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Italian Proverbs (401-500)

He who is in hell knows not what heaven is.

Who comes last shuts the door.

No sooner is the law made than its evasion is discovered.

He who serves two masters must lie to one of them.

Grief for a dead wife lasts to the door.

Public money is like holy water-every one helps himself to it.

He is not a good mason who refuses any stone.

Marriages are not as they are made, but as they turn out.

He who guesses well prophesies well.

Hide not the truth from your confessor,
your doctor, or your lawyer.

The sick man is free to say all.

Measure three times and cut once.

The well-fed man does not believe in hunger.

He who pays well is master of other men's purses.

He who knows but little quickly tells it.

He who will not serve one master must needs serve many.

The sick man is free to say all.

He is master of another man's life who is indifferent to his own.

Don't play with the bear if you don't want to be bit.

He is not a thorough wise man who
cannot play the fool on occasion.

Hour by hour time departs.

A happy heart is better than a full purse.

He is not a man who cannot say no.

Give the wise man a hint and leave him to act.

To protest and knock one's head against
the wall is what everybody can do.

The well-fed man does not believe in hunger.

For an honest man half his wits are enough;
the whole is too little for a knave.

Let him not be a lover who has not courage.

He who swears is a liar.

Good or bad we must all live.

Light is painful to sore eyes.

Love levels all inequalities.

Good is good, but better beats it.

Love knows not labor.

Love is master of all arts.

Ill luck comes by pounds and goes away by ounces.

Lovers think others are blind.

A wise man and a fool together
know more than a wise man alone.

Who has love in his heart has spurs in his sides.

A little man often casts a long shadow.

Who loves, believes.

A blind man is no judge of colors.

A dead man does not make war.

When God will not, the saints cannot.

Bad grass does not make good hay.

A drowning man would catch at razors.

Where there is great love there is great pain.

As is the lover so is the beloved.

Who loves, fears.

It is a sorry house where the hen’s
crow and the cock is silent.

A married man is a caged bird.

A loving man, a jealous man.

Love demands faith, and faith firmness.

He cannot lead a good life who serves without wages.

Love is an excuse for its own faults.

Out of a great evil often comes a great good.

He who grasps too much holds nothing fast.

He may lie safely who comes from afar.

The lion is known by his claws.

Though a lie be swift, truth overtakes it.

When the lion is dead the hares jump upon his carcass.

One lie draws ten after it.

Who knows most, forgives most.

He who knows nothing knows enough,
if he knows how to be silent.

One knife whets another.

He who does as he likes has no headache.

Who is in fear of every leaf must not go into the wood.

The gown does not make the friar.

Gold does not buy everything.

Who knows most believes least.

Where there is not equality there
never can be perfect love.

One knife keeps another in its sheath.

A fat kitchen is next door to poverty.

Who buys land buys war.

Laughter makes good blood.

No good lawyer ever goes to law himself.

We learn by teaching.

Who buys land buys war.

He who knows nothing never doubts.

When gold speaks every tongue is silent.

To know everything is to know nothing.

Three know it, all know it.

A kick of a mare never hurt a colt.

Hunger transmutes beans into almonds.

Nothing is ever done well in a hurry,
except catching flies.

No one likes justice brought home to his own door.

Who judges others, condemns himself.

It is too late to come with water
when the house is burnt down.

For extreme ills extreme remedies.

It is better to have a husband without love than jealous.

The tree is not to be judged by its bark.

Give time time.

A gold key opens every door.

It is no time to play chess when the house is on fire.

The wrong-doer never lacks excuses.

It is not enough to know how to steal;
one must know also to conceal.

The best spices are in small bags.

If pride were an art, how many
graduates we should have.

There is no beard so well shaven but another
barber can’t find room for improvement.

At a good bargain pause and ponder.

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