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List of proverbial phrases

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Below is an alphabetical list of widely used and repeated proverbial phrases. If known, their origins are noted.

A proverbial phrase or expression is a type of conventional saying similar to a proverb and transmitted by oral tradition. The difference is that a proverb is a fixed expression, while a proverbial phrase permits alterations to fit the grammar of the context.[1][2]

In 1768, John Ray defined a proverbial phrase as:

A proverb [or proverbial phrase] is usually defined, an instructive sentence, or common and pithy saying, in which more is generally designed than expressed, famous for its peculiarity or elegance, and therefore adopted by the learned as well as the vulgar, by which it is distinguished from counterfeits which want such authority

— John Ray, A Compleat Collection of English Proverbs, 1798[3]

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A

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B

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C

D

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E

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F

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G

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H

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I

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J

K

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L

M

N

O

P

  • Parsley seed goes nine times to the Devil[a]
  • Patience is a virtue[a]
  • Pearls of wisdom[a]
  • Penny wise and pound foolish[a]
  • Penny, Penny. Makes many.
  • People who live in glass houses should not throw stones[a]
  • Physician, heal thyself[a]
  • Play stupid games, win stupid prizes[24]
  • Possession is nine-tenths of the law[a]
  • Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely[a]
  • Practice makes perfect[a]
  • Practice what you preach[a]
  • Preaching to the choir
  • Prevention is better than cure[a]
  • Pride comes/goes before a fall (O.T.),[a][b]
  • Procrastination is the thief of time
  • Putting the cart before the horse
  • Put your best foot forward[a]
  • Put your money where your mouth is[a]

R

  • Rain does not fall on one roof alone.[25]
  • Red sky at night shepherd's delight; red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning[a]
  • Respect is not given, it is earned.
  • Revenge is a dish best served cold[a]
  • Revenge is sweet[a]
  • Rome was not built in one day[a][b]
  • Right or wrong, my country[a]
  • Risk it for a biscuit.[26]
  • Rules were made to be broken.

S

  • See a pin and pick it up, all the day you will have good luck; See a pin and let it lay, bad luck you will have all day[a]
  • See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil[a]
  • Seeing is believing[a]
  • Seek and ye shall find[a]
  • Set a thief to catch a thief[a]
  • Shiny are the distant hills[a]
  • Shrouds have no pockets[a]
  • (Speech is silver but) Silence is golden[a]
  • Sit crooked and talk straight[27]
  • Slow and steady wins the race[a]
  • Slow but sure[a]
  • Smooth move
  • Snake in the grass
  • Softly, softly, catchee monkey[a]
  • Some are more equal than others (George Orwell, Animal Farm)
  • Sometimes we are the student. Sometimes we are the master. And sometimes we are merely the lesson – Jacalyn Smith[a]
  • Spare the rod and spoil the child[a]
  • Speak as you find[a]
  • Speak of the devil and he shall/is sure/will appear
  • Speak softly and carry a big stick[a]
  • Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me[a]
  • Still waters run deep[a]
  • Strike while the iron is hot[a]
  • Stupid is as stupid does[a]
  • Success has many fathers, while failure is an orphan[a]
  • (A) swarm in May is worth a load of hay; a swarm in June is worth a silver spoon; but a swarm in July is not worth a fly

T

U

  • Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown[31]
  • United we stand, divided we fall[32]
  • Until the lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter (African Proverb)[33]
  • Use it or lose it
  • Ugly is as ugly does
  • Up a creek without a paddle
  • United we bargain; divided we beg
  • Unity is strength

V

  • Variety is the spice of life. William Cowper, English poet (1731–1800)[34]
  • Virtue is its own reward

W

Y

  • You are never too old to learn[a]
  • You are what you eat[a]
  • You can have too much of a good thing[a]
  • You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink[a]
  • You can never/never can tell
  • You cannot always get what you want
  • You cannot burn a candle at both ends.
  • You cannot have your cake and eat it too[a]
  • You cannot get blood out of a stone[a]
  • You cannot make a silk purse from a sow's ear[a]
  • You cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs[a]
  • You cannot make bricks without straw[a]
  • You cannot push a rope
  • You cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hounds[a]
  • (You cannot) teach an old dog new tricks[a]
  • You cannot unscramble eggs
  • You cannot win them all[a]
  • You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar[a]
  • You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain[a]
  • You pay your money and you take your choice[a]
  • Youth is wasted on the young[a]
  • You may/might as well be hanged/hung for a sheep as (for) a lamb
  • You must have rocks in your head[a]
  • You scratch my back and I will scratch yours
  • You only live once.
  • You'll never get if you never go
  • You're never fully dressed without a smile
  • You've got to separate the wheat from the chaff[a]
  • You've made your bed and you must lie in/on it

Z

  • Zeal without knowledge is fire without light

Notes

  1. "Meanings and Origins of Phrases, Sayings and Idioms". Gary Martin. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
  2. Benham, W. Gurney (1926). Putnam's Complete Book of Quotations, Proverbs, and Household Words. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

References

External links

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