Proverbs in English

  • 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 picture is worth a thousand words.
  • A rolling stone gathers no moss.
  • A sharp tongue does not mean that you have a keen mind.
  • 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 work and no play make Jack a dull boy.
  • 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 dogs never bite.
  • Barking up the wrong tree Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
  • Beauty is only skin deep.
  • Before you can say Jack Robinson.
  • Beggars cannot be choosers.
  • Better late than never.
  • Better safe than sorry.
  • Birds of a feather, flock together.
  • Broken crockery brings you luck.
  • Charity begins at home.
  • Close but no cigar.
  • Do lunch or be lunch.
  • Don't count your chicken before they are hatched.
  • Don't cross a bridge till you come to it.
  • Don't mock the afflicted.
  • Dripping hollows out rock.
  • Easy come easy go.
  • Enough is as good as a feast.
  • Every cloud has a silver lining.
  • Every Jack will find his Jill.
  • Fair exchange is no robbery.
  • Few sandwiches short of a picnic.
  • Fine feathers make fine birds.
  • First come, first served.
  • For Pete's sake.
  • Fortune favours fools.
  • Good things come to those who wait.
  • Great minds think alike.
  • Harm set, harm get.
  • He deserved the break.
  • He had reckoned without his host.
  • He is a chip of the old block.
  • 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 don't travel far.
  • Lies have short legs.
  • Like father like son.
  • Listeners hear no good of themselves.
  • ... lots of red tape
  • 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.
  • Never spread yourself too thin.
  • No news is good news.
  • No pains - no gains.
  • Not all who own a lyre are lyre-players.
  • Once bitten twice shy.
  • Once one has served one's purpose one is simply discarded.
  • 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.
  • Penny wise, pound foolish.
  • People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
  • Postponed is not abandoned.
  • 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.
  • That's old hat.
  • The early bird catches the worm.
  • The end justifies the means.
  • The last straw that breaks the camels back.
  • The pot calling the kettle black.
  • The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
  • There's no fool like an old fool.
  • Tit for tat.
  • to be between the devil and the deep blue sea
  • to beat about/around the bush
  • to blow one's own trumpet
  • to carry coals to Newcastle.
  • to drop a brick
  • to pull someone's leg
  • to put the pedal to the metal
  • to ride shotgun
  • Too many cooks spoil the broth.
  • Two wrongs don't make it right.
  • What goes around comes around.
  • What the eye does not see the heart cannot grieve over.
  • When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
  • When the cat's away the mice will play.
  • When two people quarrel, a third rejoices.
  • 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.
  • You don't know the value of water before the well runs dry.

Thanks to Alexander, Ank, Ann-Katrin, Arif, Carolin, Christian, Eugen, Franz, Friedrich, Gudrun, Holger, Ivana, Jürgen, Marek, Melanie, Peter, Phillip, Robert, Rumpelstilzchen, Selma, Susanne, Thorsten, Walter and Wilhelm.