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German Proverbs (401-500)

A penny is a penny's brother.

He who digs a pit for others falls into it himself.

Hard against hard never was good.

Even the best hack stumbles once.

Spur not a willing horse.

The miller's hen and widower's maid
of want need never be afraid.

It is a bad horse that does not earn his fodder.

It is a bad hen that lays in neighbors' houses.

One may see through a wall, if there's a hole in it.

Knowing hens lay even in nettles.

Another man's horse and your own spurs outrun the wind.

A hearth of your own is worth gold.

Who honors not age is unworthy of it.

Everybody's companion is nobody's friend.

Paper is patient.

People often change and seldom for the better.

Pilgrims seldom come home saints.

Praising is not loving.

Many can help one.

A hired horse and one's own spurs make short miles.

What comes from the heart, goes to the heart.

It is easy to help him, who is willing to be helped.

The nearer the inn, the longer the road.

Hunger is the best cook.

Jealousy is a pain which eagerly seeks what causes pain.

Judges should have two ears, both alike.

Many hand soon make an end.

Greatness alone is not enough,
or the cow would outrun the hare.

No jealousy, no love.

Where there's no jealousy, there's no love.

Straying shepherd, straying sheep.

He who has the Pope for his cousin may soon be a cardinal.

Every man is the best interpreter of his own words.

Too much humility is pride.

He that wants the kernel must crack the nut.

He who buys a house gets many a plank and nail for nothing.

Said in jest, meant in earnest.

Many have good intentions,
but something bad comes across them.

Every hare may pluck the dead lion's mane.

Idleness is the devil's workshop.

Who refuses to submit to justice, must not complain of oppression.

He who is judge between two friends loses one of them.

Ingratitude sickens benevolence.

It is too late to spare when the pocket is bare.

Pills must be swallowed, not chewed.

Ingratitude is the world's reward.

When the jest is at its best, it will be well to let it rest.

Let him that itches scratch himself.

It is easier to hurt than to heal.

Even a hair casts its shadow.

Hat in hand goes through the whole land.

He who does not improve today
will grow worse tomorrow.

No house without a mouse,
no barn without corn,
no rose without a thorn.

He that hunts others must run himself.

Jest not in earnest.

Joy and sorrow are next-door neighbors.

If the landlady is fair, the wine is fair.

Poverty and hunger have many learned disciples.

He who prates much, lies much.

Not every land has all at hand.

Better free in a foreign land than a serf at home.

Hares are caught with hounds,
fools with praise, and women with gold.

Cold hand, a warm heart.

He that has good legs has often bad boots.

If you would have the lamp burn, you must pour oil into it.

Leaves alone don't make a salad.

Kindness breaks no bones.

If you would have the lamp burn, you must pour oil into it.

There is no law but has a hole in it for those who can find it out.

The more law, the less justice.

Better free in a foreign land than a serf at home.

Pope We cannot all be Pope in Rome.

He plays best who wins.

One hair at a time, and the man is bald at last.

Having is having, come whence it may.

Lawyers are bad Christians.

Without knowledge, without sin.

Not every land has all at hand.

If the landlady is fair, the wine is fair.

To know is easier than to do.

We know what we have, but not what we shall get.

No one is too old to learn.

The king cannot always rule as he wishes.

A little too late is much too late.

With patience and time the mulberry
leaf becomes a silk gown.

One hair of a woman draws more than a bell rope.

Bitter pills are gilded.

Old pigs have hard snouts.

Every laborer is worthy of his hire.

Watching women is labor in vain.

As fast as laws are devised, their evasion is contrived.

New laws, new roguery.

As the labor, so the pay.

The key that is used grows bright.

A little too late is much too late.

He who would climb the ladder must begin at the bottom.

Let people talk and dogs bark.

Peacock, look at your legs.

What the lion cannot, the fox can.

Lies melt like snow.

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