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.
