer is ill lodged.The memory of happiness makes misery woeful.The merchant who gains not, loseth.The mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small.The mind is the man.The mob has many heads, but no brains.The money you refuse will never do you good.The moon is a moon still, whether it shine or not.The moon is made of a green cheese.The more cost the more honour.The more danger, the more honour.The more light a torch gives the shorter it lasts.The more mischief the better sport.The more noble, the more humble.The more the merrier, the fewer the better cheer.The more the merrier.The more thy years, the nearer thy grave.The more we have, the more we want.The more wit the less courage.The more you get the more you want.The more you know, the more you know you ought to know.The more you stir it the worse it stinks.The more you stir, the worse it will stink.The morning sun never lasts a day.The most lasting monuments are doubtless paper-monuments.The most noble dog can only bark.The mother of mischief is no bigger than a midge's wing.The mother of mischief is not bigger than a midge's wing.The mother-in-law remembers not that she was a daughter-in-law.The mountain labored and brought forth a mouse.The mouse that has but one hole is quickly taken.The mouse that only trusts to one poor hole,
Can never be a mouse of any soul.The nightingale and cuckoo sing both in one month.The nimblest footman is a false tale.The noblest vengeance is to forgive.The open door tempts a saint.The orange that is too hard squeezed yields a bitter juice.The parings of a pippin are better than the whole crab.The parson always christens his own child first.The peacock hath fair feathers but foul feet.The pen of the tongue should be dipped in the ink of the heart.The penny is well spent that saves a groat.The person who has no opinion will seldom be wrong.The persuasion of the fortunate sways the doubtful.The pine wishes herself a shrub when the axe is at her root.The pitcher doth not go so often to the well, but it comes home broken at last.The pitcher goes so often to the well that it is broken at last.The pitcher will go to the well once too often.The plant often removed cannot thrive.The pleasure of what we enjoy is lost by coveting more.The pleasures of the mighty are the tears of the poor.The pleasures we enjoy are lost by coveting more.The plough goes not well if the ploughman hold it not.The point in question is yet undecided.The poison of asps is under their lips.The poor is hated by his neighbour, but the rich hath many friends.The poor man pays for all.The poor man seeks only a crumb, then finds he still hungers.The poor man's shilling is but a penny.The post of honor is the post of danger.The postern door makes thief and whore.The pot calls the kettle black.The praise of fools is censure in disguise.The price of a laugh is too high, if it is raised at the expense of another.The pride of the rich makes the labours of the poor.The priest forgets that he was clerk.The prodigal robs his heir, the miser himself.The properer man, the worse luck.The quarrel of lovers is the renewal of love.The race is not always to the swift.The rain does not all fall on one roof.The rat which has but one hole is soon caught.The raven chides blackness.The real essence of work is concentration.The real world is a special case.The receiver is as bad as the thief.The revenge of an idiot is without mercy.The truest jests sound worst in guilty ears.The unrighteous penny corrupts the righteous pound.The used key is always bright.The used plough shines, standing water stinks.The vale discovereth the hill.The virtue of a coward is suspicion.The wages of sin is death.The way of a slothful man is as a hedge of thorns.The way to an Englishman's heart is through his stomach.The way to be safe is never to feel secure.The way to bliss lies not on beds of down.The weakest go to the wall.There are many ways to fame.There are more maids than Malkin, and more men than Michael.There are more men threatened than struck.There are more ways of killing a cat than choking it with cream.There are more ways of killing a dog than choking it with butter.There are more ways of killing a dog than hanging it.There are more ways to kill a dog than hanging.There are spots even on the sun.There are tricks in every trade.There is no wise response to a foolish remark.There is no wool so white but a dyer can make it black.There is nobody will go to hell for company.There is nothing like leather.There is nothing lost by civility.There is nothing so good for the inside of a man as the outside of a horse.There is reason in roasting of eggs.There is reason in the roasting of eggs.There is truth in wine.There may be blue and better blue.There may be snow on the roof, but there's fire in the belly.There was never a slut, but had a slit, there was never a daw but had twa.There will be sleeping enough in the grave.There's always a shot in the locker.There's many a good tune played on an old fiddle.There's many a slip 'twixt cup and lip.There's many a slip,
'Twixt the cup and the lip.There's no compassion like the penny.There's no great loss without some gain.There's no mischief in the world done,
But a woman is always one.There's no rest for the wicked.They two agreed like two cats in a gutter.Think long, think wrong.Those that eat cherries with great persons shall have their eyes squirted out with the stones.Those who hear not the music think the dancers mad.Those who hide can find.Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.Those who play at bowls must look out for rubbers.Those who wade in unknown waters will be sure to be drowned.Thou are a bitter bird, said the raven to the starling.Thou hast a head and so hath a pin.Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn.Though change be no robbery.Though I say it that should not.Though love is blind, yet 'tis not for want of eyes.Though malice may darken truth, it cannot put it out.Though modesty be a virtue, yet bashfulness is a vice.Though the bird's in the net
It may get away yet.Though the mastiff be gentle, yet bite him not by the lip.Though the sore be healed, yet a scar may remain.Though we may pluck flowers by the way we may not sleep among flowers.Times tries a'.Tit for tat.To add fuel to fire.To add insult to injury.To be born with a silver spoon in one's mouth.To be in a person's bad books.To be in the wrong box.To be on one's last legs.To be too busy gets contempt.To be under a cloud.To bear away the bell.To bear two faces in one hood.To beat about the bush.To begin at home.To bend the bow of Ulysses.To blow one's own trumpet.To break my head and then give me a plaster.To break Priscian's head.To bring a noble to ninepence.To bring haddock to paddock.To burn one's boats.To burn the candle at both ends.To bury the hatchet.To buy a pig in a poke.To buy and sell and live by the loss.To carry two faces under one hood.To cast water into the sea.To catch a hare with a tabret.To catch a Tartar.To catch a weasel asleep.To change the course we have begun for the better.To clip his wings.To comb one's head with a stool.To come from little good to stark nought.To come up to the scratch.To count one's chickens before they are hatched.To cry out before one is hurt.To cry with one eye and laugh with the other.To cut his comb off.To cut his throat with a feather.To cut the coat according to the cloth.To cut the grass from under a person's feet.To deceive oneself is very easy.To deserve the whetstone.To draw blood from a stone.To draw the long bow.To fiddle while Rome is burning.To fight with windmills.To find a mare's nest.To fish for a herring and catch a sprat.To flog a dead horse.To fry in one's own grease.To give a thing and take a thing
Is to wear the devil's gold ring.To go rabbit hunting with a dead ferret.To haul over the coals.To have a bee in one's bonnet.To have a bone in one's leg.To have a crow to pluck with one.To have a finger in the pie.To have a rod in pickle for someone.To have bats in the belfry.To have many irons in the fire.To have one foot in the grave.To have one's labour for one's pains.To help a lame dog over a stile.To hold a candle to the devil.To keep one's nose to the grindstone.To keep one's tongue between one's teeth.To keep the wolf from the door.To kick a man when he is down.To kill two flies with one flap.To kill with kindness.To know how many beans make five.To know on which side one's bread is buttered.To know where the shoe pinches.To know which way the wind blows.To laugh on the wrong side on one's mouth.To lay it on with a trowel.To lay up for a rainy day.To let the cat out of the bag.To lick into shape.To look a gift horse in the mouth.To look as if butter would not melt in one's mouth.To look at both sides of a penny.To lose the ship for a halfpennyworth of tar.To love as the cat loves mustard.To make a mountain of a molehill.To make a palace of a pigstye.To make a person turn in his grave.To make bricks without straw.To make ducks and drakes of.To make ends meet.To make fish of one and flesh of another.To make two bites of a cherry.To make two extremes meet.To pay person in his own coin.To play first fiddle.To play second fiddle.To pour oil upon the waters.To pour water on a drowned mouse.To put a racehorse to the plough.To put a spoke in one's wheel.To put one's best foot foremost.To put one's nose out of joint.To put salt on a bird's tail.To put your finger into another man's pie.To quarrel with his little finger.To reckon without one's host.To rob Peter to pay Paul.To row in the same boat.To rule the mountains is to rule the river.To run with the hard and hunt with the hounds.To run with the hare and hold with the hounds.To save at the spigot and let it run out of the bunghole.To see it rain is better than to be in it.To see which way the cat jumps.To send away with a flea in his ear.To separate the men from the boys.To set the Thames on fire.To show a clean pair of heels.To show the cloven foot.To shut the stable door when the steed is stolen.To skin a flint for a farthing, and spoil a knife worth fourpence.To smell of the lamp.To sow one's wild oats.To sow our wild oats.To speak kindly does not hurt the tongue.To split hairs.To spoil the ship for a halfpennyworth of tar.To stand in one's own light.To stew in one's own juice.To swim a river with a bridge close by.To take a leaf out of one's book.To take ambition from a soldier, is to rob him of his spurs.To take blood from a stone.To take counsel of one's pillow.To take him down a peg.To take one down a peg or two.To take one up before he is down.To take the bull by the horns.To take the gilt off the gingerbread.To take the law into one's own hands.To take the rough with the smooth.To take the will for the deed.To take the wind out of one's sails.To tell tales out of school.To throw a sprat to catch a whale.To throw good money after bad.To throw pearls before swine.To turn an honest penny.To turn cat in pan.To turn over a new leaf.To wake a sleeping lion.To wash dirty linen in public.To wear one's heart upon one's sleeve.To wear the breeches.To wear the willow.To wet one's whistle.Too little, too late.Too many captains will sink the ship.Too many irons in the fire.Too much bed makes a dull head.Too much care may be as bad as downright negligence.Too much consulting confounds.Too much praise is a burden.Too much water drowned the miller.Too to will in two.Too too will in two.Tooth and nail.Touch pot, touch penny.Touch wood, it's sure to come good.Tough times don't last but tough people do.Trade follows the flag.Trade knows neither friends or kindred.Trash and trumpery is the highway to beggary.Travel broadens the mind.Travel makes a wise man better, but a fool worse.True blue will never stain.True lovers are shy when people are by.Trust makes way for treachery.Trust not a horse's heel, nor a dog's tooth.Trust not a horse's heels.Trust not a new friend or an old enemy.Trusting too much to others has been the ruin of many.Truth and roses have thorns about them.Truth fears no colours.Truth finds foes where it makes none.Truth hath a good face, but bad clothes.Truth is God's daughter.Truth is stranger than fiction.Truth is truth to the end of the reckoning.Truth may be blamed but cannot be shamed.Truth needs not many words.Truth never grows old.Truth seeks no corners.Truth will out.Truth's best ornament is nakedness.Truths and roses have thorns about them.Try before you trust.Try you skill in gilt first, and then in gold.Try your friend before you have need of him.Try your skill in gilt first, and then in gold.Turkey, carps, hops, pickerel, and beer
Came into England all in one year.Turkey, heresy, hops, and beer came into England all in one year.Turn about is fair play.Turn of phrase.Turn your money when you hear the cuckoo, and you'll never be without it during the year.Two anons and a by and by is an hour and a half.Two attorneys can live in a town when one cannot.Two blacks do not make a white. |
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