Proverbs are sayings of the wise people of our ancestors. They are very short and mostly single sentence. There are some proverbs in each language including English. People like using them because they are very short and convey very useful and correct advices. They are easy to remember and understand. They seem extraordinarily universal in every society giving advice to our friends and younger. Proverbs are one of the principal ways through which the people pass down their philosophy, experiences of life and wisdom from generation to generation. Proverbs preserve our most precious heritage.
Proverb settles arguments. In very disappointed stage of mind, friends and elders pacify younger and disappointed friends or younger telling the pertinent proverbs, the listener too become comfortable from listening the proverbs. Furthermore the listeners get correct guidelines for the coming days. Young to old age, uneducated to educated people can easily understand the meaning of the proverbs. The people are very interested to memorize and use them as guidelines for their lives.
Some proverbs are based on well-known fables or stories. Sometimes, unless one knows the fable or story he cannot understand proverbs and their practical implications very well. Some two proverbs may contradict in their meanings. For instance, one proverb says: "Look before you leap." This means that we must think once carefully before taking an action. But another says, "One who hesitates is lost," that is, unless we act in time, it may be too late for us to work. At the end of the passage you will see some known proverbs in English. Many of them are hundreds of years old no one knows who first told them.
Proverbs 1-5 1: Home is where the heart is. 2: In my own home I'm king. 3: Dry bread at home is better than roast meat abroad. 4: Rome was not built in a day. 5: East or west, home is the best.
Proverbs 6-10 6: He that has no rest at home is in the world's hell. 7: A man without a home is like a bird without a nest. 8: He who is happy should remain at home. 9: He is the happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home. 10: Men make houses, but women make homes.
Proverbs 11-15 11: Home is where the great are often small and the small are often great. 12: It is neither wood nor stone, but heart, that makes a home. 13: A house is not home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as for the body. 14: Every cloud has a silver lining. 15: People who live in glass houses should not throw stones. Proverbs 16-20 16: He who rides on a tiger can never get off. 17: Don't count chickens before they are hatched. 18: A leopard doesn't change his spots. 19: The early bird catches the worm. 20: United we stand. Divided we fall.
Proverbs 21-25 21: First come, first served. 22: Look before you leap. 23: More haste, less speed. 24: Waste not, want not. 25: A fool and his money are soon parted. Proverbs 26-30 26: The proof of the pudding is in the eating. 27: It's no use crying over spilt milk. 28: He who hesitates is lost. 29: Rolling stones gather no moss. 30: Many hands make light work.
Proverbs 31-35 31: Out of sight, out of mind. 32: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. 33: Something is better than nothing. 34: The burnt child fears the fire. 35: Don't put all your eggs into one basket. Proverbs 36-40 36: Experience is the best teacher. 37: Beware of a wolf in sheep's clothing. 38: There is no new thing under the sun. 39: An empty mind is evils' workshop. 40: Do to others as you would like them to do to you.
Proverbs 41-45 41: Manners often make fortunes. 42: He who makes no mistakes, makes nothing. 43: Neither a log nor a stork, good Jupiter. 44: The longer you look at it, the less you will like it. 45: Life is half spent before we know what it is. Proverbs 46-50 46: The lion is known by its claws. 47: A lazy sheep thinks its wool heavy. 48: You know good manners, but you use but few. 49: You never know what you can do till you try. 50: Kindness gives birth to kindness.
Proverbs 51-55 51: I to-day, you to-morrow. 52: He that hurts another hurts himself. 53: When fortune smiles, embrace her. 54: If you have no enemies, it is a sign that fortune has forgotten you. 55: Cloudy mornings turn to clear evenings.
Proverbs 56-60 56: Still water runs deep. 57: If the old dog barks, he gives counsel. 58: Choose a wife on Saturday rather than on Sunday. 59: There is one basic cause of all effects. 60: An egg today is better than a hen tomorrow.
Proverbs 61-65 61: An hour today is worth two tomorrow. 62: Birds of the same feather flock together. 63: Kill two birds with a stone and get the stone back. 64: Every bird likes its own nest. 65: An old man's darling is better than a young man's slave.
Proverbs 66-70 66: Seeing is believing. 67: Everything must have a beginning. 68: Well begun is half done. 69: Bees that have honey in the mouth have stings in their tails. 70: Beauty is but a blossom.
Proverbs 71-75 71: Early to bed and early to rise make a man healthy, wealthy and wise. 72: A bad bush is better than the open field. 73: A danger that is foreseen is half avoided. 74: A rotten apple injures its neighbours. 75: He who has an art, has everywhere a part.
Proverbs 76-80 76: No joy without annoy. 77: Anger punishes itself. 78: If every man mends one, all shall be amended. 79: Anger and haste hinder good counsel. 80: To maintain is also advance. Proverbs 81-85 81: Actions speak louder than words. 82: Adversity is the touchstone of life. 83: Abundance of money ruins the youth. 84: Truth and oil are ever above. 85: He who goes borrowing goes sorrowing.
Proverbs 86-90 86: Where there is life, there is hope. 87: The word 'impossible' is in the dictionary of fools. 88: If I have lost the ring, yet the fingers are still here. 89: The money you refuse will never do you good. 90: Necessity is the mother of invention.
Proverbs 91-95 91: A friend in need is a friend indeed. 92: Look at the North while going to the South. 93: Nothing is new under the sun. 94: Make hay while the sunshines. 95: Opportunity hardly comes twice.
Proverbs 96-100 96: Out of debt, out of danger. 97: Out of sight, out of mind. 98: He is well paid who is well satisfied. 99: Pain is past pleasure. 100: Next to God are parents.
Proverbs 101-105 101: Every path has a hurdle. 102: Patriotism is not enough. 103: My country, right or wrong. 104: The voice of the people is the voice of God. 105: Practice makes a man perfect.
Proverbs 106-110 106: Plough deep while others sleep. 107: A drop of a poison affects the whole ton of wine. 108: It is easier to catch flies with honey than vinegar. 109: The proof of the pudding is in its eating. 110: Prosperity makes friends, adversity testes them.
Proverbs 111-115 111: Riches have wings. 112: No rose without thorn. 113: There is no royal road to learning. 114: They love dancing well that dance among thorns. 115: Like mother like daughter, like father like son.
Proverbs 116-120 116: Out of debt, out of danger. 117: Let praise come to you, don't run after it. 118: Never refuse good offer. 119: A rugged stone grows smooth from hand to hand. 120: If you run after two hares, your will catch neither.
Proverbs 121-125 121: Rivers need springs. 122: At a round table, there's no dispute of place. 123: He that runs fast will not run long. 124: Scatter with one hand, gather with two. 125: The sea refuses no river.
Proverbs 126-130 126: If you advise others to keep secret, first keep it yourself. 127: Whatever there is a secret, there must be something wrong. 128: Every man is the architect of his own fortune. 129: Where there is a will, there is a way. 130: He that sings on Friday, will weep on Sunday.
Proverbs 131-135 131: Skill and confidence are unconquered army. 132: Who has skirts of straw, needs fear the fire. 133: If the sky falls, we shall catch larks. 134: He who swells in prosperity will shrink in adversity. 135: My son is my son till he has got a wife, but my daughter is my daughter all the days of her life.
Proverbs 136-140 136: My daughter is always mine. 137: All that glitters are not gold, many men their life have sold. 138: An apple a day keeps the doctor away. 140: An empty vessel sounds much.
Proverbs instructs correctly and clearly. In very disappointed stage of mind, friends and elders pacify younger and disappointed friends or younger telling the pertinent proverbs, the listener too become comfortable from the proverbs and get correct guidelines too.
