Informal English vocabulary - Proverbs

Here you will find proverbs in alphabetical order.
This table is not complete.

If you know more proverbs, send them by e-mail.

A bad workman always blames his tools.

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

A friend in need is a friend indeed.

A miss is as good as a mile.

A new broom sweeps clean.

A rolling stone gathers no moss.

A stitch in time saves nine.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Actions speak louder than words.

All good things come to an end.

All that glitters is not gold.

All's well that ends well.

Any Tim, Dick or Harry.

As you make your bed, so you must lie.

Barking up the wrong tree

Barking dogs never bite.

to beat about/around the bush

Beauty is only skin deep.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Before you can say Jack Robinson.

Beggars cannot be choosers.

Better late than never.

Better safe than sorry.

Broken crockery brings you luck.

Charity begins at home.

Close but no cigar.

Do lunch or be lunch.

Don't cross a bridge till you come to it.

Don't count your chicken before they are hatched.

Don't mock the afflicted.

Dripping hollows out rock.

Easy come easy go.

Enough is as good as a feast.

Every Jack will find his Jill.

Fair exchange is no robbery.

Few sandwiches short of a picnic.

First come, first served.

For Pete's sake.

Fortune favours fools.

Good things come to those who wait.

He deserved the break.

He is a chip of the old block.

He had reckoned without his host.

He who makes no mistakes, makes nothing.

Honesty is the best policy.

I wouldn't live in that dump if you paid me!

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

It is foolish to fear that which you cannot avoid.

It is never too late to mend.

It is too late to shut the barn door after the horse has bolted.

It never rains but it pours.

It takes two to tango.

It's raining cats and dogs.

Justice was never done but someone complained.

Kill 2 birds with one stone.

Knowledge is power.

Lies have short legs.
Lies don't travel far.

Like father like son.

Listeners hear no good of themselves.

Many hands make light work.

Mind your own business.

Misery loves company.

Mistakes are often the best teachers.

Money isn't everything.

Monkey see monkey do.

More haste less speed.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

No news is good news.

No pains - no gains.

Not all who own a lyre are lyre-players.

Once bitten twice shy.

One good turn deserves another.

One man's meat is another man's poison.

One swallow doesn't make a summer.

Opportunity makes thieves.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Out of the heat, into the frying pan.

Payback is a bitch.

People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.

Practice makes perfect.

Pride comes before the fall.

Promises are made to be kept.

Rats desert the sinking ship.

Slow and steady wins the race.

Speech is silver silence is gold.

Still waters run deep.

Strike while the iron is hot.

Take care of the pennies, and the pounds will look after themselves.

The last straw that breaks the camels back.

The early bird catches the worm.

The end justifies the means.

The pot calling the kettle black.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

There's no fool like an old fool.

That's old hat.

Tit for tat.

To blow one's own trumpet

To drop a brick

To carry coals to Newcastle.

Too many cooks spoil the broth.

To pull someone's leg

To put the pedal to the metal

To ride shotgun

What the eye does not see the heart cannot grieve over.

When the cat's away the mice will play.

Where there is a will there is a way.

You can easily fall into your own trap.

You can't change the habits of a lifetime.

You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.

You can't study on a full stomach.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks.

When two people quarrel, a third rejoices.

Thanks to Ann-Katrin, Carolin, Christian, Friedrich, Gudrun, Marek, Melanie, Phillip, Rumplestilzchen and Selma.