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English Proverbs (1201-1300)

He that will steal an egg will steal an ox.

It is ill healing of an old sore.

Time at last makes all things even.

Women and wine, game and deceit,
make the wealth small and the wants great.

It will not always be honeymoon.

Better a lean purse than an empty stomach.

Wide will wear but narrow will tear.

Words are women.

Near is my shirt, but nearer is my skin.

By doing nothing we learn to do ill.

Walls have ears.

Earth must to earth.

When riches increase, the body decreases.

No man can please all.

Poor men's reasons are not heard.

Those who say they care least care most.

A great man has not a great son.

The great man makes the great thing.

Love is meat and drink, and a blanket to boot.

He sups ill who eats up all at dinner.

Though the sun shine leave not your cloak at home.

Make haste and leave nothing to waste.

Who spits against heaven, spit falls in his face.

He that will eat the kernel must crack the nut.

Bare words are no good bargain.

One cannot love and be wise.

Be it better, be it worse, do after him that bears the purse.

Choose your company before you drink.

Let him that begins the song make an end.

The best things are hard to come by.

Debt is better than death.

The crow thinks her own birds fairest.

The anvil fears no blows.

You'll not believe he's bald till you see his brains.

Truth will sometimes break out, unlooked for.

He carries his brains in his breeches-pocket.

Plenty breeds pride.

Misunderstanding brings lies to town.

Eat-well is drink-well's brother.

Business is business.

Fair words butter no parsnips.

It must be a bold mouse that can breed in the cat's ear.

A full cup must be carried steadily.

Good liquor will make a cat speak.

Women are necessary evils.

Fair words and foul play cheat both young and old.

That which will not be butter must be made into cheese.

Old men are twice children.

He that reckons without his host must reckon twice.

One cloud is enough to eclipse all the sun.

The scalded dog fears cold water.

While the dog gnaws a bone, he loves no company.

Second thoughts are best.

Good words cost no more than bad.

Varnishing hides a crack.

A king without learning is but a crowned ass.

An idle person is the devil's cushion.

Take heed of the vinegar of sweet wine.

He had need rise betimes that would please everybody.

God forgotten The river passed and God forgotten.

The love of unearned money is the root of all evil.

Money is that which art has turned up trump.

He that dances must pay the fiddler.

All fame is dangerous.

At the working man's house,
hunger looks in but dares not enter.

Think of ease, but work on.

Few days pass without some clouds.

Busy folks are always meddling.

It is an ill procession where the devil bears the cross.

Sloth turns the edge of wit.

Love and knowledge live not together.

Edged tools never wound you
when you are used to them.

Make not a gauntlet of a hedging glove.

At marriages and funerals
friends are discerned from kinsfolk.

The hen discovers her nest by cackling.

Knaves and fools divide the world.

A woman can do more than the devil.

Look not for musk in a dog's kennel.

Nothing dries sooner than a tear.

One nail drives out another.

Cock make free with the horse's corn.

A free horse is soon tired.

Many a dog is hanged for his skin,
and many a man is killed for his purse.

No one can cut down a pine and live to see the stump rotten.

The early sower never borrows of the late.

It is as easy to marry a widow
as to put a halter on a dead horse.

Once paid never craved.

Take heed of reconciled enemies.

Better have a dog fawn upon you than bite you.

Man is a wolf to man.

Seek your salve where you got your sore.

The fat man knows not what the lean thinks.

Mud chokes no eels.

Loss embraces shame.

Merry meet, merry part.

A spot is most seen upon the finest cloth.

Bashfulness is an enemy to poverty.

Keep your shop and your shop will keep you.

Money is no fool, if a wise man have it in keeping.

Grace will last, beauty will blast.

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