Old Sayings : A

A big tree attracts the gale. - Chinese (on pride)

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. - Latin Proverb

A beautiful thing is never perfect. - Egyptian (on beauty)

A blind person who sees is better than a seeing person who is blind. - Iranian (on wisdom)

A body makes his own luck, be it good or bad. - unknown

A brother may not be a friend, but a friend will always be a brother. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

A burden that one chooses is not felt. - Italian (on self-reliance)

A carpenter is known by his chips. - Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

A cat in gloves catches no mice. - 14th Century French Proverb

A chain is no stronger than its weakest link. - Sir Leslie Stephen (1832-1904)

A change is as good as a rest. - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930)

A clear conscience is more valuable than wealth. - Tagalog (Filipino) (on conscience)

A clever person turns great problems into little ones and little ones into none at all. - Chinese (on attitude)

A closed mouth catches no flies. - Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)

A crab walks, so walks his children. - African proverb Kpelle Tribe

A crown’s no cure for a headache. - English (on basic truths)

A crust in comfort is better than a feast in fear. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

A day is lost if one has not laughed. - French (on the conduct of life)

A day of travelling will bring a basketful of learning.- Vietnamese (on journeys)

A decision made at night may be changed in the morning.- Samoan (on permanence and change)

A dog that will fetch a bone, will carry a bone. - R. Forby (1830) on gossip

A dog’s life is a miserable life. - Desiderius Erasmus (1465-1536)

A dripping June sets all in tune. - unknown

A drowning man will clutch at a straw. - Sir Thomas More (1478-1535)

A fair exchange is no robbery. - Scottish Proverb

A false friend and a shadow attend only while the sun shines. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

A father’s a treasure; a brother’s a comfort; a friend is both. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

A fault confessed is half redressed. - English Proverb

A few germs never hurt anyone. - unknown

A firm tree does not fear the storm. - Dayak (Indonesian) (on strength and weakness)

A fool and his money are quickly parted. - J. Bridges (1587)

A friend in need is a friend indeed. - James Ray (1678)

A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

A friend- one soul, two bodies. - Chinese (on friendship)

A friend’s eye is a good mirror. - Gaelic (on friendship)

A full person does not understand the needs of the hungry. - Irish (on food and hunger)

A gentle hand may lead even an elephant by a hair.- Iranian (on leadership)

A gentle word opens the iron gate. - Bulgarian (on eloquence)

A great one must have a long heart.- Ethiopian (on leadership)

A grudge is a heavy thing to carry. - unknown

A guilty conscience needs no accuser. - English Proverb

A good book praises itself. - German (on books and writers)

A good example is the best sermon. - English (on advice)

A good lather is half the shave. - William Hone (1780-1842)

A good spectator also creates. - Swiss (on art and creativity)

A good spouse and health is a person’s best wealth. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

A good tree can lodge ten thousand birds. - Burmese (on good and evil)

A goose quill is more dangerous than a lion’s claw. - English (on books and writers)

A hand ready to hit, may cause you great trouble. - Maori (on anger)

A hard beginning maketh a good ending. - John Heywood (c. 1497-1580)

A horse may run quickly but it cannot escape its tail. - Russian proverb (on conscience)

A house divided cannot stand. - Bible (Matthew 12:25)

A library is a repository of medicine for the mind. - Greek (on books and writers)

A little axe can cut down a big tree. - Jamaican (on permanence and change)

A little learning is a dangerous thing. - Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

A loan though old is not a gift.- Hungarian (on indebtedness)

A loving heart is the truest wisdom. - Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still. - Laurence J. Peter

A man in a passion, rides a mad horse. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

A man is known by the company he keeps. - M. Coverdale (1541)

A man who asks is a fool for five minutes. A man who never asks is a fool for life. - Chinese Proverb

A man who desires revenge should dig two graves. - unknown

A man who never made a mistake, never made anything. - unknown

A man with a cough cannot conceal himself. - African proverb Yoruba Tribe

A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do. - unknown

A man’s house is his castle. - Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634)

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones. - Proverbs 17:22

A miser is like a person with bread who is starving. - Middle Eastern (on greed)

A miss is as good as a mile. - unknown

A moment’s insight is sometimes worth a life’s experience. - Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)

A new broom sweeps clean but an old broom knows the corners. - Virgin Islander (on friendship)

A penny for your thoughts. - Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

A penny saved is a penny earned. - Scottish Proverb

A person has learned much who has learned how to die. - German (on death and dying)

A picture’s worth a thousand words. - unknown

A picture is a poem without words. - Latin (on art and creativity)

A place for everything and everything in its place. - Samuel Smiles (1812-1904)

A proverb is a short sentence based on long experience. - American (on proverbs)

A proverb is one man’s wit and all men’s wisdom. - Lord John Russell (1792-1878)

A quarrelsome man has no good neighbours. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out. - unknown

A rolling stone gathers no moss. - John Heywood (c. 1497-1580)

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

A rule isn’t unfair if it applies to everyone. - unknown

A ruler must sometimes humor as well as command. - unknown

A short horse is soon curried. - John Heywood (c. 1497-1580)

A single arrow is easily broken; a bundle of ten is not. - Japanese (on strength and weakness)

A smile is a window in your face to show your heart is at home. - unknown

A soft answer turneth away wrath. - Bible (Proverbs 15:1)

A stitch in time saves nine. - unknown

A stumble is not a fall. - Haitian (on adversity)

A stumble may prevent a fall. - English (on experience)

A thing is bigger for being shared. - Gaelic (on generosity)

A thousand artisans, a thousand plans. - Chinese (on art and creativity)

A tree falls the way it leans. - Walloon (on rewards and consequences)

A trouble shared is a trouble halved. - unknown

A true champion believes in themselves when no one else does.

A true friend is the best Possession. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

A true soldier does not admit defeat before the battle. - unknown

A turtle travels only when it sticks its neck out.- Korean (on journeys)

A watched pot never boils. - unknown

A weed is a plant we’ve found no use for yet. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) ”

A weed is but an unloved flower. - Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1855-1919)

A weed is no more than a flower in disguise. - James Russell Lowell (1819-1891)

A wild goose never laid a tame egg. - Gaelic (on authenticity)

A word once let out of the cage cannot be whistled back again. - Horace (65-8 BC)

A word to the wise may be suffient. - Latin

A work ill done must be twice done. - Welsh (on business)

A year’s care; a minute’s ruin. - Tagalog (Filipino) (on perversity)

Ability may get you to the top but it’s character that will keep you there. - Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

Absence is to love as wind is to fire; it extinguishes the small and enkindles the great. - Comte de Bussy-Rabutin (1618-1693)

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.- Thomas Haynes Bayly (1797-1839)

Accidents will happen - George Colman (1732-1794)

Actions speak louder than words. - Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

Adapt the remedy to the disease. - Chinese Proverb

Adversity is a gift. - unknown

Adversity makes strange bedfellows. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Advice after mischief is like medicine after death. - Danish (on advice)

Advise no one to go to war or marry. - Spanish (on advice)

After crosses and losses, men grow humbler and wiser. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

After dinner rest a while; after supper walk a mile. - T. Cogan (1584)

After the war, aid. - Greek Proverb

Aim for the stars. - unknown

Aim high in your career but stay humble in your heart. - Korean (on ambition)

Ain’t no pot so crooked, you can’t find a lid to fit. - unknown

All are not saints, who go to church.- Italian (on hypocrisy)

All cats are grey in the dark. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

All experience is education for the soul. - unknown

All food is fit to eat but not all words are fit to speak. - Haitian (on discretion)

All good things must come to an end. - H.H. Riley (1857)

All happiness is in the mind. - English (on attitude)

All in good time. - Horace (65-8 BC)

All of us, the great and the little have need of each other. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

All roads lead to Rome. - unknown

All that glitters is not gold. - Latin Proverb

All the world’s a stage. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

All truth passes through three stages: First it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed and third it is accepted as being self-evident. - unknown

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All play and no work makes Jack a mere toy - unknown

All’s well that ends well. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

Almost only counts in horseshoes. - unknown

Always be prepared. - unknown

Always keep an open mind. - unknown

Ambition begets vexations. - Singhalese (on ambition)

Ambition destroys its possessor. - Hebrew (on ambition)

Ambition is a good servant but a bad master. - unknown

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

An army of a thousand is easy to find but ah how difficult to find a general. - Chinese Proverb

An empty barrel makes the most noise. - Russian Proverb

An hour may destroy what an age was building.- English (on permanence and change)

An ill weed grows apace. - George Chapman (c.1559-1634)

An old error has more friends than a new truth.- Danish (on habit)

An old ox makes a straight furrow. - Spanish (on experience)

An open foe may prove a curse but a pretended friend is worse. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. - unknown

Anger is a short madness. - Horace (65-8 BC)

Anger is often more hurtful than the injury that caused it. - English (on anger)

Anger is one letter short of danger. - Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)

Another day, another dollar. - unknown

Any plan is bad that cannot be changed. - Italian (on planning)

Any port in a storm. - unknown

Any water in the desert will do. - Arabic (on practicality)

Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm. - Publilius Syrus (c.42 B.C.)

Anyone can stand adversity but to test a person’s character, give them power. - Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

Anyone who will gossip to you, will gossip about you. - unknown

Anything with scales counts as a fish. - Malay (on appearance and reality)

Appearances are deceptive. - Italian Proverb

As long as you live, keep learning how to live. - Latin proverb (on the conduct of life)

As the day lengthens, the cold strengthens. - E. Pellham (1631)

As the spokes of a wheel are attached to the hub, so all things are attached to life.- Sanskrit (on life and living)

As the sun’s shadow shifts, so there is no permanence on earth.- Afghan (on permanence and change)

As you shall sow, so shall you reap. - Bible

At high tide, fish eat ants; at low tide, ants eat fish.- Thai (on permanence and change)

At the bottom of patience one finds heaven.- Kanuri (West African) (on patience)

At the gate of patience there is no crowding.- Moroccan (on patience)

Avoid a cure that is worse than the disease. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Avoid dishonest gain: no price can recompence the pangs of vice. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Old Sayings : B

Bad gains are true losses. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Bad is called good when worse happens. Norwegian (on relative worth)

Be careful what you ask for; you may get it. - unknown

Be careful what you wish for. - unknown

Be ever vigilant but never suspicious. - English (on vigilance)

Be gracious in defeat. - unknown

Be it ever so humble there’s no place like home. - unknown

Be just before you are generous. - E. Haywood (1745)

Be nice to people on your way up because you might meet ‘em on your way down. - Jimmy Durante

Be not niggardly of what costs thee nothing, as courtesy, counsel and countenance. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Be not overcome by evil but repay evil with good. - Bible

Be not water, taking the tint of all colors. - Syrian (on authenticity)

Be slow in choosing a friend, slower still in changing. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Be sure you are right, then go ahead. - Davy Crockett (1786-1836)

Be the change you wish to see in the world. - Ghandi

Be the first in the field and the last to the couch. - Chinese (on work)

Be true to yourself. - unknown

Bear and forbear. - unknown

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. - Greek Proverb

Beauty is only skin deep. - Sir Thomas Overbury (1581-1613)

Beauty without virtue is a flower without perfume. - French (on beauty)

Because we focused on the snake, we missed the scorpion. - Egyptian (on caution and care)

Before healing others, heal yourself.- Gambian (on health and wellness)

Before you marry keep both eyes open; after marriage keep one eye shut.- Jamaican (on marriage)

Beggars can’t be choosers. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

Beginning is easy; continuing, hard. - Japanese (on permanence and change)

Behind every argument lies someone’s ignorance. - Louis D. Brandeis (1856-1941)

Being happy is better than being king. - Hausa (West African) (on comparable worth)

Believe in yourself. - unknown

Believe nothing of what you hear and only half of what you see. - unknown

Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without one. - Chinese (on comparable worth)

Better a thousand enemies outside the tent than one within it. - Arabic (on friends and foes)

Better late than never. - Roman Proverb

Better one true friend than a hundred relatives. - Italian (on friendship)

Better slip with foot than tongue. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Better ten times ill than one time dead.- Yiddish (on health and wellness)

Better the devil you know than the one you don’t - R. Taverner (1539)

Better to ask the way than go astray. - unknown

Better to ask twice than to lose your way. - Danish (on practicality)

Better to be safe than sorry. - Samuel Lover (1797-1868)

Better to give than to receive. - Bible (Acts 20:35)

Better three hours too soon than a minute too late. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Better yourself before others. - Darren Bateman

Beware a rickety wall, a savage dog and a quarrelsome person. - Iranian (on caution and care)

Beware of little expenses: a small leak will sink a great ship. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Beware of the person with two faces.- Dutch (on hypocrisy)

Beware the door with too many keys. - Portuguese (on vigilance)

Beware the fury of a patient man. - John Dryden (1631-1700)

Beware the Greeks bearing gifts. - Virgil (70-19 BC)

Beware the person with nothing to lose. - Italian (on prudence)

Birds of a feather, flock together. - Robert Burton (1577-1640)

Blood is thicker than water. - German Proverb

Bloom where you’re planted. - unknown

Boys, be ambitious. - William Smith Clark (1826-1886)

Brains are better than brawn. - unknown

Bread, oil, Salt and Heart - Albanian ( on honoring the guest)

Bury the hatchet beneath the root of the tree. - Native American Saying (on war and peace)

But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads. - Albert Camus

Butterflies come to pretty flowers. - Korean (on beauty)

Buyer beware. - Latin Proverb “Caveat emptor”

Buying on credit is robbing next year’s crop. - African American (on buying and selling)

By diligence and patience, the mouse bit in two the cable. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

By crawling, a child learns to stand. - Hausa (West African) (on experience)

By going and coming, a bird weaves its nest. - Ashanti (West African) (on persistence)

Old Sayings : C

Caesar did not merit the triumphal car more than he that conquers himself. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion. - Julius Caesar (c.102-44 BC)
Can’t get blood from a stone. - unknown
Can’t see the forest for the trees. - unknown
Carve the peg by looking at the hole. - Korean (on appropriateness)
Change is inevitable - Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)
Change yourself and fortune will change. - Portuguese (on fortune)
Character building begins in infancy and continues until death. - Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)
Character is easier kept than recovered. - English (on character and virtue)
Character is habit long continued. - Greek
Charity begins at home. - Tobias George Smollett (1721-1771)
Charity covers a multitude of sins. - Bible (Peter 4:8)
Chickens don’t praise their own soup. - Martinican (on flattery and praise)
Children are a poor man’s riches. - English Proverb
Children have more need of models than critics.- French (on parents and children)
Choose the hills wisely on which you must do battle. - unknown
Choose to be forgiven. - unknown
Choose your neighbors before you buy your house. - Hausa (West African) (on planning)
Chop your own wood; it will warm you twice. - Mack King
Circumstances alter cases. - T. Rymer (1678)
Civility costs nothing and buys everything. - Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762)
Clean your finger before you point at my spots. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Close only counts in horseshoes and grenades. - John Harvey MacDonald Jr. , Vietnam 1969
Clothes don’t make the man. - unknown
Clothes may disguise a fool, but his voice will give him away. - unknown
Clouds gather before a storm. - unknown
Clouds that thunder, do not always rain. - Armenian (on vanity and arrogance)
Cold hands, warm heart. - V.S. Lean (1903)
Come what may, time and hour runs through the roughest day. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
Common sense is not so common. - French (on common sense)
Compete– don’t envy.- Yemeni (on jealousy and envy)
Confession is good for the soul. - Scottish Proverb
Conscience makes cowards of us all. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Constant dripping will wear away a stone. - Greek Proverb
Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Control your emotions or they will control you. - Chinese Proverb
Count your blessings. - unknown
Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the conquest of it. - William Danforth (1870-1955)
Courage is the complement of fear. - Lazarus Long, thanks to D. Housel
Cowards die many times before their death. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Creditors have better memories than debtors. - English (on business)
Curses like chickens, come home to roost. - Chaucer (c.1343-1400)
Curiosity killed the cat. - E. O’Neill (1888-1953)
Cut your coat according to your cloth. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
Cutting off a mule’s ears doesn’t make it a horse. - Creole (on authenticity)

Old Sayings : D

Dally not with other folk’s spouses or money. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Dead men don’t bite. - Plutarch (46-120)
Dead men tell no tales. - J. Wilson (1664)
Deal with the faults of others as gently as your own. - Chinese Proverb
Death is the great leveller. - Claudian
Death keeps no calendar. - English (on death and dying)
Death never takes a wise man by surprise; he is always ready to go. - Jean de la Fontaine (1621-1695)
Death pays all debts. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Death takes no bribes. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Deeds are fruits; words are leaves. - English (on words and deeds)
Depend on others and you will go hungry. - Nepalese (on self-reliance)
Depend on your walking stick; not on other people. - Japanese (on self-reliance)
Destroy your enemy by making him your friend. - Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
Diamond cuts diamond. - Marstow (1604)
Different strokes for different folks. - Clarence Darrow (1857-1938)
Difficulties make you a jewel. - Japanese (on adversity)
Diligence is the mother of good luck. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Discretion is the better part of valor. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Distance lends enchantment to the view. - Thomas Campbell (1777-1844)
Do good and care not to whom. - Portuguese (on good and evil)
Do good to thy friend to keep him, to thy enemy to gain him. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Do not allow sins to get beyond creeping. - Hawaiian (on the conduct of life)
Do not attempt too much at once. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Do not be like the cat who wanted a fish but was afraid to get his paws wet. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Do not dissect a rainbow. In other words, do not destroy a beautiful phenomenon by overanalyzing it. - Denise LaFrance, artist, 1964 - now.
Do not hold everything as gold which shines like gold. - unknown
Do not leave for tomorrow what you can do today. - unknown
Do not squander time for that is the stuff that life is made of. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Do the math; count your blessings. - unknown
Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. - Bible
Do what comes natural. - unknown
Do what is right, come what may. - unknown
Dog is a man’s best friend. - unknown
Dogs bark but the caravan moves on. - Arab Proverb
Don’t be caught flat-footed. - unknown
Don’t be led around by the nose. - unknown
Don’t be too quick to judge. - unknown
Don’t believe everything you hear. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Don’t bite off more than you can chew. - unknown
Don’t bite the hand that feeds you. - unknown
Don’t boast when you set out but only when you get there.- Russian (on journeys)
Don’t burn your bridges behind you. - unknown
Don’t buy other people’s problems. - Chinese (on buying and selling)
Don’t bypass a town where there’s a friend.- Malagasy (on journeys)
Don’t call the alligator, big mouth until you have crossed the river. - Belizean (on criticism)
Don’t cross the bridge til you come to it. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Don’t cry before you are hurt. - Scottish Proverb
Don’t cry over spilt milk. - James Howell (1549-1666)
Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face. - Mid 14th century French Proverb
Don’t expect things to go right the first time. - unknown
Don’t find fault, find a remedy. - Henry Ford (1863-1947)
Don’t get your back up. - unknown
Don’t gild the lily. - unknown
Don’t give up the ship. - unknown
Don’t go barking up the wrong tree. - Davy Crockett (1786-1836)
Don’t go looking for trouble. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Don’t halloo until you’re out of the wood. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Don’t hang your hat higher than you can reach. - Belizean (on balance and moderation)
Don’t have too many irons in the fire. - unknown
Don’t judge anyone unless you’ve walked in their moccasins one moon. - Native American Proverb
Don’t judge of men’s wealth or piety by their Sunday appearances. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Don’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Don’t let anyone get your goat. - unknown
Don’t let the critics get you down. - unknown
Don’t let the grass grow on the path of friendship. - Blackfoot (Native American) (on friendship)
Don’t look where you fell but where you slipped. - Liberian (on practicality)
Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill. - Henry Ellis(1859-1939)
Don’t plant a seed in the sea. - Swahili (East African) (on appropriateness)
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. - Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)
Don’t put the cart before the horse. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
Don’t pretend to be something you aren’t. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Don’t reinvent the wheel. - unknown
Don’t rush the river. - unknown;
Don’t sail out farther than you can row back. - Danish (on prudence)
Don’t say amen to an unacceptable prayer. - Turkish (on prayer)
Don’t shoot the messenger. - Old Latin Phrase
Don’t spill the beans. - unknown
Don’t sweat the small stuff. - unknown
Don’t take any wooden nickels. - American (on authenticity)
Don’t take no for an answer. - unknown
Don’t talk unless you can improve the silence. - unknown
Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. - unknown
Don’t toot your own horn. - unknown
Don’t treat the symptom, instead find the cause. - unknown
Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. - unknown
Don’t wish your life away. - unknown
Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his brother. - Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)
Doubt is the key to knowledge. - Iranian (on education)
Drive gently over the stones. - Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

Old Sayings : E

Each bay, its own wind. - Fijian (on differences)
Each person has his strong point. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Each year one vicious habit rooted out, in time might make the worst man good throughout. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Eagles don’t catch flies. - Desiderius Erasmus (1465-1536)
Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Earth is dearer than gold.- Estonian (on nature)
Easier said than done. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
East, west, home’s best. - W.K.Kelly (1859)
Easy does it. - T. Taylor (1863)
Easy come, easy go. - Chaucer (c.1343-1400)
Eat coconuts while you have teeth. - Singhalese (on youth and age)
Eat to live, not live to eat. - Socrates (469-399 BC)
Economy is the wealth of the poor and the wisdom of the rich. - French (on thrift)
E’er you remark another’s sin, bid your own conscience look within. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Eggs have no business dancing with stones. - Haitian (on prudence)
Empty sacks will never stand upright. - Italian Proverb
Empty vessels make the most sound. - John Lydgate (c.1370-1451)
Enough is as good as a feast. - Sir Thomas Malory (d.1471))
Envy has no rest.- Middle Eastern (on jealousy and envy)
Envy is based on an incomplete understanding of the other person’s situation. - George Chapman (c.1559-1634)
Envy of others always shows. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. - John Philpot Curran (1750-1817)
Even a fish wouldn’t get into trouble if it kept its mouth shut. - Korean (on common sense)
Even a sheet of paper has two sides. - Japanese (on differences)
Even a worm will turn. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
Even Buddist priests of the same temple quarrel occasionally.- Singhalese (on the human comedy)
Even children of the same mother, look different. - Korean (on differences)
Even in Mecca, people make money. - Hausa (West African (on balance and moderation)
Even monkeys fall out of trees. - Japanese Proverb
Even the best laid plans go awry. - unknown
Even the best song becomes tiresome if heard too often. - Korean (on art and creativity)
Even the best writer has to erase. - Spanish (on books and writers)
Even the largest army is nothing without a good general.- Afghan (on leadership)
Even though you have ten thousand fields, you can eat but one measure of rice a day. - Chinese Proverb
Every adversity carries with it the seed of equal or greater benefit. - Napolean Hill ()
Every age has its book. - Arabic (on books and writers)
Every ass loves to hear himself bray. - English (on vanity and arrogance)
Every burro has his own saddle. - Equadoran (on differences)
Every cloud has a silver lining. - D.R. Locke (1863)
Every day of your life is a page of your history.- Arabic (on life and living)
Every dog has its day. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
Every dog is allowed one bite. - V.S. Lean (1902)
Every garden may have some weeds. - English Proverb
Every head is a world. - Cuban (on differences)
Every herring must hang by his own gill. - S. Harwood (1609)
Every horse thinks his own pack heaviest. - Thomas Fuller (1608-1661)
Every jack has his jill; if only they can find each other. - R. Cotgrave (1611)
Every land has its own law. - J. Carmichael (1628)
Every man for himself. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
Every man has his price. - unknown
Every man has to seek his own way to make himself more noble and to realize his own true worth. - Albert Schweitzer
Every man is the architect of his own fortune. - Appius (c.470 BC)
Every peddlar praises his own needles. - Portuguese (on flattery and praise)
Every picture tells a story. - unknown
Every pot will find its lid.- Yiddish (on marriage)
Every tear has a smile behind it. - Iranian (on adversity)
Everybody makes mistakes. - unknown
Everyone gets their just deserts. - unknown
Everyone is ignorant only on different subjects. - Will Rogers (1879-1935)
Everyone is the age of their heart. - Guatemalan (on youth and age)
Everyone wants to live long but no one wants to be called old. - Icelandic (on youth and age)
Everything comes to those who wait. - unknown
Everything in moderation. - unknown
Everything is lovely when the geese honk high. - unknown
Exaggeration is truth that has lost its temper. - Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)
Example is the best precept. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Expect the worst, but hope for the best. - unknown
Experience is the best teacher. - Latin Proverb
Experience is the mother of wisdom. - unknown
Experience teaches slowly and at the cost of mistakes. - James Anthony Froude (1818-1894)

Old Sayings : F

Fact is stranger than fiction. - Thomas Chandler Haliburton (1796-1865)
Failure is a teacher; a harsh one, but the best. - Thomas J. Watson Sr. (1874-1956)
Failure is the path of least persistence. - unknown
Faint heart never won fair lady. - W. S. Gilbert (1836-1911)
Fair words can buy a horse on credit. - Trinidadian (on flattery and praise)
Fair words never hurt the tongue. - George Chapman (c.1559-1634)
Faith is the ability to not panic. - unknown
Falling is easier than rising. - Irish (on fame)
False friends leave you in times of trouble. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Familiarity breeds contempt. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is. - German Proverb
Fear the Greeks bearing gifts. - Virgil (70-19 BC)
Fear the person who fears you. - Middle Eastern (on courage and fear)
Feed a cold and starve a fever. - C. Morley (1939)
Fine feathers don’t make fine birds. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Fine words butter no parsnips. - John Clarke (1639)
Fire in the heart sends smoke into the head. - German Proverb
First come, first served. - unknown
First food, then religion. - Afghan (on practicality)
First things first. - G. Jackson (1894)
Fish don’t get caught in deep water. - Malay (on caution and care)
Fishing without a net is merely bathing. - Hausa (West African) (on authenticity)
Focus on what’s right in your world instead of what’s wrong. - unknown
Follow your dreams. - unknown
Following the path of least resistence is what makes both men and rivers crooked. - unknown
Fools and scissors require good handling. - Japanese (on foolishness)
Fools are like other folks as long as they are silent. - Danish (on foolishness)
Fools rush in where wise men fear to tread. - Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
For every bow there is an arrow. - unknown
For news of the heart, ask the face.- Guinean (on life and living)
Forgive and forget. - unknown
Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. - Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)
Forethought is easy, repentance is hard. - Chinese (on discretion)
Forewarn’d, forearm’d. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Four horses cannot overtake the tongue. - Chinese (on gossip)
Friends are God’s way of taking care of us. -unknown
Friendship increases by visiting friends but visiting seldom. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Friendship is one mind in two bodies. - Mencius (c.371-289)
From the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks. - Jesus Christ
Froth is not beer. - Dutch (on appearance and reality)

Old Sayings : G

Gather the breadfruit from the farthest branches first. - Samoan (on practicality)
Genius is only a great aptitude for patience. - Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon (1707-1788)
Genius is ninety percent perspiration and ten percent inspiration. - Thomas Edison (1847-1931)
Get out of harms way. - Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)
Get to the root of the problem. - unknown
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and he’ll eat forever. - Chinese Proverb
Give an extra piece of cake to a stepchild.- Korean (on parenting and children)
Give assistance not advice in a crisis. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Give credit where credit is due. - M. Floy (1834)
Give even an onion, graciously. - Afghan (on generosity)
Give every man thy ear but few thy voice. - unknown
Give good and get good. - Estonian (on generosity)
Give the devil his due. - Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)
Give thy thoughts no tongue. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Give up the ghost. - Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)
Given a challenge, rise to the occasion. - unknown
Glass, china and reputation are easily crack’d and never well mended. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Go for it. - American (on ambition)
God did not create hurry. - Finnish (on balance and moderation)
God gave us music that we might pray without words. - unknown
God gave us the nuts but he doesn’t crack them. - German Proverb
God grant me a good sword and no use for it. - Polish (on war and peace)
God helps those who help themselves. - George Herbert (1593-1632)
God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts. - unknown
Going beyond is as bad as falling short. - Chinese (on balance and moderation)
Gold is the devil’s fishhook. - Italian (on temptation)
Good counsellors lack no clients. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Good deeds are the best prayer. - Serbian (on prayer)
Good example is the best sermon. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Good memories are our second chance at happiness. - Queen Elizabeth II
Good things come in small packages. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Good things come when you least expect them. - unknown
Good to forgive, better to forget. - Robert Browning (1812-1889)
Good wine needs no bush. - R. Taverner (1545)
Good words are worth much and cost little. - George Herbert (1593-1632)
Goodness does not consist in greatness but greatness in goodness. - Athenaeus (c.200)
Grace thou thy house and let not that grace thee. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Grain by grain a loaf, stone by stone, a castle. - Yugoslavian (on patience)
Gratitude is the sign of noble souls. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Great actions are not always true sons of great and mighty resolutions. - Samuel Butler (1612-1680)
Great chiefs prove their worthiness. - Seneca Proverb
Great good nature without prudence is a great misfortune. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Great ideas are the fuel of progress. - unknown
Great minds have purposes, others have wishes. - Washington Irving (1783-1859)
Great minds think alike. - “Punch” (c.1922)
Great oaks from little acorns grow. - Chaucer (c.1343-1400)
Great spenders are bad lenders. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Greed often overreaches itself. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Grin and bear it. - unknown

Old Sayings : H

Half a loaf is better than none. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
Half the truth is often a whole lie. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Half the world knows not how the other half lives. - George Herbert (1593-1633)
Handsome is as handsome does. - Anthony Munday (1553-1633)
Happiness depends on ourselves. - Aristotle (384-322 BC)
Happiness is a state of mind. - unknown
Happiness isn’t a goal, it’s a by-product. - Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)
Happy is as happy does. - unknown
Happy is the bride that the sun shines on. - Robert Herrick (1591-1674)
Happy is the person who learns from the misfortunes of others. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Happy nations have no history. - Belgian (on war and peace)
Hard words break no bones. - unknown
Haste has no blessing.- Swahili (East African) (on patience)
Haste makes waste. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
Hasty climbers have sudden falls. - Robert Greene (c.1560-1592)
Have confidence in yourself and you can lick anything. - unknown
Have the courage of your convictions. - unknown
Having two ears and one tongue, we should listen twice as much as we speak. - Turkish (on discretion)
Hay is for horses. - Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)
He lives long who lives well. - J. Wilson (1553)
He that cannot endure the bad will not live to see the good. - Jewish Proverb
He that cannot obey, cannot command. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
He that complies against his will, is of the same opinion still. - Samuel Butler (1612-1680)
He that first cries out “stop thief” is often he that has stolen the treasure. - William Congreve (1670-1729)
He that goes aborrowing, goes asorrowing. - R. Taverner (1545)
He that hath a trade, hath an estate. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
He that is hard to please, may get nothing in the end. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
He that is rich need not live sparingly and he that can live sparingly need not be rich. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
He that lies down with the dogs riseth with fleas. - George Herbert (1593-1633)
He that pays for work before it’s done, has but a pennyworth for two pence. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
He that pays the piper, calls the tune. - unknown
He that resolves to mend hereafter, resolves not to mend now. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
He that respects himself is safe from others. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
He that scatters thorns, let him not go barefoot. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
He that steals an egg will steal an ox. - George Herbert (1593-1633)
He that waits on fortune is never sure of a dinner. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
He that would eat the fruit, must climb the tree. - Scottish Proverb
He that would govern others, first should be the master of himself. - Phillip Massinger (1583-1640)
He that would live in peace and at ease, must not speak all he knows, nor judge all he sees. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
He who bites the hand that feeds him, ends up licking the boot that kicks him. - unknown )
He who flees at the right time can fight again. - Marcus Trentius Varro (c.116-27 BC)
He who has a why to live can bear almost any how. - Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
He who hesitates is lost. - Joseph Addison (1672-1719)
He who laughs last, laughs best. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
He who plots to hurt others often hurts himself. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
He who rules must fully humor as much as he commands. - George Eliot (1819-1880)
He who wants to do good, knocks at the gate; he who loves finds the gates open. - R. Tagore Thakur
Health is better than wealth. - unknown
Hear reason or she will make you feel her. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. - William Congreve (1670-1729)
Heroism consists of hanging on one minute longer. - Norwegian (on courage and fear)
His bark is worse than his bite. - George Herbert (1593-1632)
History repeats itself. - George Eliot (1819-1880)
Hit the nail on the head. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
Hold a true friend with both your hands. - Nigerian Proverb
Hold fast to the words of your ancestors. - Maori (on proverbs)
Home is where the heart is. - J.J. McCloskey (1870)
Honesty is the best policy. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Honor is better than honors. - Flemish (on the conduct of life)
Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. - Thomas Norton & Thomas Sackville (1536-1608)
Hope is a good breakfast but a bad supper. - W. Rawley (1661)
Hope springs eternal. - Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
However long the night, the dawn will break. - African Proverb - Hausa Tribe
Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted. - Martin Luther King Jr.
Hunger drives the wolf out of the wood. - 14th Century French Proverb
Hunger is the best sauce. - French Proverb
Hurry is good only for catching flies. - Russian (on the conduct of life)
Hurry no man’s cattle; you may come to own a donkey yourself. - Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)

Old Sayings : I

I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice. - Abraham Lincoln
Idleness and pride tax with a heavier hand than kings and parliaments. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. - unknown
If evils come not then our fears are in vain; and if they do, fear but augments the pain. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
If God wants people to suffer, he sends them too much understanding. - Yiddish (on balance and moderation)
If God were not willing to forgive sin, heaven would be empty. - German proverb
If I keep my character, I’ll be rich enough. - Plutonius
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. - American Saying
If it were not for hope, the heart would break. - Greek (on attitude)
If not today–when? - Kashmiri (on permanence and change)
If passion drives, let reason hold the reins. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
If someone gives you advice, it is in his own interest. - Tunisian Proverb
If the bird hadn’t sung, it wouldn’t have been shot. - Japanese (on prudence)
If the eyes didn’t see, the hands wouldn’t take.- Yiddish (on opportunity)
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail. - Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
If the rich could hire people to die for them, the poor could make a nice living. - Yiddish (on wealth and poverty)
If the shoe fits, wear it. - Nicholas Breton (c.1545-1626)
If the townspeople are happy, look to the chief.- Liberian (on leadership)
If you are afraid of something, you give it power over you. - Moroccan (on courage and fear)
If you are going a long way, go slowly.- Ilocano (Filipino) (on journeys)
If you are hiding, don’t light a fire. - Ghanaian (on common sense)
If you are not a fish, how can you tell if the fish are happy? - Chinese (on experience)
If you are not good for yourself, how can you be good for others. - Spanish (on character and virtue)
If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow. - Chinese Proverb
If you believe everything you read, better not read. - Japanese (on books and writers)
If you buy things you don’t need, you will soon be selling things you do need. - Pampango - Filipino (on buying and selling)
If you buy what you don’t need, you steal from yourself. - Swedish (on thrift)
If you call one wolf, you invite the pack. - Bulgarian (on caution and care)
If you can’t bite, better not show your teeth. - Yiddish (on common sense)
If you can’t say anything nice, then don’t say anything at all. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
If you can’t serve, you can’t rule.- Bulgarian (on leadership)
If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. - Harry Truman (1884-1972)
If you don’t have a plan for yourself, you’ll be part of someone else’s. - American (on planning)
If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry. - unknown
If you don’t scale the mountain, you can’t view the plain. - Chinese (on rewards and consequences)
If you don’t see the bottom, don’t wade. - Scottish (on prudence)
If you don’t want trouble, don’t go looking for it. - unknown
If you fail to practice your art, it will soon disappear. - German (on art and creativity)
If you follow a fool, you are a fool yourself. - Jamaican (on foolishness)
If you foolishly ignore beauty, then you will soon find yourself without it. - Frank Lloyd Wright (1869-1959)
If you ford a river in a crowd, the crocodiles won’t get you. - Malagasy (on strength and weakness)
If you give orders and leave, the work won’t get done. - Portuguese (on business)
If you have, give; if you lack, seek. - Malay (on generosity)
If you have nothing to lose, you can try everything. - Yiddish (on business)
If you kick a stone in anger you will hurt your foot. - Korean (on anger)
If you know how to spend less than you get, you have the philosopher’s stone. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
If you make yourself into a doormat, people will wipe their feet on you. - Belizean (on character and virtue)
If you pray for another, you will be helped yourself. - Yiddish (on prayer)
If you think your bundle of clothes too heavy, try picking up your neighbor’s. - Virgin Islander (on comparable worth)
If you want something done right, do it yourself. - unknown
If you want to lift yourself up, lift someone else up.- Booker T. Washington (1856-1915)
If you want your eggs hatched, sit on them yourself. - Haitian (on self-reliance)
If you would be rich in a year, you may be hanged in six months. - Italian (on business)
If you would get ahead, be a bridge. - Welsh (on ambition)
If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
If you would live long, open your heart.- Bulgarian (on health and wellness)
If you would rise in the world, veil ambition with the forms of humanity.- Chinese (on hypocrisy)
If you’ld have a servant that you like, serve yourself. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
If you’ve never run aground, you’ve never been anywhere! - unknown sailor .
If youth knew, if age could. - Henri Estienne (1531-1598)
If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride. - unknown
Ignorance is a voluntary misfortune. - unknown
Ignorance is bliss. - Thomas Gray (1716-1771)
Ignorance is the seed of intimidation. - D. Hiser
Ill gotten goods never thrive. - Cicero (106-43 BC)
Ill weeds grow fast. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
Imagination is more important than knowledge. - Albert Einstein
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. - Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780-1832)
Implementation beats oration. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
In a crisis, give help first and then advice. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
In bad luck, hold out; in good luck, hold in.- German (on luck)
In bad things be slow; in good things be fast. - Afghan (on time and timeliness)
In for a penny, in for a pound. - E. Ravenscroft (1695)
In night there is counsel. - Greek (on advice)
In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. - Desiderius Erasmus (1465-1536)
In time we hate that which we often fear. - Seneca (8 BC-AD 65)
Industry pays debts, despair encreases them. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Industry, perseverance & frugality make fortune yield. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Instead of seeking new landscapes, develop new eyes. - Marcel Proust (1871-1922)
Instruction in youth is like engraving in stone. - Moroccan (on education)
Interest on debt grows without rain.- Yiddish (on indebtedness)
Into every life a little rain must fall. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) “into each life some rain must fall.”
It ain’t over til it’s over. - Yogi Berra
It is a fool’s sheep that breaks loose twice. - Ashanti (West African) (on foolishness)
It is a foolish sheep that makes the wolf its confessor. - Italian (on common sense)
It is a long lane that has no turns.James Ray (1670)
It is as cheap sitting as it is standing. - Italian Proverb
It is better to be born a beggar than a fool. - Spanish Proverb
It is better to be the head of a chicken than the rear of an ox. - Japanese (on relative worth)
It is better to enjoy the cool breeze of others waving your flag, than to suffer the sweat of doing it yourself. - L.D. Seese (1992) thanks to J. Martin
It is better to give than to receive. - Jesus
It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness. - Chinese Proverb
It is better to prevent than to cure. - Peruvian (on common sense)
It is better to return a borrowed pot with a little something you last cooked in it. - Omaha (Native American) (on the conduct of life)
It is better to suffer for truth than to prosper by falsehood. - Danish (on comparable worth)
It is better to take many injuries than to give one. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
It is better to wear out one’s shoes than one’s sheets. - Genovese (Italian)(on work)
It is easier to believe than to go and ask.- Serbian (on idleness)
It is easier to criticize than to do better. - Swiss (on criticism)
It is easier to dam a river than to stop gossip. - Moro (Filipino) (on gossip)
It is easy to advise the wise. - Serbian (on advice)
It is easy to be brave from a distance. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
It is easy to despise what you cannot get. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
It is easy to kick a person when he is down. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
It is far easier to start something than to finish it. - unknown
It is foolish to try to imitate the skills of others. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
It is hard for an ex-king to become a nightwatchman. - Kashmiri (on habit)
It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself. - Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)
It is often easier to fight for your principles than to live up to them. - Adlai Stevenson
It is possible to have too much of a good thing. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
It is said that you can’t take it with you; I say there are two things you can take with you: the things you do for others and the things you do to others - (harold h. cornett, jr.)
It is the last straw that breaks the camel’s back. - Charles Dickens (1812-1870)
It is useless attacking the insensible. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
It is wise not to seek a secret and honest not to reveal it. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
It never rains but it pours. - unknown
It pays to be content with your lot. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
It pays to be nice. - unknown
It pays to be prepared. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
It takes a heap of licks to hit a nail in the dark. - African American (on common sense)
It takes a village to raise a child. - unknown
It takes all kinds to make a world go round. - T. Shelton
It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan. - Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)
It takes one to know one. - unknown
It takes two to tangle. - unknown
It’s a small world. - unknown
It’s all in how you look at things. - unknown
It’s an ill bird that fouls his own nest. - Latin Proverb
It’s an ill wind that blows no good. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
It’s better to be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Bible
It’s better to find a whole worm in your apple than half a worm. - unknown
It’s but little good you’ll do a-watering the last year’s crop. - George Eliot (1819-1880)
It’s never too late. - unknown
It’s no use closing the barn door after the horse is gone. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
It’s not enough to know how to ride- one must also know how to fall. - Mexican (on success and failure)
It’s not the end of the world. - unknown
It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it. - American mothers (thanks to J. Martin)
It’s okay to make a mistake, as long as you learn from it. - unknown
It’s six of one, half dozen of another. - unknown
It’s the little things that count. - unknown

Old Sayings : J

Jealousy is a disease for the weak. - unknown
Judge not, lest ye be judged. Bible
Just because everybody’s doing something, doesn’t mean it’s right. - unknown
Just because something doesn’t do what you planned it to do, doesn’t mean it’s useless. - Thomas Edison (1847-1931)
Just because something is common sense doesn’t mean it’s common practice. - unknown
Justice is truth in action. - Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)

Old Sayings : K

Keep a stiff upper lip. - unknown
Keep an open mind. - unknown
Keep conscience clear, then never fear. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Keep no more cats than will catch mice. - J. Dare (1673)
Keep plugging. - unknown
Keep thy shop and thy shop will keep thee. - George Chapman (c.1559-1634)
Keep your chin up. - unknown
Keep your eyes on the sun and you will not see the shadows. - Australian Aborigine Saying
Keep your friends close, your enemies even closer. - Sun Tzu
Keep your friendships in repair. - Samuel Butler (1612-1680)
Keep your head about you. - unknown
Keep your nose to the grindstone. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
Keep your shirt on. - American Saying
Kind words are short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. - Mother Teresa (1910-1997)
Kind words conquer. - Tamil (Asian Indian)(on courtesy and respect)
Kindness is more persuasive than force. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Kingdoms divided soon fall. - Bible (Matthew 12:25)
Know thyself. - Ancient Greek Proverb
Know which side your bread is buttered on. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
Knowledge is more than equivalent to force. - Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)
Knowledge is power. - Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

Old Sayings : L

Laugh and the world laughs with you; cry and you cry alone. - Horace (65-8 BC)
Laugh every day; it’s like inner jogging. - unknown
Laughter is the best medicine. - unknown
Laws catch flies but let hornets go free.- Scottish (on justice)
Learn from other peoples mistakes. - unknown
Learn from your mistakes. - unknown
Learning is best when put into practice. - unknown
Learning is better than house and land. - David Garrick (1716-1779)
Least said, soonest mended - unknown
Leave no stone unturned. - Euripides (480-406 BC)
Lend your money and lose your friend. - William Caxton (1421-1491)
Less is more. - Robert Browning (1812-1889)
Let bygones be bygones. - Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894)
Let pride go afore, shame will follow after. - George Chapman (c.1559-1634)
Let sleeping dogs lie. - English Proverb
Let the punishment fit the crime. - W.S. Gilbert (1836-1911)
Let your head be more than a funnel to your stomach. - German (on food and hunger)
Let your words be purrs instead of hisses. - Fannie Roach Palmer
Let’s get things straight. - unknown
Liars often set their own traps. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Liars need good memories. - French (on truth and falsehood)
Liberty has no price. - Spanish (on freedom and slavery)
Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get. - unknown.
Like father, like son. - Asian Proverb
Life has its little ups and downs. - unknown
Life is a journey, not a destination. - Cliff Nichols.
Life is like the moon: now full, now dark.- Polish (on permanence and change)
Life is not a dress rehearsal. - unknown
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away - unknown
Life is not so short but that there is always time for courtesy. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
Life is one big experiment. - unknown
Life is short and full of blisters.- African-American (on life and living)
Life is the greatest bargain; we get it for nothing.- Yiddish (on life and living)
Life is too short to waste. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
Life is what you make it. - Grandma Moses (1860-1961)
Life isn’t all beer and skittles. - Thomas Chandler Haliburton (1796-1865)
Light gains make heavy purses. - George Chapman (c.1559-1634)
Lightning never strikes the same place twice. - P. H. Myers (1857)
Like a fish, one should look for holes in the net. - Samoan (on freedom and slavery)
Like breeds like. - R. Edgeworth (1557)
Like father, like son. - unknown
Little by little does the trick. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Little by little one walks far.- Peruvian (on journeys)
Little fish are sweet. - R. Forby (1830)
Little friends may prove great friends. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Little is spent with difficulty, much with ease. - Thai (on buying and selling)
Little leaks sink the ship. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Little pitchers have big ears.- John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
Little said is soonest mended. - George Wither (1588-1667)
Little strokes fell great oaks. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Little thieves are hanged but great ones escape. - 14th Century French Proverb
Live and learn. - George Gascoigne (c.1539-1577)
Live and let live. - Dutch Proverb
Live life to the fullest because you may not have it tomorrow. - unknown
Live your own life, for you will die your own death.- Latin (on life and living)
Look at the bright side. - unknown
Look before you leap. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
Lookers-on see most of the game. - John Palsgrave (d.1554)
Looks can be deceiving. - unknown
Lost time is never found again. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Love is often the fruit of marriage.- French (on marriage)
Love isn’t love until you give it away. - John H. MacDonald Jr. 1992
Love me, love my dog. - St. Bernard of Clairvaux (12th century)
Love will find a way. - unknown

Old Sayings : M

Make a friend when you don’t need one. - Jamaican (on friendship)
Make a meal and contention will cease.- Hebrew (on the human comedy)
Make do with what you have. - unknown
Make haste slowly. - Suetonius (c.69-140)
Make hay while the sun shines. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
Make the most of every situation. - unknown
Making money selling manure is better than losing money selling musk. - Egyptian (on buying and selling)
Man cannot live by bread alone. - Bible
Man is made by his beliefs; as he believes, so he is. - The Bhagahvad Gita (a Sanskrit poem)
Manana (tomorrow) is often the busiest day of the week. -Spanish (on procrastination)
Many hands make light work. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
Many have quarreled about religion that never practised it. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Many meet the gods but few salute them. - Latin (on courtesy and respect)
Marry in haste, repent in leisure. - unknown
Masterly retreat is in itself a victory. - Norman Vincent Peale (1898-1993)
May the outward and inward man be at one. - Socrates (469-399 BC)
May the wind be always at your back. - unknown
Measure a thousand times; cut once. - Turkish (on caution and care)
Medicine left in the container can’t help. - Yoruba (West African)
Mediocrity is climbing molehills without sweating. - Icelandic (on work)
Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself but talent instantly recognizes genius. - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930)
Men willingly believe what they wish. - Julius Caesar (c.102-44 BC))
Mess with the bull and one usually gets the horns. - Latin American saying
Mind your p’s and q’s. - English Proverb
Misfortune tests the sincerity of friends. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Mistakes are doorways to discovery. - unknown
Money buys everything but good sense.- Yiddish (on money)
Money has no value if it is not used. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Monkey see, monkey do. - Hercurmer Jones by Mr. Glenn McQueen Sr.
More than enough is too much. - unknown
Most people are about as happy as they make their minds up to be. - Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
Much ado about nothing. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Music has charms to soothe a savage beast. - William Congreve (1670-1729)

Old Sayings : N

Nature is the art of God.- Latin (on nature)
Necessity is a great teacher. - Mexican (on education)
Necessity is the mother of invention. - Irish Proverb
Necessity never made a good bargain. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Neglect kills injuries, revenge increases them. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Neglect mending a small fault and ’twill soon be a great one. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Neither a borrower nor a lender be. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Never apologize before you are accused. - Charles I of Great Britain (1600-1649)
Never bet your money on another man’s game. - unknown
Never change horses in midstream. - Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
Never cut what can be untied. - Portuguese Proverb
Never give advice unasked. - unknown
Never give up hope. - unknown
Never look a gift horse in the mouth. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
Never mind whether the horse is blind or not, just load up the wagon. - Stephen Boyd (thanks to Warren ?)
Never mistake a single mistake with a final mistake. - F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)
Never pick up what you didn’t put down. - Virgin Islander (on temptation)
Never put off until tomorrow what can be done today. - English Proverb
Never reveal the bottom of your purse or the depth of your mind. - Italian (on caution and care)
Never say die. - unknown
Never say never. - unknown
Never spend time with people who don’t respect you. - Maori (on courtesy and respect)
Never spend your money before you have it. - unknown
Never stop learning. - unknown
Never take anything for granted. - Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)
Never trouble trouble ’til trouble troubles you. - unknown
New day, new fate.- Bulgarian (on opportunity)
Nice words are free, so choose ones that please another’s ears. - Vietnamese (on courtesy and respect)
No act of kindness no matter how small is ever wasted. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
No better relation than a prudent and faithful friend. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
No clock is more regular than the belly. - French (on food and hunger)
No gains without pains. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
No legacy is as rich as honesty. - unknown
No man can lose what he never had. - George Herbert (1593-1632)
No man fears what he has seen grow. - African Proverb
No news is good news. - unknown
No offense taken when none is meant. - unknown
No one can make us feel inferior without our consent. - Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)
No one goes through life unscathed. - unknown
No one is easy to live with all of the time. - unknown
No one is good at everything but everyone is good at something. - unknown
No one is hurt by doing the right thing. - Hawaiian (on good and evil)
No one should be judge in his own cause. - Legal Maxim
No pain, no gain. - American (on adversity)
No rest for the weary. - unknown (variation )
No river can return to its source, yet all rivers must have a beginning.- Native American (on impossibility)
No sin is hidden to the soul. - Bengali (Asian Indian) (on conscience)
No sleep, no dreams. - Korean (on rewards and consequences)
No time like the present. - Mrs. Mary De La Riviera Manley (1663-1724)
Nobility is not a birthright, but is defined by one’s actions. - Darren Bateman
Nobody’s perfect. - unknown
Nor eye in a letter, nor hand in a purse, nor ear in the secret of another. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Not all who make love, make marriages.- Russian (on marriage)
Not everything you hear is good for talk. - Japanese (on gossip)
Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
Nothing goes on forever. - unknown
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely. - Auguste Rodin (1840-1917)
Nothing is as burdensome as a secret. - French Proverb
Nothing is as good as it seems beforehand. - George Eliot (1819-1880)
Nothing is black or white. - unknown
Nothing is certain but death and taxes. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Nothing is difficult if you’re used to it. - Kashmiri(on habit)
Nothing is easy to the unwilling. - Gaelic (on attitude)
Nothing is impossible to the willing mind. - Books of the Han Dynasty
Nothing is impossible to the willing heart. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
Nothing remains constant except change itself. - unknown
Nothing seems expensive on credit.- Czech (on indebtedness)
Nothing succeeds like success. - unknown
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. - Chaucer (c.1343-1400)

Old Sayings : S

Sacrificing means more. - unknown
Save for a rainy day. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Save money and money will save you. - Jamaican (on thrift)
Scatter with one hand; gather with two. - Welsh (on thrift)
Search others for their virtues, thyself for thy vices. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
See life through an artist’s eye. - unknown
Seeing is believing. - unknown
Seek advice but use your own common sense. - Yiddish (on advice)
Seek virtue and of that posest, to Providence resign the rest. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Seize the day. - unknown
Self conceit may lead to self destruction. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Self-help is the best help. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Self praise is no recommendation. - Romanian (on flattery and praise)
Send a thief to catch a thief. - unknown
Shrouds are made without pockets. - Yiddish (on basic truths)
Silence is golden. - unknown
Silence is often misinterpreted but never misquoted. - unknown
Silence is sometimes the answer. - Estonian (on discretion)
Silence is the hardest argument to refute. - unknown
Sin is not hurtful because it is forbidden but it is forbidden because it is hurtful - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Since we cannot get what we like, let us like what we can get. - Spanish Proverb
Sing away sorrow, cast away care. - Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)
Six feet of earth makes us all equal. - Italian (on death and dying)
Sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite. - Colonial American Saying
Sleeping people can’t fall down. - Japanese (on caution and care)
Slow and steady wins the race. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Small children give you a headache, big children a heartache. - Russian Proverb
Smiles open many doors. - unknown
Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors. - African Proverb
Some things are better left unsaid. - unknown
Sometimes, it’s too little, too late. - unknown
Sometimes, less is more. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Sometimes the remedy is worse than the disease. - Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
Sorrow doesn’t kill, reckless joy does.- Yoruba (West African (on joy and sorrow)
Sorrow is to the soul, as worm is to wood.- Turkish (on joy and sorrow)
Spare your breath to cool your porridge. - Francis Robelias
Spending is quick; earning is slow. - Russian (on thrift)
Spring is in the air. - unknown
Stick to your guns. - unknown
Stick to your knitting. - unknown
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names can never hurt me. - unknown
Stones decay, words last. - Samoan (on discretion)
Stop and smell the roses. - unknown
Strangers are just friends waiting to happen. - unknown
Strike while the iron is hot. - Chaucer (c.1343-1400)
Stupid is as stupid does. - Eric Roth
Success has many parents but failure is an orphan. - American (on success and failure)
Success has ruined many a man. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Sum up at night what thou hast done by day. - George Herbert (1593-1633)
Sun is good for cucumbers, rain for rice. - Vietnamese (on appropriateness)
Sweet are the slumbers of a virtuous man. - Joseph Addison (1672-1719)

Old Sayings : T

Take care of the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves. - Phillip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, (1694-1773)
Take it straight from the horse’s mouth. - Francis Iles (1893-1970)
Take life as it comes. - unknown
Take the bull by the horns. - North American Saying
Tap even a stone bridge before crossing it. - Korean (on vigilance)
Tell me what you are conceited about, and I’ll tell you what you lack. - Argentinian saying.
Tell me whom you love and I’ll tell you who you are.- African-American (on life and living)
Temper justice with mercy. - John Milton (1608-1674)
Teeth placed before the tongue give good advice. - Italian (on advice)
Thanks cost nothing. - Creole (on gratitude)
The afternoon knows what the morning never expected. - Swedish (on basic truths)
The anger of the prudent never shows. - Burmese (on anger)
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. - Asian Proverb
The arrogance of age must submit to be taught by youth. - Edmund Burke (1729-1797)
The bad plowman quarrels with his ox. - Korean (on criticism)
The best candle is understanding.- Welsh (on knowledge and ignorance)
The best cure for a short temper is a long walk. - unknown
The best mirror is an old friend. - George Herbert (1593-1632)
The best sauce in the world is hunger. - Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)
The best thing a man can do for his kids is to love their mother. - unknown
The best thing about telling the truth is…you don’t have to remember what you said! - unknown,
The best things in life are free. - B.G. DeSilva (1927)
The best way to keep good acts in memory is to repeat them. - Cato (234-149 BC)
The best way to predict the future is to create it. - unknown
The bigger they are, the harder they fall. - unknown
The blind person is not afraid of ghosts. - Burmese (on courage and fear)
The blocks of wood should not dictate to the carver. - Maori (on art and creativity)
The brave person regards dying as going home. - Chinese (on courage and fear)
The buyer needs a hundred eyes, the seller but one. - George Herbert (1593-1633)
The calm before the storm. - unknown
The cat would eat fish but would not get her feet wet. - Chaucer (c.1343-1400)
The chief object of education is not to learn things but to unlearn things. - G.K. Chesterton
The company makes the feast. - J. Warton (1653)
The complete fool is half prophet. - Yiddish (on foolishness)(Meaning: even a fool is right half the time)
The contented person can never be ruined. - Chinese (on conscience)
The continuous drip polishes the stone.- Peruvian (on patience)
The covetous person is always in want. - Irish (on greed)
The crab that walks too far, falls into the pot. - Haitian (on caution and care)
The cream always rises to the top. - unknown
The creditor hath a better memory than the debtor. - unknown
The crow may be caged but his thoughts are in the cornfield. - Belizean (on temptation)
The customer is always right. - Barry Pain (1864-1928)
The darkest hours are just before dawn. - English Proverb
The day has eyes; the night has ears.- Scottish (on nature)
The day you decide to do it, is your lucky day.- Japanese (on luck)
The deceitful have no friends.- Hindi (Asian Indian) (on justice)
The devil catches most souls in a golden net. - German (on temptation)
The devil dances in empty pockets. - Tudor (English)(on wealth and poverty)
The devil finds work for idle hands. - St. Jerome (345-420)
The devil looks after his own. - Scottish Proverb
The devil tempts but doesn’t force. - Guyanan
The devil wipes his breech with poor folks’ pride. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
The difference between a pig and a hog is the lean in his meat. - unknown
The die is cast. - Julius Caesar
The discontented man finds no easy chair. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
The doors of wisdom are never shut. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
The drum makes a great fuss because it is empty. - Trinidadian (on vanity and arrogance)
The eagle does not catch flies. - Latin (on character and virtue)
The eagle was killed with an arrow made with its own feathers.- Armenian (on paradox)
The early bird catches the worm. - William Camden (1551-1623)
The early bird gets the worm, the second mouse gets the cheese. - unknown
The earth has music for those who listen. - unknown
The easiest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it in your pocket. - unknown
The end doesn’t justify the means. - Ovid (c.43 BC-AD 18)
The end of one thing is only the beginning of another. - unknown
The errors of a wise man make your rule rather than the perfections of a fool. - William Blake (1757-1827)
The excellency of hogs is — fatness; of men– virtue. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
The eyes are the windows of the soul. - Thomas Phaer (c.1510-1560)
The fall of a leaf is a whisper to the living.- Danish (on life and living)
The fat is in the fire. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
The fly on the water buffalo’s back thinks he is taller than the water buffalo. - Tagalog (Filipino)(on vanity and arrogance)
The fool is thirsty in the midst of water. - Ethiopian (on foolishness)
The fool never undertakes little. - Czech (on foolishness)
The frog enjoys itself in water but not in hot water. - African proverb Wolof Tribe
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. - Eleanor Roosevelt
The good will of the governed will be starved if not fed by the good deeds of the governors. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
The grand instructor, time. - Edmund Burke (1729-1797)
The grass is always greener in someone else’s yard. - unknown
The greatest remedy for anger is delay. - unknown
The half is better than the whole. - Hesiod (c.720 BC)
The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world. - William Ross Wallace (1819-1881)
The hardest person to awaken is the person already awake. - Tagalog (Filipino)(on vigilance)
The heart at rest sees a feast in everything. - Hindu (Asian Indian) (on attitude)
The hero appears only after the tiger is dead. - Burmese (on cynicism)
The higher the monkey climbs, the more he shows his tail. - John Wycliffe (c.1320-1384)
The higher you climb, the heavier you fall. - Vietnamese (on pride)
The honey is sweet but the bee has a sting. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
The house of the loud talker, leaks. - African proverb Zulu Tribe
The human tongue is more poisonous than a bee’s sting. - Vietnamese (on criticism)
The laborer is worth his wage. - Bible (Luke 10:7)
The lazy person must work twice.- Latin American (on idleness)
The leopard does not change his spots. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
The lion believes that everyone shares his state of mind. - Mexican (on differences)
The longest journey begins with the first step. - unknown
The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves. - William Hazlitt (1778-1830)
The love of money is the root of all evil - Bible
The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything. - Edward John Phelps (1822-1900)
The master of the people is their servant.- Yemeni (on leadership)
The memories of youth make for long, long thoughts. - Lapp (on youth and age)
The miller sees not all the water that flows by his mill. - Robert Burton (1577-1640)
The mind is willing, but the flesh is weak. - Bible
The more the merrier. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
The more things change, the more they stay the same. - Alphonse Karr (1808-1890)
The more you ask how much longer it will take, the longer the journey seems.- Maori (on journeys; )
The most exquisite folly is made of wisdom spun too fine. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
The mouse that hath but one hole is taken quickly. - George Herbert (1593-1633)
The mouth prays to Buddha but the heart is full of evil.- Vietnamese (on hypocrisy)
The new boat will find the old stones. - Estonian (on perversity)
The old law about an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind. - Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)
The old one who is loved, is winter with flowers. - German (on youth and age)
The one being carried does not realize how far away the town is. - Nigerian (on gratitude)
The one who teaches is the giver of eyes. - Tamil (Asian Indian) (on education)
The one who understands does not speak; the one who speaks does not understand.- Chinese (on paradox)
The only real test in life is to conquer your fears. - unknown
The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it. - Dale Carnegie (1888-1955)
The pen is mightier than the sword. - unknown
The person afraid of bad luck will never know good.- Russian (on luck)
The person sins, then blames Satan for it.- Afghan (on the human comedy)
The person who gets stuck on petty happiness, will not attain great happiness.- Tibetan (on joy and sorrow)
The person with burnt fingers asks for tongs. - Samoan (on experience)
The pleasure of doing good is the only one that will not wear out. - Chinese (on good and evil)
The poor lack much but the greedy more. - Swiss (on greed)
The pot calling the kettle black. - unknown
The price of your hat is not always the measure of your brain. - African American (on appearance and reality)
The proof is in the pudding. - Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)
The prudent embark when the sea is calm---the rash when the sea is stormy. - Maori (on prudence)
The rain falls on every roof. - African Proverb
The rattan basket criticizes the palm-leafed bag, yet both are full of holes. - Filipino (on criticism)
The real art of conversation is not only saying the right thing at the right moment but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the most tempting moment. - unknown
The remedy against bad times is to have patience with them.- Arabic (on patience)
The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
The right place at the wrong time. - unknown
The road to a friend’s house is never long. - Danish Proverb
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. - Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)
The salt of patience seasons everything.- Italian (on patience)
The sap rises in the spring. - unknown
The second word makes the quarrel. - Japanese Proverb
The shoe knows if the stocking has a hole.- Bahamian (on knowledge and justice)
The shoemaker’s children have no shoes. - unknown
The sight of books removes sorrows from the heart. - Moroccan (on books and writers)
The sky’s the limit. - Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)
The spider and the fly can’t make a bargain. - Jamaican (on buying and selling)
The squeaky wheel gets the grease. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
The stargazer’s toe is often stubbed.- Russian (on the human comedy)
The sting of a reproach is the truth of it. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
The strength of the heart comes from the soundness of the faith. - Arabic (on faith)
The strong should help the weak so that the lives of both shall be made easier. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
The teeth that laugh are also those that bite. - Hausa tribe of West Africa (on appearance and reality)
The tongue has no bones, yet it breaks bones. - Greek (on discretion)
The truly rich are those who enjoy what they have. - Yiddish (on conscience)
The wheel turns slow but it turns sure. - unknown
The winds of heaven change suddenly; so do human fortunes.- Chinese (on permanence and change)
The wise and the brave dares own that he was wrong. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
The wise do as much as they should, not as much as they can. - French (on wisdom)
The wise man learns more from his enemies than the fool does from his friends. - Ben Franklin
The wise through excess of wisdom is made a fool. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
The wise understand by themselves; fools follow the reports of others. - Tibetan (on wisdom)
The wolf and the dog agree, at the expense of the goat which together they eat. - Basque (on friends and foes)
The work will teach you. - Estonian (on work)
The world is the traveler’s inn.- Afghan (on journeys)
The worst enemy you have is right in your head. - unknown
The worst prison is a closed heart. - Pope John Paul II
The years teach much which the days never know. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
There are a thousand roads to every wrong. - Polish (on cynicism)
There are no birds in last year’s nest. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
There are no fools more troublesome than those with wit. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
There are no strangers in life; only friends I haven’t met yet. - unknown
There are plenty of fish in the sea. - Gabriel Harvey (c.1545-1630)
There are some defeats more triumphant than victories. - Michel Eyquem Montaigne (1533-1592)
There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond and to know one’s self. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
There is a big gap between advice and help. - unknown
There is always someone worse off than you. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
There is great force hidden in a gentle command. - George Herbert (1593-1633)
There is honor among thieves. - English Proverb
There is more than one way to skin a cat. - unknown
There is much difference between imitating a good man and counterfeiting him. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
There is no accounting for taste. - unknown
There is no dying by proxy. - French (on death and dying)
There is no eel so small but it hopes to become a whale. - German (on ambition)
There is no fire without some smoke. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
There is no fool like an old fool. - unknown
There is no great loss without some small gain. - unknown
There is no hand to catch time. - Bengali (Asian Indian)(on time and timeliness)
There is no key to happiness; the door is always open. - unknown
There is no little enemy. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
There is no proverb without a grain of truth. - Russian
There is no substitute for experience. - unknown
There is nothing that can’t be made worse by telling. - Latin (on discretion)
There is nothing to fear but fear itself. - Franklin Roosevelt (1882-1945)
There is often wisdom under a shabby coat. - Latin (on wisdom)
There must be an easier way. - unknown
There was never a good war or a bad peace. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
There would be no great men if there were no little ones. - George Herbert (1593-1633)
There’s a time and place for everything. - unknown
There’s always a catch. - unknown
There’s many a good cock that came out of a tatter’d bag. - Scottish Proverb
There’s many a good tune played on an old fiddle. - Samuel Butler (1612-1680)
There’s many a slip twixt cup and lip. - English Proverb
There’s no glory without sacrifice. - Bicol - Filipino (on fame)
There’s no harm in trying. - unknown
There’s no such thing as a free lunch. - American Saying
There’s no time like the present. - unknown
There’s none so blind as those who will not see. - Mid-14th Century French Proverb
There’s none so deaf as those who will not hear. - Mid-14th Century French Proverb
There’s plenty of time to bemoan bad fortune once it arrives.- Yiddish (on luck)
There’s small choice in rotten apples. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
There’s strength in numbers. - unknown
They are most cheated who cheat others. - Danish (on buying and selling)
They are not free who drag their chains after them. - French (on freedom and slavery)
They that dance must pay the fiddler. - Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
They that live the longest, see the most. - 14th Century French Proverb
Things are seldom what they seem. - W.S. Gilbert (1836-1911)
Things come to those who wait. - unknown
Things could be worse. - unknown
Things happen for the best. - unknown
Things happen naturally. - unknown
Things often happen when you least expect them. - unknown
Think many things; do one. - Portuguese (on practicality)
This above all, to thy own self be true. - unknown
Those not ruled by the rudder, will be ruled by the rocks. - Welsh (on rewards and consequences)
Those who are feared, are hated. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Those who can’t dance say the music is no good. - Jamaican (on criticism)
Those who live in glass houses, shouldn’t throw stones. - George Herbert (1593-1633)
Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age but they die young. - Arthur Wing Pinero (1855-1934)
Those who love most are least valued. - English Proverb
Those who play with cats must expect to be scratched. - Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)
Thou dost protest too much. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Though a cage be made of gold, it is still a cage. - Mexican (on appearance and reality)
Though honey is sweet, don’t lick it off a briar. - Irish (on caution and care)
Throw dirt enough and some of it will stick. - unknown
Time and tide wait for no man. - unknown
Time doesn’t stand still. - unknown
Time flies when you’re having fun. - unknown
Time heals all wounds. - unknown
Time is an herb that cures all diseases. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Time is money. - unknown
Time is of the essence. - unknown
Time waits for no man. - unknown
Time is the rider that breaks youth. - George Herbert (1593-1633)
‘Tis a well spent penny that saves a groat. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. - William Congreve (1670-1729)
‘Tis easier to prevent bad habits than to break them. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
‘Tis easier to suppress the first desire, than to satisfy all that follow it. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
‘Tis easy to see, hard to foresee. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
‘Tis hard (but glorious) to be poor and honest. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
‘Tis the eye of childhood that fears an imagined devil. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
To be great is to be misunderstood. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
To be or not to be, that is the question. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
To be willing is to be able. - French (on attitude)
To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it. - Confucius (c.551-479)
To believe a thing impossible is to make it so.- French (on impossibility)
To believe with certainty, we must begin by doubting. - Polish (on faith)
To each his own. - William Shakespeare
To envy others is foolish indeed. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
To err is human, to forgive divine. - Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
To feel love, give love to yourself and others. - unknown
To get eggs there must be some cackling. - Dutch (on work)
To know all is to forgive all. - MMe. De Stael (1807)
To know how to suggest is the great art of teaching. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
To live in peace, one must be blind, deaf and mute. - Turkish (on war and peace)
To speak ill of anyone is to speak ill of yourself. - Afghan (on courtesy and respect)
To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves. - Will Durant (1885-1981)
To the world you might be one person, but to one person, you just might be the world. - John H. MacDonald Jr.
To thine own self be true. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
To those whom much is given, much is asked in return. - Bible (Luke 12:48)
Today can’t catch tomorrow. - Jamaican (on time and timeliness)
Today is the first day of the rest of your life. - North American Saying
Today my turn, tomorrow yours.- Samoan (on justice)
Tomorrow is a new day. - English Proverb
Tomorrow never comes. - unknown
Tongue double, brings trouble. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Too many cooks spoil the broth. - unknown
Too much breaks the bag. - Spanish (on balance and moderation)
Too much politeness conceals deceit. - Chinese (on courtesy and respect)
Too soon old, too late smart ! - Norma Victor
Tread on thorns with your shoes on. - Hebrew (on prudence)
Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools that have not enough wit to be honest. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Trouble always comes in threes. - unknown
Trust in God but tie your camel. - Iranian
Truth and roses have thorns about them. - unknown
Truth comes out in wine. - Pliny (23-79 AD)
Truth when witty is the wittiest of all things. - Julius Charles Hare (1795-1855) & Augustus William Hare (1792-1834)
Truth will out. - unknown
Try to strike a happy medium. - unknown
Trying to get everything, you often get nothing. - Ivatan (Filipino) (on greed)
Never forget benefits done you, no matter how small. - Vietnamese
Two and two make four. - James MacNeill Whistler (1834-1903)
Two captains sink a ship.- Turkish (on leadership)
Two heads are better than one. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
Two in distress makes sorrow less. - unknown
Two men looked out through the same bars; one sees the mud and one the stars. - Frederick Langbridge (1849-1923)
Two wrongs don’t make a right. - unknown
Two’s company, three’s a crowd. - unknown