proverb quotes

Beauty without grace is the hook without the bait.

An ass may bray a good while before he shakes the stars down.

He who obtains has little. He who scatters has much.

If misery loves company, misery has company enough.

If a man can… make a better mousetrap, the world will make a beaten path to his door.

Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.

The squirrel that you kill in jest, dies in earnest.

Though men determine, the gods doo dispose: and oft times many things fall out betweene the cup and the lip.

What we live by we die by.

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

As a man sow, shall he reap. and I know that talk is cheap. But the heat of the battle is as sweet as the victory.

Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean.

A fool and his money are soon elected.

By gnawing through a dike, even a rat may drown a nation.

That is never too often repeated, which is never sufficiently learned.

Good fame is like fire; when you have kindled you may easily preserve it; but if you extinguish it, you will not easily kindle it again.

Truth is a good dog; but always beware of barking too close to the heels of an error, lest you get your brains kicked out.

Education forms the common mind. Just as the twig is bent, the tree’s inclined.

A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.

Familiarity breeds contempt – and children.

He who laughs best today, will also laughs last.

Heaven cannot brook two suns, nor earth two masters.

Opportunity makes a thief.

The empty vessel makes the loudest sound.

Don’t throw stones at your neighbors if your own windows are glass.

The worst wheel of the cart makes the most noise.

It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

Hell isn’t merely paved with good intentions; it’s walled and roofed with them. Yes, and furnished too.

An empty stomach is not a good political adviser.

He that waits upon fortune, is never sure of a dinner.

Never give a sword to a man who can’t dance.

He that won’t be counseled can’t be helped.

He that rises late must trot all day.

An egg today is better than a hen to-morrow.

In a rich man’s house there is no place to spit but his face.

Action speaks louder than words but not nearly as often.

There is only a finger’s difference between a wise man and a fool.

He that sows thorns should never go barefoot.

The first man gets the oyster, the second man gets the shell.

Don’t swap horses in crossing a stream.