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English proverbs
- A bad settlement is better than a good lawsuit.
- A coin of gold is delighting in a bag of silver coins
- Meaning: English people make modest company.
- Alternative meaning: One who is unique is often praised or receives more pleasure.
- 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
- A bad penny always turns up.
- Meaning: Your mistakes will come back to haunt you. Or Bad people will always return.
- A bean in liberty is better than a comfit in prison.
- A bellyful is one of meat, drink, or sorrow.
- A bellyful of food is a good one
- A good enemy is a better person than a false friend
- A big tree attracts the woodsman's axe.
- Meaning: Great people will attract great criticism
- An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
- Originated in the 1900s as a marketing slogan dreamed up 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)
- A bad workman blames his tools.
- George Herbert reports early English variants in Jacula Prudentum; or, Outlandish Proverbs, Sentences, Etc. (1640):
- Never had an ill workman good tools.
- An ill labourer quarrels with his tools.
- Compare the older French proverb:
- Outil: ... Merchant ouvrier ne trouvera ja bons outils: Prov. A bungler cannot find (or fit himselfe with) with good tooles.
- 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?
- 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 burnt child dreads the fire.
- 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 chaanchko bhi phook phook ke peeta hai.
- Meaning: Similar to "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 [1]
- A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.
- Attributed to Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi
- A little pot is easily hot.
- A new broom sweeps clean.
- A cat may look at a king.
- Meaning: If a cat may look at the king - then I have a right to look where I please.
- A camel is a horse designed by committee.
- Meaning: a vision is more perfect from the individual rather than a group of people where it becomes anodyne.
- A chain is no stronger than its weakest link.
- Meaning: The strength of any group depends on the individual strength of each of its members.
- A closed mouth catches no flies.
- Meaning: You cannot say a bad thing if you don't speak at all.
- A constant guest is never welcome.
- A coward dies a thousand times before his death. The valiant never taste of death but once.
- A drop of knowledge is greater than an ocean of strength.
- A fool and his money are soon parted.
- A fox smells its own lair first. Or: A fox smells its own stink first.
- Meaning: One knows where they belong, and knows when they make a mistake.
- A friend in need is a friend indeed.
- Meaning: A genuine friend is with you even in times of trouble.
- A good beginning makes (for) a good ending.
- Chinese Version: A good beginning is half a succession-好的开始是成功的一半
- Meaning: Planning is the key to success.
- A good man in an evil society seems the greatest villain of all.
- A good surgeon has an eagle's eye, a lion's heart, and a lady's hand.
- A guilty conscience needs no accuser.
- A half truth is a whole lie.
- A jack of all trades is master of none.
- A kingdom is lost for want of a shoe.
- See: "For want of a nail the shoe is lost, ..."
- 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.
- 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,
And drinking largely sobers us again. ~ Alexander Pope
- A loaded wagon makes no noise.
- People with real wealth don't talk about it.
- A man is known by the company he keeps.
- A miss by an inch is a miss by a mile.
- Meaning: A miss is a miss regardless the distance
- A man's home is his castle.
- William Blackstone refers to this traditional proverb in Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765–1769), Book 4, Chapter 16:
- 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?
- A night with Venus and a life with mercury.
- A paragraph should be like a lady's skirt: long enough to cover the essentials but short enough to keep it interesting.
- A Pasoly in the eye is worth several in the shins.
- A good shot is worth many bad ones
- A penny saved is a penny earned.
- A penny spent is a penny earned.
- In contrast to spending on the poor people.
- Interpretation: capitalist alteration of Ben Franklin's original saying ["A penny saved is a penny earned"]. The concentration on spending rather than saving promotes the contemporary capitalist economic theory of putting money back into the economy (rather than hording it) to create more wealth.
- A penny earned is a penny lost; a penny shared is a penny well-spent.
- "A person who laughs may not be happy, but he's hide the sadness in his heart". (Al Sagheer, Suhail)
- A picture is worth a thousand words.
- An instant sight may save a thousand words.
- A snap of sight may describe much more than a thousand words.
- A pint of plain is yer only man.
- Meaning: You need to make the initial step if you are ever to complete a task.
- A rising tide lifts all boats
- A rolling stone gathers no moss.
- A Turkish Proverb
- Interpretation: A person who is active will not grow stale.
- Alternative interpretation: A person who does not stay in one place very long will not develop roots or meaningful connections with others.
- Philip K. Dick in We Can Build You (1972) conceives a world where the latter interpretation has become the norm and the former indicative of a mental disorder.
- A son is a son 'till he gets him a wife; a daughter's a daughter all her life.
- Interpretation: the relationship between a daughter and her parents is enduring; the relationship with a son is attenuated after he marries.
- 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."
- A stitch in time saves nine.
- Fix the small problem now before it becomes larger and harder to fix.
- A thief thinks everyone steals.
- A watched pot never boils.
- Main interpretation: Time seems to pass quicker when you aren't consciously waiting for something
- Possible interpretation: Worrying over something can make the task seem to take longer than it should.
- A woman's work is never done.
- From a folk rhyme - A man may work from sun to sun, but a woman's work is never done, meaning that a man's traditional role as breadwinner may keep him occupied from sun-up to sundown, but the traditional roles of a woman demand even longer hours of work.
- A word spoken is past recalling.
- Alternative: What's done is done (so think before doing).
- Interpretation: Once you say something hurtful, provocative, etc., you can't take it back.
- A woman is like a cup of tea; you'll never know how strong she is until she boils
- Meaning: Never underestimate people; they could be stronger than you think
- Ability can take you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.
- Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
- From Isle of Beauty by Thomas Haynes Bayly
- Interpretation: We miss people when we are separated from them.
- Absence makes the heart grow fonder but makes the mind forget.
- Act today only, tomorrow is too late
- Action is the proper fruit of knowledge.
- Actions speak louder than words.
- meaning: What you do is more important that what you say
- Advice most needed is least heeded.
- After dinner sit a while, after supper walk a mile.
- All cats love fish but hate to get their paws wet.
- sometimes you have to do bad things to get good ones
- All the world is your country, to do good is your religion.
- All flowers are not in one garden.
- All frills and no knickers.
- Possible interpretation: All style and no substance.
- All fur coat and no knickers.
- Meaning: Very concerned with outward appearance and material things, but with no modesty.
- All good things must come to an end.
- All hat and no cattle.
- Possible interpretation: All talk and appearance and little or no substance.
- All roads lead to Rome.
- Possible interpretation: However you try to go about things all will lead to the same conclusions
- Possible interpretation: Power draws all things to itself.
- Interpretation: The heartland/metropolis (for better or worse) yields considerable power.
- Meaning: The first roads were built by the Romans and at the time of the Roman empire, all roads led to Rome.
- All's fair in love and war.
- Interpretation: Love and War are arenas of complete passion that often obfuscate reason.
- All for one and one for all.
- All's well that ends well.
- All sizzle and no steak.
- Possible interpretation: All style and no substance
- All that glisters is not gold.
- All things come to those who wait.
- All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All play and no work makes Jack a mere toy.
- Always care about your flowers and your friends. Otherwise they'll fade, and soon your house will be empty.
- An early bird catches worms.
- ... but the second mouse gets the cheese.
- An Englishman's home is his castle.
- Variant of "A man's home is his castle."
- An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
- Translaton: If you kill a neighbor's ox you must buy him a new one. (In biblical times.)
- Possible interpretation: retribution should be equitable, proportionate and "fit the crime". Biblical reference, modern usage often connotes support for capital punishment.
- A common response, often attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, is "An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind," is often used as a criticism for this concept, implying that "an eye for an eye" will only perpetuate a potentially endless cycle of violence.
- An empty vessel makes the most noise
- Those with the least understanding often complain about things the most.
- An old dog will learn no tricks. - Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721 [3]
- An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
- Possible interpretation: Similar to that of A stitch in time saves nine. Preventing something in advance is better than fixing it later on.
- An ounce of discretion is worth a pound of wit.
- Meaning: it is better to be careful and discrete than to be clever.
- April showers bring May flowers.
- Meaning: Something seeming bad or boring now brings good things in the future.
- As fit as a fiddle.
- Meaning: very fit and well
- As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another
- As soon as a man is born, he begins to die.
- As you make your bed, so you must lie in it.
- Similar to "You reap what you sow"
- Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies.
- Interpretation: There are some things I'd rather not say, so don't ask me!
- Aught for naught, and a penny change.
- Interpretation: you can't get something for nothing -- you might as well expect to get paid to take it.
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