Golden Pot of Proverbs

Preface

Sayings are as old as mankind. They exist to give us advice and can sometimes also serve a humorous purpose. Proverbs have always served as part of our daily conversations and speeches, and have facilitated carrying on cultures and traditions from generation to generation. Proverbs are very much a part of almost every culture, as such, it is important that they be preserved through the continuous sharing and passing on to younger generations.

Proverbs have always been my source of inspiration. My love for them is derived from my father, Joseph Odeke Aolikol, who always referred to them in our conversations and when dishing out wise counsel. Over the years I found joy in collecting proverbs as a hobby. It is for this reason that I wish to dedicate this Collection of Proverbs to my dear father, and to my children; Joseph, John Brian, Marion Patra, Jeremy Paul and Joel Patrick. I hope they find as much joy in adding on and passing on, as I did while compiling this rather extensive list.

This collection comprises a wide selection from across the world. I’m confident that you will find it useful in the enrichment of your expressions, conversations, speeches, and intellect, and that it will contribute to the preservation of our cultures.

English

1. A baby is her mother’s anchor; she cannot swing from her moorings.

2. A bad broom leaves a dirty room.

3. A bad excuse is better than none.

4. A bad haircut is two people's shame.

5. A bad horse eats as much as a good one.

6. A bad man in Zion City is a good man in Chicago.

7. A bad penny always turns up.

8. A bad tree does not yield good apples.

9. A bad wife wishes her husband's heels turn homewards, and not his toe.

10. A bad workman blames his tools.

11. A barking dog never bites.

12. A barren sow is never kind to pigs.

13. A beautiful face is a letter of recommendation.

14. A beautiful face is admired even when its owner doesn't say anything.

15. A bellowing cow soon forgets her calf.

16. A benevolent man should allow a few faults in himself to keep his friends in countenance.

17. A bird is known by his note and a man by his talk.

18. A bird may be ever so small, it always seeks a nest of its own.

19. A bird never flew on one wing.

20. A bleating sheep loses a bite.

21. A blind man’s wife needs no paint.

22. A blind pigeon may sometimes find a grain of wheat.

23. A bold attempt is half success.

24. A bold man has luck in his train.

25. A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.

26. A boor remains a boor even if sleeping on silken pillows.

27. A borrowed horse and your own spurs make short miles.

28. A bow too much bent will break.

29. A boy is better unborn than untaught.

30. A brother may not be a friend.

31. A bully is always a coward.

32. A burnt child fears the fire, and a bitten child fears a dog.

33. A calamity is often a blessing in disguise.

34. A carpenter is known by his chips.

35. A cat has nine lives; for three he plays, for three he strays, and for the last three he stays.

36. A cat in gloves catches no mice.

37. A cat may look at a king.

38. A chain is no stronger than its weakest link.

39. A cherry year, a merry year.

40. A cherry year, merry year; a plum year, a dumb year.

41. A child and a fool imagine twenty shillings and twenty years can never be spent.

42. A child must creep until it learns to walk.

43. A child's back must be bent early.

44. A child's sorrow is short-lived.

45. A church is an anvil that has worn out many hammers.

46. A civil question deserves a civil answer.

47. A clean hand moves freely through the land.

48. A clear conscience is a good pillow.

49. A clever hawk hides its claws.

50. A clever man's inheritance is found in every country.

51. A contented mind is a continual feast.

52. A cow is not called dappled unless she has a spot.

53. A cricket begins to cry because something bigger than a cricket has visited its home.

54. A crooked cornstalk can have a straight ear.

55. A cross-grained woman and a snappish dog take care of the house.

56. A crow is never the whiter for often washing.

57. A crow thinks her own bird fairest.

58. A crowd is not company.

59. A curse will not strike out an eye, unless the fist goes with it.

60. A cursed cur should be short tied.

61. A customary railer is the devil's bagpipe, which the world danceth after.

62. A dead enemy is as good as a cold friend.

63. A dead man feels no cold.

64. A deaf auditor makes a crazy answerer.

65. A deaf husband and a blind wife are always a happy couple.

66. A diamond daughter turns to glass as a wife.

67. A diamond on a dunghill is a precious diamond still.

68. A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never her age.

69. A dirty fire never made a clean weld.

70. A dirty floor means a busy stove.

71. A disease known is half cured.

72. A divided man makes an unhappy spirit.

73. A dog always bites under the knee.

74. A dog is a dog whatever its colour.

75. A dog is a man's best friend.

76. A dog returns to where he has been fed.

77. A dog that will bring a bone will take one away.

78. A dog that will fetch a bone will carry a bone.

79. A donkey is but a donkey though laden with gold.

80. A dose of adversity is often as needful as a dose of medicine.

81. A dripping June sets all in tune

82. A drowning man will clutch at a straw

83. A drunken man will sober up, but a damn fool will never.

84. A duck won't bite you.

85. A fair face may hide a foul heart.

86. A farmer on his knees is higher than a gentleman on his legs.

87. A fault confessed is half-redressed.

88. A favor to come is better than a hundred received.

89. A fellow can do anything if he lists.

90. A field becomes exhausted by constant tillage.

91. A flow of words is no proof of being easy enough.

92. A flow will have an ebb.

93. A fool and his words are soon parted.

94. A fool can ask more questions in a minute than a wise man can answer in an hour.

95. A fool has few friends.

96. A fool is like other men as long as he is silent.

97. A fool may give a wise man counsel.

98. A fool might be counted wise if he kept his mouth shut.

99. A fool should never see unfinished work.

100. A fool talks most when he has the least to say.

101. A fool talks with his ears stuffed up.

102. A foolish man despises his mother.

103. A fool's mouth is his destruction.

104. A fool's name is seen in many places.

105. A forced kindness deserves no thanks.

106. A fox does not smell its own stench.

107. A friend advises in his interest, not yours.

108. A friend at hand is better than a relative at a distance.

109. A friend in need is a friend indeed

110. A friend is easier lost than found.

111. A friend won with a feather can be lost with a straw.

112. A friend's envy is worse than an enemy's hatred.

113. A frog in the well knows nothing of the sea.

114. A full ear of corn will bend its head; an empty ear will stand upright.

115. A gem is not polished without rubbing, nor is a man perfect without trials.

116. A genius does not shout his wisdom from the housetops.

117. A gentle disposition is like an unruffled stream.

118. A gift is better than a promise.

119. A girl with cotton stockings never sees a mouse.

120. A good beginning makes a good ending

121. A good cause finds weapons to defend it.

122. A good doctor treats both the patient and the disease.

123. A good dog deserves a good bone.

124. A good example is the best sermon.

125. A good friend is someone who will bail you out of jail, but your best friend is the one sitting next to you saying that was fucking awesome.

126. A good garden always has weeds.

127. A good horse cannot be of a bad colour

128. A good remedy for anger is delay.

129. A good reputation stands still; a bad one runs.

130. A good soldier is a poor scout

131. A good son makes a good husband

132. A good surgeon must have an eagle's eye, a lion's heart, and a lady's hand.

133. A gracious woman obtains honor, and strong men obtain riches.

134. A great book is a great evil

135. A great fortune is a great servitude.

136. A great talker may be no fool, but he is one who relies on him.

137. A green Yule makes a fat churchyard

138. A guilty conscience is a hidden enemy.

139. A guilty conscience needs no accuser

140. A guilty dog always barks.

141. A harvest of peace is produced from a seed of contentment.

142. A house divided against itself cannot stand.

143. A house is not a home.

144. A house without books is like a room without windows.

145. A house without children is a graveyard

146. A human learns how to talk early, but how to keep silent late.

147. A hungry man is an angry man

148. A joy that's shared is a joy made double.

149. A joyous evening often leads to a sorrowful morning.

150. A known mistake is better than an unknown truth.

151. A lady is a woman who makes it easy for a man to be a gentleman.

152. A lean agreement is better than a fat judgment.

153. A liar ought to have a good memory.

154. A life of leisure and a life of laziness are different things.

155. A light cinch is best.

156. A little bit of powder and a little bit of paint make a woman look like what she ain't.

157. A little courtesy will go a long way.

158. A little doubt saves many a mistake.

159. A little help is worth a lot of pity.

160. A little pot is soon hot.

161. A live dog is better than a dead lion.

162. A long life may not be good enough, but a good life is long enough.

163. A malignant sore throat is a danger; a malignant throat not sore is worse.

164. A man can die just once.

165. A man can't do more than he can do. What says Don Ferdinando?

166. A man in passion rides a mad horse.

167. A man is as big as the things that made him mad.

168. A man is as old as he feels, and a woman as old as she looks.

169. A man is known by his friends.

170. A man is known by the company he keeps.

171. A man knows his companions in a long journey and a small inn.

172. A man never becomes an orator if he has something to say.

173. A man takes a drink and then the drink takes the man.

174. A man that flatters his neighbour spreads a net for his feet.

175. A man who has both feet planted firmly in the air can be safely called a liberal.

176. A man who is his own doctor has a fool for his patient.

177. A man who is his own lawyer has a fool for his client

178. A man without a smiling face must not open a shop.

179. A man without a woman is only half a man

180. A man without ambition is like a woman without looks.

181. A man without money is like a bow without arrows

182. A man's dreams are his own.

183. A mill cannot grind with water that is past

184. A miss is as good as a smile

185. A mockingbird has no voice of its own.

186. A moneyless man goes fast through the market

187. A monkey that amuses me is better than a deer astray

188. A mother is a school, preparing her is like preparing a good nation

189. A mother's heart is a child's schoolroom.

190. A mouse may help a lion

191. A nation without a language is a nation without a heart

192. A neglected duty may return tomorrow with seven others at its back.

193. A new broom sweeps clean, but an old one scrapes better.

194. A nickel will get you on the subway, but garlic will get you a seat.

195. A pebble and a diamond are alike to a blind man.

196. A peck of March dust is worth a king’s ransom

197. A penny saved is a penny earned

198. A perk of March dust is worth a king’s ransom

199. A person who talks about his inferiors hasn't any.

200. A physician is also a man who pours special drugs into lots of bodies he rarely loves.

201. A picture is worth a thousand words.

202. A piece of churchyard fits everybody.

203. A place for everything and everything in its place

204. A poor man is always behind.

205. A problem is solved when it gets tougher

206. A proof of faith is obedience.

207. A prophet is without honor save in his own country

208. A rabbit is never caught twice in the same place.

209. A rather sure way to be cheated is to think one's self cleverer than other people.

210. A reconciled friend is a double enemy.

211. A rich man has his ice in the summer and the poor man gets his in the winter

212. A rich man is happy while he is alive but sorry when he dies.

213. A ripple of laughter is worth a flood of tears.

214. A rolling stone gathers no moss

215. A rotten egg can't be spoiled.

216. A shady lane breeds mud.

217. A ship and a woman are ever repairing.

218. A shut mouth catches no flies

219. A single fact is worth a shipload of argument.

220. A single penny fairly got is worth a thousand that are not.

221. A slip of the foot and you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over.

222. A small debt makes a debtor, a heavy one an enemy.

223. A smart coat is a good letter of introduction.

224. A smile is worth a thousand words.

225. A soft answer turns away wrath

226. A sow may whistle, though it has an ill mouth for it

227. A spoon does not know the taste of soup, nor a learned fool the taste of wisdom.

228. A stitch in time saves nine

229. A stout heart crushes some ill luck.

230. A sure sign of age is loneliness

231. A swift eater, a swift worker.

232. A tale never loses in the telling

233. A thimbleful of experience is worth a tubful of knowledge.

234. A thorn of experience is worth a wilderness of advice.

235. A tree never hits an automobile except in self-defense.

236. A tree starts with a seed.

237. A true wife is her husband's flower of beauty.

238. A warm January; a cold May.

239. A watched clock never tells the time.

240. A watched pot never boils.

241. A whistling girl and a cackling hen come to no good end.

242. A whistling woman and a crowing hen are neither fit for God nor men

243. A wife's advice is not worth much, but woe to the husband who refuses to take it.

244. A willful fault has no excuse, and deserves no pardon.

245. A willful man must have his way.

246. A wise duck takes care of its bill.

247. A wise man learns by the experiences of others; an ordinary man learns by his own experience; a fool learns by nobody's experiences.

248. A wise man's day is worth a fool's life.

249. A woman and ship never want mending

250. A woman can't drive her husband, but she can lead him.

251. A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle

252. A woman, a dog, and a walnut tree, the more you beat them the better they will be

253. A woman’s place is in the home

254. A woman’s work is never done

255. A work ill done must be twice done.

256. A young man married is a young man marred

257. Ability is the poor man's wealth.

258. Ability will enable a man to get to the top, but character will keep him from falling.

259. Above all nations is humanity.

260. Absence cools moderate passions but inflames violent ones.

261. Absence kills a little love but makes the big ones grow.

262. Absence makes the heart grow fonder

263. Abundance, like want, ruins many.

264. Abuse is like a god that destroys his master.

265. Accident is the mother of invention.

266. Accidents will happen in the best regulated families

267. Action is the proper fruit of knowledge.

268. Action is worry's worst enemy.

269. Action without thought is like shooting without aim.

270. Actions speak louder than words

271. Admiration is the daughter of ignorance.

272. Admitting error clears the score and proves you wiser than before.

273. Adversity and loss make a man wise.

274. Adversity brings knowledge, and knowledge wisdom.

275. Adversity comes with instruction in his hand.

276. Adversity does best discover virtue.

277. Adversity flatters no man.

278. Adversity is the stuff that shows whether you are what you thought you were.

279. Adversity makes strange bedfellows

280. Advice is least heeded when most needed.

281. Advice sharpens a rusty opinion

282. Advice to all, security for none.

283. Advice, like water, takes the form of the vessel which it is poured into.

284. Advice, when most needed, is least heeded.

285. Advisers get away with it. They never have to pay the penalty for their advice.

286. Affectation is a greater enemy to the face than smallpox.

287. Afflictions are the good man’s treasure - but he'd rather buy it than bear it.

288. After a rich man gets rich, his next ambition is to get richer.

289. After a storm comes a calm

290. After all is said and done, more is said than done.

291. After dinner sit awhile; after supper walk a mile.

292. After the feast comes the reckoning

293. After us the deluge.

294. Age and marriage tame man and beast.

295. Age gives good advice when it is no longer able to give a bad example.

296. Age lasts; youth devours.

297. Air castles are good; now put foundations under them.

298. Alcohol will preserve anything but a secret.

299. All are architects of fate working in these walls of time.

300. All are not hunters that blow the horn.

301. All asses do not go on four feet.

302. All cats are grey in the night

303. All complain for want of memory, but none for want of judgment.

304. All gardeners know better than other gardeners.

305. All good things come to those who wait

306. All good things must come to an end

307. All is fair in love and golf.

308. All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds

309. All is grist that comes to the mill

310. All men are fools, but all fools are not men.

311. All men are not cast in the same mold.

312. All men must die.

313. All men think their enemies ill men.

314. All plants are our brothers and sisters. They talk to us and if we listen, we can hear them

315. All roads lead to Rome

316. All that glitters is not gold

317. All that shines is not silver.

318. All the art lies in making the best of a bad market.

319. All things are easy to industry, all things difficult to sloth.

320. All things are possible with God

321. All things come to an end.

322. All things were once impossible.

323. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

324. All’s fair in love and war

325. All’s well that ends well

326. Also its better to be lucky than rich

327. Always a bridesmaid, never a