proverbs

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Persons, places, or things become dearer to us when they are absent.

From little acorns mighty oaks do grow.

Great things come from very small things.

Actions speak louder than words.

People are more impressed with our sincerity if we act on our beliefs than if we merely talk about them.

All for one and one for all

All the members of a group support each of the individual members and the individual members are pledged to support the group.

All roads lead to Rome.

All paths or activities lead to the center of things.

All that glitters is not gold.

Things that appear on the surface to be of great value may be quite worthless.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

Without time off from work, a person becomes both bored and boring.

All's fair in love and war.

People in love and soldiers in wartime are not bound by the rules of fair play.

All's well that ends well.

Problems that occur along the way do not matter as long as the outcome is happy.

Any port in a storm

In an emergency, we will accept help from any source and in any place, even from an unpleasant person.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Apples help keep us healthy.

April showers bring May flowers.

Some unpleasant occurrences bring about better things.

An army marches on its stomach.

To be effective, an army relies on good and plentiful food. This saying is attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte.

Bad news travels fast.

People are quick to discuss the misfortunes of others.

A bad penny always turns up.

Our mistakes return to haunt us; also, nasty people have a way of reappearing.

The bad workman always blames his tools.

Our success/failure is not determined by what we have to work with, but how you use what you do have.

His bark is worse than his bite.

This person makes a great many threats, but doesn't follow through on them.

Beauty is only skin deep.

Beauty is superficial and is not as important as a person's spiritual, emotional, and intellectual qualities.

Beggars can't be choosers.

People who depend on the generosity of others are in no position to dictate what others give them.

The best of friends must part.

No matter how much friends care for each other, they cannot be together always.

The best things in life are free.

Money can't buy the most important things in life.

The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

No matter how carefully a project is planned, something may still go wrong with it.

Better late than never

It's better to do something, even if it's late, than not do it at all.

Better safe than sorry

It is better to be careful than to take risks and deal with the consequences.

The bigger they come, the harder they fall.

The more powerful and successful a person is, the more he suffers when he experiences defeat and disaster.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Having something that is certain is much better than taking a risk for more, because chances are you might lose everything.

Birds of a feather flock together.

People are attracted to others who are like themselves.

You can't squeeze blood from a turnip.

One can only get from people what they are willing to give.

Blood is thicker than water.

The family bond is closer than anything else.

Don't judge a book by its cover.

Don't judge the value of something simply based on appearance.

Boys will be boys.

Children can be expected to act in childish ways.

Brevity is the soul of wit.

Intelligent speech and writing should aim at using few words.

The buck stops here.

I'm the ultimately responsible one in this organization.

The burnt child fears the fire.

A person who has suffered in a situation will avoid that situation in the future.

Business before pleasure

We must take care of our responsibilities before enjoying ourselves.

Let bygones be bygones.

Let the past offenses and problems stay in the past; don't let them taint the present.

Carpe diem.

"Seize the day"; a Latin phrase implying that one must live for the present moment, for tomorrow may be too late.

Don't put the cart before the horse.

Begin at the proper place; do things in their proper order.

Do not cast your pearls before swine.

Do not waste good things on people who will not appreciate them.

When the cat's away, the mice will play.

When a person in authority is away, those under the person's rule will enjoy their freedom.

The chickens have come home to roost.

The consequences of earlier actions are making themselves felt.

Cleanliness is next to godliness.

Cleanliness is a great virtue.

Close, but no cigar

Even a near miss is still a miss.

Don't close the barn door after the horse runs away.

It's foolish to take precautions after the damage they would have prevented has already been done.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

There is something good in every misfortune.

The cobbler should stick to his last.

People should not make judgments in areas about which they are not informed.

Cold hands, warm heart

Cold hands indicate affection.

Comparisons are odious.

It is wrong to compare different people or things in order to establish some as superior to others.

Don't count your chickens before they hatch.

Don't assume that you'll get things you want before you actually have them.

The course of true love never did run smooth.

True love always encounters difficulties.

Let's cross that bridge when we come to it.

Let's face difficulties as they happen and not worry uselessly about them before hand.

Don't cry over spilt milk.

It doesn't do any good to be unhappy about something that has already happened or that can't be helped.

Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.

Don't engage in an act of anger or revenge that will hurt you more than it hurts anyone else.

In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.

Death and taxes are the only things that we can be sure of.

The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.

Even things that are good in themselves (such as the Bible) can be twisted to serve bad purposes.

Discretion is the better part of valor.

Caution is preferable to rash bravery.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Treat other people with the concern and kindness you would like them to show toward you. GOLDEN RULE.

Every dog has his day.

Even the lowest of us enjoys a moment of glory.

A dog is a man's best friend.

A dog is more faithful than most other animals - and more faithful than many people.

Don't give up the ship.

Don't surrender; a favorite motto of the United States Navy. These were the dying words of Commander James Lawrence during a battle in the War of 1812.

Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.

A saying of Benjamin Franklin in "Poor Richards Almanack".

The early bird catches the worm.

If we want to achieve our goal, we must get an early start.

East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.

The culture of the West will always be very different from that of the East.

Easy come, easy go

Things acquired easily may be lost just as easily.

Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.

We should enjoy life as much as possible, because it will be over soon.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Don't concentrate all your prospects or resources in one thing or place, or you could lose everything.

To err is human, to forgive, divine.

All people commit sins and make mistakes. God forgives them, and people are acting in a godlike way when they forgive.

Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.

Attributed to Mark Twain, could rather be from Charles Dudley Warner.

Experience is the best teacher.

Life teaches more effectively than books or school.

Familiarity breeds contempt.

The better we know people, the more likely we are to find fault with them.

Feed a cold; starve a fever.

Eating will help cure a cold; not eating will help cure a fever.

Finders keepers, losers weepers

A person who finds something can keep it, and the loser has no right to it.

Fish or cut bait.

Make a decision now; stop hesitating.

There are plenty of fish in the sea.

There are lots of potential mates in the world.

It ain't a fit night out for man or beast.

The night is terribly cold and stormy.

You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

You can win people to your side more easily by gentle persuasion and flattery than by hostile confrontation.

A fool and his money are soon parted.

Foolish people do not know how to hold on to their money.

There's no fool like an old fool.

The most extreme fools are people whose age should have made them wise.

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.

A great person does not have to think consistently from one day to the next. From Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self-Reliance"

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

Foolish people are often reckless, attempting feats that the wise avoid.

Forewarned is forearmed.

Those who know that something is coming are better prepared to face it than those who do not.

Frailty, thy name is woman!

From SHAKESPEARE's Hamlet. Expression is taken to mean that women are weaker than men.

A friend in need is a friend indeed.

A friend who helps out when we are in trouble is a true friend - unlike others who disappear when trouble arises.

The game is not worth the candle.

What we would get from this undertaking is not worth the effort we would have to put into it. The saying alludes to a game of cards in which the stakes are smaller than the cost of burning a candle for light by which to play.

Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.

Great accomplishments depend not so much on ingenuity but far more on hard work. This is a saying of the American inventor Thomas Edison.

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Don't question the value of a gift.

Give the devil his due.

Admit it when there is some good even in a person you dislike. From DON QUIXOTE, by Miguel de Cervantes.

Give him enough rope and he'll hang himself.

A person will bring about his or her own misfortune if given the opportunity.

You can't go home again.

You can't recover from the past. Thomas Wolfe.

God helps those who help themselves.

God will not come to the aid of those who refuse to try; we must exert ourselves if we want to succeed.

You cannot serve God and mammon.

Being virtuous is not compatible with being greedy. ("mammon" is money) This is a saying of Jesus in the Gospels. It explains "No man can serve two masters".

There is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so.

The significance of an event or situation depends on our perspective.

Good fences make good neighbors.

Good neighbors respect one another's property.

A good man is hard to find.

Dependable, trustworthy help is not easy to get.

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

People are never satisfied with their own situation; they always think others have it better.

Great oaks from little acorns grow.

Great things or people often have humble origins.

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.

Do not trust enemies who bring you gifts - they could very well be playing a trick. The saying is from the word of Laocoon in the story of the Trojan Horse.

De gustibus non est disputandum.

Latin for "There's no disputing about taste".

Half a loaf is better than none.

Something is better than nothing at all.

Haste makes waste.

Acting too quickly may actually slow things down.