- A -
- Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
- Actions speak louder than words.
- All for one and one for all. -- Dumas, The Three Musketeers
- All's fair in love and war.
- All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
- All's well that ends well.
- An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
- An apple never falls far from the tree.
- An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
- Appearances can be deceiving.
- April showers bring May flowers.
- B -
- Bad news travels fast.
- Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
- Beauty is only skin deep.
- Beggars can't be choosers.
- Behind every good man is a good woman.
- The best defense is a good offense.
- The best laid plans of mice and men (often go astray). -- a variant on a line from To a Mouse by Robert Burns
- Better late than never.
- Better quit while you're ahead.
- Better safe than sorry.
- Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
- Beware of Greeks bearing gifts. -- My candiate for the oldest "I told you so" in history
- The bigger thet are the harder they fall.
- A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
- Birds of a feather flock together.
- Blood is thicker than water.
- Boys will be boys.
- C -
- Caught between a rock and a hard place.
- A chain is only a strong as its weakest link.
- Charity begins at home.
- The chickens have come home to roost.
- Cleanliness is next to godliness.
- Close, but no cigar.
- Cold hands, warm heart.
- Crime doesn't pay.
- The cure is worse than the disease.
- Curiosity killed the cat.
- The customer is always right.
- D -
- Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
- Desperate times call for desperate measures.
- Discretion is the better part of valor.
- A dog is a man's best friend.
- Don't believe everything you hear.
- Don't bite off more than you can chew.
- Don't bit the hand that feeds you.
- Don't change horses in midstream.
- Don't count your chickens before they hatch.
- Don't cry over spilt milk.
- Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.
- Don't judge a book by its cover.
- Don't lock the stable door after the horse is gone.
- Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
- Don't make a mountain out of a mole-hill.
- Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
- Don't put the cart before the horse.
- Don't rock the boat.
- Don't talk the talk if you can't walk the walk.
- Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
- Don't upset the apple cart.
- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
- E -
- Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
- The early bird catches the worm.
- Easy come, easy go.
- Easy does it.
- The end justifies the means.
- Enjoy it while it lasts.
- Even a broken clock is right twice a day. (Though the digital age has ruined this one)
- Every cloud has a silver lining.
- Every dog has its day.
- Every man pays his price.
- The exception that proves the rule.
- Experience is the best teacher.
- F -
- Failing to plan is planning to fail.
- Feed a cold, starve a fever.
- Finders keepers, losers weepers.
- First things first.
- Fish, or cut bait.
- A fool and his money are soon parted.
- Forgive, and forget.
- A friend in need is a friend indeed.
- G -
- Give the devil his due.
- God helps those who help themselves.
- Going to hell in a handbasket.
- Good fences make good neighbors.
- Good men are hard to find.
- Great minds think alike.
- Good things come in small packages.
- Good things come to he who waits.
- The grass is always greener (on the other side of the fence).
- Great oaks from little acorns grow.
- H -
- Half a loaf is better than none.
- Haste makes waste.
- Here today, gone tomorrow
- He who hesitates is lost.
- He who laughs last, laughs best. (or 'longest')
- He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword.
- Hindsight is 20-20.
- His bark is worse than his bite.
- Honesty is the best policy.
- Honey catches more flies than vinegar.
- Hope for the best but prepare for the worst.
- A house is not a home.
- I -
- Idle minds are the devil's workshop.
- If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
- If God had meant us to fly he'd have given us wings.
- If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
- If it's not one thing, it's another.
- If the shoe fits, wear it.
- If wishes were horses then beggars would ride.
- If you can't lick 'em, join 'em.
- If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
- If you have your health, you have everything.
- If you lie down with dogs, you wake up with fleas.
- If you want a thing done right, do it yourself.
- Ignorance is bliss.
- Immitation is the sicerest form of flattery.
- In for a penny, in for a pound.
- Into every life a little rain must fall.
- It ain't over till the fat lady sings.
- It never rains but it pours.
- It's a small world.
- It's better to give than to receive.
- It's never too late to change.
- It's not over 'till it's over.
- It takes one to know one.
- It takes two to tango.
- J -
- A jack of all trades is master of none.
- K -
- Keep your powder dry.
- Keeping up with the Jonses.
- Kill two birds with one stone.
- L -
- Laugh, and the world laughs with you; (cry, and you cry alone.)
- Laughter is the best medicine.
- Leave no stone unturned.
- Leave well enough alone.
- A leopard cannot change its spots.
- Let bygones be bygones.
- Let sleeping dogs lie.
- Let the chips fall where they may.
- Lightning never strikes twice in the same place.
- Like father, like son.
- Like mother, like daugher.
- A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
- Little strokes fell great oaks.
- Live and learn.
- Live and let live.
- Look before you leap.
- Love is blind.
- M -
- Make hay while the sun shines.
- Man does not live by bread alone.
- A Man's home is his castle.
- Many hands make light work.
- Measure twice, cut once.
- Mind your own business.
- Mind your p's and q's.
- Misery loves company.
- A miss is as good as a mile.
- Money doesn't grow on trees.
- Money is the root of all evil.
- Monkey see, monkey do.
- The more the merrier.
- N -
- Necessity is the mother of invention.
- Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
- Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you.
- No news is good news.
- No pain, no gain.
- No rest for the weary.
- No rest for the wicked.
- Nothing is certain but death and taxes.
- Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
- O -
- Oil and water don't mix.
- Old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill.
- Old habits die hard.
- Once bitten, twice shy.
- One good turn deserves another.
- One man's junk is another man's treasure.
- One picture is worth a thousand words.
- One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel.
- Opportunity seldom knocks twice.
- An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
- Out of sight, out of mind.
- P -
- Patience is a virtue.
- The pen is mightier than the sword.
- A penny saved is a penny earned.
- People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
- A place for everything and everything in its place. -- A Shaker addage
- Possession is nine-tenths of the law.
- Practice makes perfect.
- Practice what you preach.
- Pride comes before a fall.
- The proof of the pudding is in the eating. (Nowadays mysteriously shortened to "the proof is in the pudding")
- Put up or shut up.
- Put your money where your mouth is.
- R -
- The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
- A rolling stone gathers no moss.
- Rome wasn't built in a day.
- Rules were meant to be broken.
- S -
- Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.
- Seeing is believing.
- Shape up or ship out.
- The show must go on.
- Silence is golden.
- Slow and steady wins the race.
- Spare the rod, spoil the child.
- Speak softly and carry a big stick.
- The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
- Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words (sometimes 'names') will never hurt me.
- Stick to your guns.
- Still waters run deep.
- A stitch in time saves nine.
- Stop and smell the roses.
- Strike while the iron is hot
- T -
- Take it with a pinch of salt.
- Talk is cheap.
- There is safety in numbers.
- There's a sucker born every minute.
- There's more than one way to skin a cat.
- There is no accounting for tastes.
- There's no fool like an old fool.
- There is no honor among thieves.
- There's no place like home.
- There's no time like the present.
- They don't make things like they used to.
- This too shall pass.
- Time heals all wounds.
- Time is money.
- To err is human, to forgive, divine.
- Too many cooks spoil the broth.
- Truth is stranger than fiction.
- Turnabout is fair play.
- Two heads are better than one.
- Two's company, three's a crowd.
- Two wrongs don't make a right.
- U -
- Up a creek without a paddle.
- V -
- Variety is the spice of life.
- W -
- Waste not, want not.
- A watched pot never boils.
- The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. -- So why isn't there a dating show on the cooking channel?
- Well begun is half done.
- What goes around comes around.
- Whatever will be, will be.
- What's done is done.
- What you see is what you get.
- When it rains, it pours.
- When in Rome, (do as the Romans do.)
- When the cat's away the mice will play.
- When one door closes another door opens.
- When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
- Where there's a will, there's a way.
- Where there's smoke, there's fire.
- A woman's work is never done.
- Y -
- You cannot serve two masters.
- You can't have your cake and eat it too.
- You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.
- You can't please everyone.
- You can't take it with you.
- You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
- You can't win them all.
- You get what you pay for.
- You have to break a few eggs to make an omlette.
- You have to take the good with the bad.
- You reap what you sow.
- You win some, you lose some.
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