Between the devil and the deep sea : To choose between two equally bad alternatives in a serious dilemma. Where there's a will there's a way: When a person really wants to do something, he will find a way of doing it. A burnt child dreads fire:A bad experience or a horrifying incident may scar one's attitude or thinking for a lifetime. First come, first served:The first in line will be attended to first. A friend in need is a friend indeed: A friend who helps when one is in trouble is a real friend. Discretion is the better part of valor: If you say discretion is the better part of valor, you mean that avoiding a dangerous or unpleasant situation is sometimes the most sensible thing to do. A hungry man is an angry man: A person who does not get what he wants or needs is a frustrated person and will be easily provoked to rage. Empty vessels make the most noise: Those people who have a little knowledge usually talk the most and make the greatest fuss. A man is as old as he feels: A person's age is immaterial - it is only when he thinks and feels that he is ageing that he actually becomes old. Great talkers are little doers: Those people who talk a lot and are always teaching others usually do not do much work. An idle brain is the devil's workshop: One who has nothing to do will be tempted to do many mischievous acts. An ounce of discretion is worth a pound of wit: It is better to be careful and discrete than to be clever. Faint heart never won fair lady: To succeed in life one must have the courage to pursue what he wants. A penny saved is a penny gained: By being thrifty one will be able to save up. A rolling stone gathers no moss: A person who never settles in one place or who often changes his job will not succeed in life ; one who is always changing his mind will never get anything done. As you sow, so you shall reap: One will either enjoy or suffer the consequences of his earlier actions or inactions. Barking dogs seldom bite: Those who make loud threats seldom carry them out. Better late than never: To do something that is right, profitable, or good a little late is still better than not doing it at all. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush: Something that one already has is better than going after something seemingly more worthwhile that one may not be able to get. Birds of a feather flock together: People of the same sort of character or belief always go together. Call a spade a spade: If you say that someone calls a spade a spade, you mean that they speak frankly and directly, often about embarrassing or unpleasant subjects; an informal expression. Charity begins at home: A person's first obligation should be to help the member of his own family before he can begin thinking of talking about helping others. Dead men tell no lies:( often used as an argument for killing someone whose knowledge of a secret may cause one loss or get into serious trouble.) A great talker is a great liar:A smooth and persuasive talker may be a good liar. Every cloud has a silver lining: If you say that every cloud has a silver lining, you mean that every sad or unpleasant situation has a positive side to it. If you talk about silver lining you are talking about something positive that comes out of a sad or unpleasant situation. All that glitters is not gold: Do not be deceived by things or offers that appear to be attractive. Eat to live, but do not live to eat: Man was created for a divine purpose and he has a destiny with his Creator - he was not born just to enjoy food. Don't put all your eggs in one basket: One should not risk everything he has in a single venture. Every dog has its day: Everyone will get a period of success or satisfaction during his lifetime. Every one can find fault, few can do better: It is easier to find fault in other people's actions or methods than to do it properly or correctly. Any time means no time: When an event is not decided on or planned earlier it will never take place. Fair exchange is no robbery: A contract is fair as long as both the parties understand and agree to the conditions willingly; after a deal is closed neither side can turn around and say that he was unfairly treated. Fire is a good servant but a bad master: Fire, like any other manmade tool or device, will serve man well only when it is controlled and used wisely. * (ERMICAL) "It's better to be idiot than to pretend wise" * A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. o Mao Zedong[1] o Meaning: You need to make the initial step if you are ever to complete a task. * A bad penny always turns up. o Meaning: Your mistakes will come back to haunt you. Or Bad people will always return. * A bean in liberty is better than a comfit in prison. * A bellyful is one of meat, drink, or sorrow. * A good enemy is better person than a false friend * A big tree attracts the woodsman's axe. o Meaning: Those who make themselves seem great will attract bad things * An apple a day keeps the doctor away. * A bad workman (always) blames his tools. o Meaning: People never blame themselves for what they do. * A banker is someone who lends you an umbrella when the sun is shining, and who asks for it back when it starts to rain. * A bargain is something you don't need at a price you can't resist. o Franklin P. Jones[2] * A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. * A burnt child dreads the fire. o Meaning: A person who has had bad experiences will shy away from certain things. o This Proverb intimates, That it is natural for all living Creatures, whether rational or irrational, to consult their own Security, and Self-Preservation; and whether they act by Instinct or Reason, it still tends to some care of avoiding those things that have already done them an Injury. - Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721 [1] * A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle. o Attributed to Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi * A night with Venus and a life with mercury. o Anti-promiscuity adage, alluding to a 18th-century mercury-based folk treatment for syphilis o Cited in Bartz, Diane, "Har, me hearties! Excavating Blackbeard's ship", Reuters (via Yahoo! News), 30 October 2006. URL accessed on 2006-11-01. * A cat may look at a king. o Meaning: If a cat may look at the king - then I have a right to look where I please. * A camel is a horse designed by committee. o Meaning: a vision is more perfect from the individual rather than a group of people where it becomes anodyne. * A chain is no stronger than its weakest link. o Meaning: The strength of any group depends on the individual strength of each of its members. o Interpretation: The strength of a group depends on how the less fortunate are treated; equality is the key to strength. * A closed mouth catches no flies. o Meaning: One has to try in order to succeed. * A constant guest is never welcome. * A coward dies a thousand times before his death. The valiant tastes of death but once. o From William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar[3] o Meaning: The valiant (the brave) take no account of possible danger, whereas cowards are constantly fearing the worst. [4] * A fool and his money are soon parted. * A fox smells its own lair first. Or A fox smells its own stink first. Meaning: One knows where they belong, and knows when they make a mistake. * A friend in need is a friend indeed. o Meaning: A genuine friend is with you even in times of trouble. * A friend to all is a friend to none. o Meaning: Someone who appears to be a friend to everyone is not in fact a true friend of anyone. * A good beginning makes (for) a good ending. o Meaning: Planning is the key to success. * A good man in an evil society seems the greatest villain of all. o Meaning: society is what makes good good and bad bad * A good surgeon has an eagle's eye, a lion's heart, and a lady's hand. * A guilty conscience needs no accuser. * A half truth is a whole lie. * A jack of all trades is master of none. * A kingdom is lost for want of a shoe (OR for want of a nail). o Meaning: serious consequences can result from seemingly tiny or trivial omissions and errors. o Originally a rhyme * A lie can be halfway around the world before the truth gets its boots on. o Charles Spurgeon. A great lie may be widely accepted before the truth comes to light. * A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. o A little Learning is a dangerous Thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian Spring: There shallow Draughts intoxicate the Brain, And drinking largely sobers us again. ~ Alexander Pope * A loaded wagon makes no noise. o People with real money don't talk about it. * A miss by an inch is a miss by a mile. o Meaning: A miss is a miss regardless the distance * Always care about your flowers and your friends. Otherwise they'll fade, and soon your house will be empty. * A paragraph should be like a lady's skirt: long enough to cover the essentials but short enough to keep it interesting. * A penny saved is a penny earned. o Attributed to Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanac * A penny spent is a penny earned. o In contrast to spending on the poor people. o Interpretation: capitalist alteration of Ben Franklin's original saying ["A penny saved is a penny earned"]. The concentration on spending rather than saving promotes the contemporary capitalist economic theory of putting money back into the economy (rather than hording it) to create more wealth. * A man is known by the company he keeps. * Anyone who thinks the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, is aiming ten inches too high. * A Pasoly in the eye is worth several in the shins. o A good shot is worth many bad ones * A picture is worth a thousand words. * A pot of milk is ruined by a drop of poison. * A rolling stone gathers no moss. o A Turkish Proverb o Interpretation: A person who is active will not grow stale. o Alternative interpretation: A person who does not stay in one place very long will not develop roots or meaningful connections with others. o Philip K. Dick in We Can Build You (1972) conceives a world where the latter interpretation has become the norm and the former indicative of a mental disorder. * A son is a son 'till he gets him a wife; a daughter's a daughter all her life. o Interpretation: patriarchy is an evil that still plagues society. * A stitch in time saves nine. o Fix the small problem now before it becomes larger and harder to fix. * Ability can take you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there * Absence makes the heart grow fonder. o From Isle of Beauty by Thomas Haynes Bayly o Interpretation: We miss people when we are separated from them. * Act today only tomorrow is too late * Action is the proper fruit of knowledge. * Actions speak louder than words. * Advice most needed is least heeded. * After dinner sit a while, after supper walk a mile. o Americans need more exercise * All cats love fish but hate to get their paws wet. o sometimes you have to do bad things to get good ones * All the world is your country, to do good is your religion. * All flowers are not in one garden. * All frills and no knickers. o Possible interpretation: All style and no substance. * All good things must come to an end. * All hat and no cattle. o Possible interpretation: All talk and appearance and little or no substance. * All roads lead to Rome. o Possible interpretation: However you try to go about things all will lead to the same conclusions o Possible interpretation: Power draws all things to itself. o Interpretation: The heartland/metropolis (for better or worse) yields considerable power. * All's fair in love and war. o Interpretation: Love and War are arenas of complete passion that often obfuscate reason. * All for one and one for all. o Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers * All's well that ends well. o A play by William Shakespeare o Variant: All is well that ends well. - Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721 [2] * All sizzle and no steak. o Possible interpretation: All style and no substance * All that glisters is not gold. o William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, act II, scene 7 o Possible interpretation: Not everything is what it appears to be. * All things come to him who waits. * All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. * All play and no work makes Jack a mere toy. * An Englishman's home is his castle. o Possible interpretation: A person is king in his home. o Another interpretation: a man feels safe in his home. o Interpretation: Men hyperbolize the size of their possessions (and other things) due to insecurity. * An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. o Possible interpretation: retribution should be equitable, proportionate and "fit the crime". Biblical reference, modern usage often connotes support for capital punishment. * An empty vessel makes the most noise o Those with the least understanding often complain about things the most. * An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind. * An old dog will learn no tricks. - Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721 [3] * An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. o Possible interpretation: Similar to that of A stitch in time saves nine. Preventing something in advance is better than fixing it later on. * April showers bring May flowers. o Meaning: Something seeming bad or boring now brings good things in the future. * Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies. o Alternative: Ask no questions and hear no lies. * As fit as a fiddle. o Meaning: very fit and well * As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another * As soon as a man is born,he begins to die. * As you make your bed, so you must lie in it. * Aught for naught, and a penny change. o Northern English, Anything for nothing... * A watched pot never boils. o Main interpretation: Time seems to pass quicker when you aren't consciously waiting for something o Possible interpretation: Worrying over something can make the task seem to take longer than it should. * A woman's work is never done. o From a folk rhyme - A man may work from sun to sun, but a woman's work is never done, meaning that a man's traditional role as breadwinner may keep him occupied from sun-up to sundown, but the traditional roles of a woman demand even longer hours of work. * A word spoken is past recalling. o Alternative: What's done is done (so think before doing). o Alternative: History repeats itself * A woman is like a cup of tea; you'll never know how strong she is until she boils * Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither. ?- C. S. Lewis * An ounce of discretion is worth a pound of wit. o Meaning: it is better to be careful and discrete than to be clever. [edit] B * Building relationships is like fermenting wine; You may crush the grapes with ample efforts and give them enough warmth at the inception, Yet the wine will age at its own leisurely pace. - vikrant sawant [vapocalypse] o Meaning : Relationships grow at their own pace no matter how hard you push it. * Bad news travels fast. * Barking dogs seldom bite. o Meaning: People who are busy complaining rarely take more concrete hostile action. o Alternate meaning: Those who cast threats are seldom man enough to carry them out. * Barking up the wrong tree. * Before criticizing a man, walk a mile in his shoes. o Meaning: One should not criticize a person without understanding their situation. * Beggars can't be choosers. o Meaning: Those who are in need of help should not criticize the help they receive. * Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. * Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. o Variant: Better to remain silent and thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt. * Better late than never. o Meaning: It's better to make an effort to keep an appointment than to give up altogether when you discover you will be late. * Better safe than sorry. o Meaning: It is better to take precautions when its possible that something can go amiss then to regret doing nothing later if something should indeed go wrong. * Better the devil you know (than the one you don't). * Beware of the Bear when he tucks in his shirt. * Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, and inwardly are ravening wolves. (Matthew; bible quote) * Beware of Greeks bearing gifts. o A reference to the Trojan Horse * Birds of a feather flock together. o Variant: Birds of the same feather flock together. + Meaning: People who are similar to one another tend to stay together. * Bitter pills may have blessed effects. * Blood is thicker than water. o Meaning: Bonds between family members are stronger than other relationships. * Blood will out. o Meaning: A person's ancestry or upbringing will eventually show. * Bloom where you are planted. * Born with a silver spoon in his/her mouth. o Meaning: Born in a rich family. * Boys will be boys. o Meaning: Boys are traditionally expected to misbehave, while girls are not. * Brag is a good Dog, but Holdfast is a better o This Proverb is a Taunt upon Braggadoccio's, who talk big, boast, and rattle: It is also a Memento for such who make plentiful promises to do well for the future but are suspected to want Constancy and Resolution to make them good. - Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721 [4] * Brain is better than brawn. * Bread is the staff of life. * Buy the best and you only cry once.