o Idioms and Phrasal Verbs -...

Actions speak louder than words.

o Hill Festetits, Kate Neely (2011). McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American

Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. BiblioBazaar. pp. 248. 1179034821.

All cats love fish but hate to get their paws wet.

o Meaning: Everyone wants success but many lack the self-discipline to become

successful.

o Martyn, Elizabeth (2007). Why Do Cats. 477. Love Eating Fish But Hate

Getting Wet Paws. New Holland Publishers. pp. 272. 1845379535.

All for one and one for all.

o Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers

All good things must come to an end.

o Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs.

Oxford University Press. p. BLANK. ISBN 0199539537.

All's well that ends well.

o Title of a play by William Shakespeare

o Variant: All is well that ends well. - Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721 [1]

All that glisters is not gold.

o William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, act II, scene 7.

o Often corrupted to: All that glitters is not gold.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

o Cf. Notes and Queries magazine, Feb. 24, 1866, p. 153: "Eat an apple on going

to bed, // And you'll keep the doctor from earning his bread." [2]

o Adapted to its current form in the 1900s as a marketing slogan used by

American growers concerned that the temperance movement would cut into

sales of apple cider. (Michael Pollan, The Botany of Desire, Random House,

2001, ISBN 0375501290, p. 22, cf. p. 9 & 50)

Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies.

o Cf. Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer (1773): "Ask me no questions,

and I’ll tell you no fibs"

[edit] B

A bad workman blames his tools.

o George Herbert reports early English variants in Jacula Prudentum; or,

Outlandish Proverbs, Sentences, Etc. (1640):

Never hand an ill workman good tools.

An ill labourer quarrels with his tools.

The Works of George Herbert in Prose and Verse; 1881, New

York: John Wurtele Lovell, Pub.; pp. 440 & 454

o Compare the older French proverb:

Outil: ... Meſchant ouvrier ne trouvera ia bons outils: Prov. A bungler

cannot find (or fit himself with) with good tools.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Botany_of_Desire


http://en.wikiquote.org/w/index.php?title=English_proverbs&action=edit&section=1

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Herbert

http://books.google.com/books?id=HXAYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA437

Randle Cotgrave, A Dictionarie of the French and English

Tongues (1611)

o Galen explains clearly, if less succinctly, in De Causis Procatarcticis (2nd c.

A.D.), VI. 63–65:

They blame their tools: why did the carpenter make the bed so badly, if

he was any good? He will reply: "Because I used a poor axe and a thick

gimlet, because I did not have a rule, I lost my hammer, and the hatchet

was blunt", and other things of this kind. And the scribe, asked why he

wrote so badly, will say that the paper was rough, the ink too fluid, the

pen blunt, that he did not have a smoother, so that he could not write

any better. Once again, this man holds his material responsible, and

blames his tools as well, in mentioning the pen and smoother. And who

does not know that artisans make themselves responsible for the

deficiencies in their work too, when they cannot pin the blame on

material and tools?

Galen On Antecedent Causes, Tr. R. J. Hankinson, Cambridge

University Press, 1998, ISBN 0521622506, p. 90–93

Barking dogs seldom bite.

o A person who often threatens rarely carries out his threats.

o Devraj, Venkat (2000). The Sterling Book Of Prose Compositions. Sterling

Publishers Pvt. Ltd. p. 5. 8120721381.

Before criticizing a man, walk a mile in his shoes.

o Preston, R. Preston (2005). Competitive solutions: the strategist's toolkit.

Princeton University Press. p. XV. 0691124035.

Beggars can't be choosers.

o Meaning: If you are in a bad situation or do not have much to offer you must

be content with whatever help you can get.

o Hiner, Kirk (2002). Mowin' the Heavenly Lawn. iUniverse. p. 87. 0595236839.

The belly has no ears.

o This Proverb intimates, that there is no arguing the Matter with Hunger,

the Mother of Impatience and Anger. - Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721

[3]

Better the devil you know (than the one you don't).


Oxford University Press. pp. 388. ISBN 0199539537.

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 out and

remove all doubt. (often attributed to Abraham Lincoln but taken from

Solomon's Proverbs)

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.

o From Virgil's Aeneid Book II, line 48: timeo Danaos et dona ferentes.

Translation: I fear the Grecians even when they offer gifts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randle_Cotgrave

http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cotgrave/search/683r.html

http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cotgrave/search/683r.html

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Galen

http://books.google.com/books?id=W3rsfIUdS_cC&printsec=frontcover




http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Virgil#The_Aeneid

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

o John Bunyan cites this traditional proverb in The Pilgrim's Progress, (1678):

So are the men of this world: They must have all their good things now;

they cannot stay till the next year, that is, until the next world, for their

portion of good. That proverb, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the

bush," is of more authority with them than are all the divine testimonies

of the good of the world to come.

A blow with a word strikes deeper than a blow with a sword.

o Robert Burton cites this traditional proverb in The Anatomy of Melancholy

(1621):

It is an old saying, "A blow with a word strikes deeper than a blow with

a sword:" and many men are as much galled with a calumny, a

scurrilous and bitter jest, a libel, a pasquil, satire, apologue, epigram,

stage-play or the like, as with any misfortune whatsoever.

Part I, Section II, Member IV, Subsection IV

o Compare: "The pen is mightier than the sword."

o Contrast: "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt

me."

Bloom where you are planted.

o Meaning: Accept your lot in life, but make the best out of it.; Take advantage

of whatever gifts you have.

o Szerlip (2004). Grow Where You Are Planted: Learning by Design. Martha

Szerlip. pp. 320. ISBN 0974567507.

Boys will be boys.

o Miedzian, Myriam (2002). Boys will be boys: breaking the link between

masculinity and violence. Lantern Books. pp. 386. ISBN 1590560353.

Brag is a good Dog, but Holdfast is a better

o Meaning: A variation of "Talk is cheap".

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]

A broken watch is right two times a day.

o Meaning: A person who is wrong will eventually be right about something.

o Honthaner, Eve Light (2010). I Hollywood drive: what it takes to break in,

hang in & make it in the entertainment industry. Elsevier. p. 341. ISBN

0240806689.

A burnt child dreads the fire.

o Meaning: You will avoid an activity which has given you a bad experience for

the rest of your life.

o Chinese Version: One bitten by a snake for a snap dreads a rope for a

decade.一朝被蛇咬，十年怕井绳

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Bunyan

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Burton






o Indian Version: The one burnt by hot milk drinks even cold buttermilk with

precaution. Transliteration: Doodh ka jala chhanchh ko bhi phoonk phoonk ke

peeta hai.

o Cf. "Once bitten, twice shy"

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 [5]

[edit] C

A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.

o You don't lose anything by enlightening others.

o Groft, Jan (2010). As We Grieve: Discoveries of Grace in Sorrow. Greenleaf

Book Group. p. 19. 0984230602.

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

o Variant.: A chain is no stronger than its weakest link.

o Meaning: The efficiency of an organization is determined by the most

incompetent member within it's hierarchy.

o Cf. Thomas Reid Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man, 1786, Vol. II,

p.377, Essay VII, Of Reasoning, and of Demonstration, ch. 1: "In every chain

of reasoning, the evidence of the last conclusion can be no greater than that of

the weakest link of this chain, whatever may be the strength of the rest." [6]

The child is father to the man.

o The original version of this quote is "The child is father of the man" from

William Wordsworth's poem "My Heart Leaps up When I Behold". See

http://www.bartleby.com/145/ww194.html

o Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote a poem in answer to Wordsworth's use of this

phrase, and uses the quote as given here on wikiquote. See

http://www.bartleby.com/122/68.html

Cometh the hour, cometh the man.

o Meaning: Someone will come to help in a precarious situation.

o (Some information about the phrase and about its use by a 1940's cricketer)

Common sense is not so common

o From Voltaire's Dictionnaire philosophique portatif (1765)

o Paraphrased by graphic designers as 'Comic Sans is not so comic'.

A coward dies a thousand times before his death. The valiant never taste of death but

once.

o From William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar The original is spoken by Caesar

(Act II scene 2). The actual words as written were: 'Cowards die many times

before their deaths;

The valiant never taste of death but once.' Complete text at [7]



http://en.wikiquote.org/w/index.php?title=Thomas_Reid&action=edit&redlink=1

http://www.archive.org/stream/essaysonintellec02reiduoft/essaysonintellec02reiduoft_djvu.txt

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Wordsworth

http://www.bartleby.com/145/ww194.html

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gerard_Manley_Hopkins

http://www.bartleby.com/122/68.html

http://www1c.btwebworld.com/quote-unquote/p0000149.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Gladwin

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Voltaire


http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar_(play)

http://www.william-shakespeare.info/act2-script-text-julius-caesar.htm

[edit] D

Discretion is the better part of valor.

o Meaning: It is better to avoid a dangerous situation than to confront it.

o Derived from "The better part of valour is discretion, in the which better part I

have saved my life." Falstaff in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

o Based on the Bible (Matthew 7:12; Luke 6:31). "Therefore all things

whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for

this is the law and the prophets" in the King James version; "So in everything,

do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law

and the Prophets." in the New International Version

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

o Thang, Chilung Mark (2002). The essential biotech investment guide: how to

invest in the healthcare biotechnology & life sciences sector. World Scientific.

p. 131. ISBN 9812381392.

Don't put the cart before the horse.

o Cf. Dan Michael of Northgate, Ayenbite of Inwyt (1340): "Many religious folk

set the plough before the oxen." (Middle English: "Moche uolk of religion

зetteþ þe зuolз be-uore þe oksen.")

Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

o Meaning: Don't reject something entirely because parts of it are bad.

o Brown, James Kyle (2001). I Give God a Chance: Christian Spirituality from

the Edgar Cayce Readings. Jim Brown. p. 8. ISBN 0759621705.

The door swings both ways.

o Meaning: What you do to me, I can do to you.

o Borcherdt, Bill (1996). Making families work and what to do when they don't:

thirty guides for imperfect parents of imperfect children. Routledge. p. 65.

0789000733.

[edit] E

Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.

o Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack (1735 edition), "October"

Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.

o Will Durant, quoted in "Books: The Great Gadfly", Time magazine, 8 October

1965

The ends justify the means.

o Ovid, Heroides (c. 10 BC): Exitus acta probat. See also: Means and ends.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

o Meaning: An incompetent person will be right sometimes.


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http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_IV,_Part_1


http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ayenbite_of_Inwyt



http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin

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http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Will_Durant

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ovid

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Means_and_ends

o Tassone, John J. (2002). Go For It!. Cypress House. p. 11. 187938485X.

Even a dog can distinguish between being stumbled over and being kicked.

o Gill, Peter Edward (2006). Moral judgments of violence among Irish and

Swedish adolescents. Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis. p. 70. 9173460761.

Every dog has its day.

o Meaning: Everyone gets their chance eventually.

o Variation on a quote from Hamlet: "...whatever Hercules says, the cat will

mew and dog will have its day."

Everyone talks of changing the world, but no one talks of changing himself.[Leo

Tolstoy]

o Tome, Brian (2010). Free Book. Thomas Nelson Inc. p. 132. 084992006X.

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

o Justice, G. (2004). Jesus the Maverick King. AuthorHouse. p. 56. 1418486698.

o A response, often attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, is "An eye for an eye will

make the whole world blind."

Bregman, Lucy (2009). Religion, Death, and Dying: Volume 3:

Bereavement and Death Rituals. ABC-CLIO. p. 177. 0313351791.

[edit] F

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

o Alexander Pope, "An Essay on Criticism"

o Meaning: Fools are often reckless in dangerous situations.

For want of a nail the shoe is lost, for want of a shoe the horse is lost, for want of a

horse the rider is lost.

o Meaning: A seemingly insignificant thing that goes wrong can result in

problems of enormous proportions.

o Proverb reported by George Herbert, Jacula Prudentum (1651), #495

From those to whom much is given, much is expected.

o Biblical quote Luke 12:48

Fortune favours the brave.

o Meyer, Bruce (2004). Fortune Favors the Brave. St. Martin's Press. p. 8. ISBN

0312996802.

Footprints on the sands of time are not made by sitting down.

o Meaning: Idle people will quickly be forgotten by history.

o Manser, Martin H.; Fergusson, Rosalind; Pickering, David (2007). The Facts

on File dictionary of proverbs. Infobase Publishing. pp. 499. 0816066736.

[edit] G

Garbage in, garbage out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi


http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexander_Pope





o Meaning: Faulty instructions will only result in faulty results.

o Manser, Martin H (2007). The Facts on File dictionary of proverbs. Infobase

Publishing. p. 98. 0816066736.

Give a dog a bad name and hang him.

o Meaning: Once you have lost your reputation, it is very hard to regain it.

o Dickens, Charles (1999). Our Mutual Friend. ARcade Publishing. p. 373.

1559705485.

Give a dog a bad name and he'll live up to it. (or repay you for it)

o Meaning: How well a dog behaves depends on how he has been treated.

o Clarke, Nick (1865). Alistair Cooke: a biography. Routledge. p. 174.

1420931989.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for

a lifetime.

o Blue, Kevin (2006). Practical Justice: Living Off-Center in a Self-Centered

World. InterVarsity Press. p. 51. 0830833684.

Give and take is fair play.

o Meaning: It is fair to treat someone equally bad as you have been treated

yourself.


Publishing. p. 133. 0816066736.

Give, and ye shall receive.

o Luke 6:38

Give credit where credit is due.

o Derived from Romans 13:7

o Variant: Give the Devil his due.

Give him an inch and he'll take a yard.

o Variant: Give the Camel an inch and it will take an ell.

o Variant: Give a nigger an inch and he'll take an ell.

o Twain, Mark (1885). Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Charles L. Webster and

Company. p. 222 (EBook).

o Variant: Give him an inch and he'll take a mile.

o Strauss, Emanuel (1998). Concise dictionary of European proverbs.

Routledge. p. 240. 0415160502.

Go with the flow

o Meaning: Accept your lot, but make the best out of it.

o Ellis, Rex (2009). Go with the Flow. Wakefield Press. pp. 208. ISBN

1862548536.

God cures and the physician takes the fee.

o Collier, Robert (2008). Secret of the Ages. Wilder Publications. p. 143. ISBN

1604590467.

A good beginning makes (for) a good ending.


Publishing. p. 105. 0816066736.

o Chinese Version: A good beginning is half a succession

Good eating deserves good drinking.

o Littell, Eliakim (1844). The living age, Volume 1. Littell, Son and Co.. p. 252.

Good fences make good neighbors.

o Robert Frost, "Mending Wall"


Publishing. p. 106. 0816066736.





http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Frost

Good men are hard to find.

o O'Connor, Flannery; Asals, Frederick (1844). A good man is hard to find.

Littell, Son and Co.. p. 252.

A good surgeon has an eagle's eye, a lion's heart, and a lady's hand.

o Mieder, Wolfgang; Kingsbury, Stewart A.; Harder, Kelsie B. (1992). A

Dictionary of American proverbs. p. 449.

Good wine needs no bush.

o Note: It was customary since early times to hang a grapevine, ivy or other

greenery over the door of a tavern or way stop to advertise the availability of

drink within.

o Meaning: A good product does not need advertising: it will spread through

word of mouth or by the sight of others using it.

o Martin (2010). Good Wine Needs No Bush. Arthur Bruce Martin. pp. 200.

ISBN 0646539477.

The grass is always greener on the other side...


Publishing. p. 105. 0816066736.

Great events cast their shadows before them.

o The Edinburgh review, Volym 132. A. and C. Black. 1870. p. 231.

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.

o Albert Einstein

o Buziak, Cari (2011). Calligraphy Magic: How to Create Lettering, Knotwork,

Coloring and More. North Light Books. p. 79.

A guilty conscience needs no accuser.


Publishing. p. 112. 0816066736.

[edit] H

A half truth is a whole lie.

o Tal (2005). Double Crossing. Cinco Puntos Press. p. 78. ISBN 0938317946.

(You can't) Have your cake and eat it too

o Cf. George Herbert The Sizz "Wouldst thou both eat thy cake and have it"

o Have Your Cake and Eat It Too. Brandy House. 2005. ISBN 1440466823.

Haste makes waste.


Publishing. p. 115. 0816066736.

The head and feet keep warm, the rest will take no harm.

o Manser, M. (2006). The Wordsworth dictionary of proverbs. Wordsworth

Editions. p. 272. ISBN 1840223111.

He laughs best who laughs last

o Ammer, Christine (1997). The American Heritage dictionary of idioms.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 368. 039572774X.

He who dares wins



Health is wealth


Editions. p. 273. ISBN 1840223111.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned


http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein







Publishing. p. 117. 0816066736.

Hindsight is always twenty-twenty

o 20-20 refers to perfect vision.

o Brenner, Gail Abel (2003). Concise dictionary of European proverbs. Wiley.

p. 284. 0764524771.

Home is where the heart is



He who hesitates is lost.



Handsome is what handsome does.



[edit] I

I complained I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.

o Letshabo, Ronnie (2010). No Limits. Quickfox Publishing. p. 68. ISBN

0620459018.

Idle hands are the devil's playthings.

o Lowry, Lois (1980). Autumn street. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 59. ISBN

0395278120.

If a job is worth doing, it is worth doing well.


Publishing. p. 133. 0816066736.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

o Cf. William Edward Hickson's Try and Try again

"Tis a lesson you should heed:

Try, try, try again.

If at first you don't succeed,

Try, try, try again"

o Butts, Darlene Gudrie (2009). Lessons from the Depression. Lessons from the

Depression. p. 102. ISBN 1440135800.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

o Variation: If it isn't broken, don't fix it.

o Perkins, David N (2007). Outsmarting intelligence quotient. Simon and

Schuster. p. 123. 0029252121.

If it can't be cured, it must be endured.

o From Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a

duck.

o Meaning: If something seems to be in a certain way, that is probably the case.

o Cryer, Max (2011). Who Said That First?: The Curious Origins of Common

Words and Phrases. ReadHowYouWant.com. p. 163. 1458785599.

If it's too good to be true, then it probably is.

o Else, David (2005). England. Lonely Planet. p. 96. 1740599225.

If God had wanted man to fly, he would have given him wings.

o Bennett, W. J. (1993). The Book of Virtues, Simon & Schuster.









http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Salman_Rushdie

If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

o Meaning: If you have had many bad experiences, make something good out of

it.

o Jenkins, Jayme (2011). Garden Rules: The Snappy Synopsis for the Modern

Gardener. Cool Springs Press. p. 80. 1610598148.

If something can go wrong, it will.

o Murphy's Law

o Dowis, Richard (2000). Autumn street. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.

p. 242. ISBN 0814470548.

If the shoe fits, wear it.



If the truth hurts, you are not living right.

o From the television show "The Killing".

If wishes were fishes, we'd all cast nets.

o Marsden, John (2009). Circle of Flight. Scholastic Inc.. p. 114. ISBN

0439783216.

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

o Marsden, John (2009). Circle of Flight. Scholastic Inc.. p. 114. ISBN

0439783216.

If you buy cheaply, you pay dearly.

o Alternatively: You get what you pay for

o Herrero Ruiz, Javier (2009). Understanding Tropes: At the Crossroads

Between Pragmatics and Cognition. Peter Lang. p. 101. 3631592620.

If you buy quality, you only cry once.

o Burch, Geoff (2010). Irresistible Persuasion: The Secret Way to Get to Yes

Every Time. John Wiley and Sons. p. 138. 190731248X.

If you can't be good, be careful.

o Sandburg, C. (2002). The Complete Poems of Carl Sandburg: Revised and

Expanded Edition, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

If you can't beat them, join them.



If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.

o Ammer, Christine (1997). The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 640. ISBN 039572774X.

If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all

o Morem, Susan (2005). One hundred one tips for graduates. Infobase

Publishing. p. 69. 0816056765.

If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if

they don't, they never were.

o Israel, Yahdon (2009). Show Me a Nigger and I'll Show You a Racist: The

Mind of a Psychopathic Genius. AuthorHouse. p. 100. ISBN 1438976607.

If you snooze you lose

o Lane, L. (2004). Confessions Of A Stripper: Tales From The Vip Room,

Huntington Pr.

If you sup with the devil, use a long spoon.

o Meaning: Someone who treats others badly will eventually turn on you.

o Coulter, Ann H (2005). How to talk to a liberal (if you must): the world

according to Ann Coulter. Thorndike Press. p. 13. 0786275200.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy%27s_Law








http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/039572774X


If you trust before you try, you may repent before you die.

o Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721 [8]

If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.

o Kreuger (2008). The college grad job hunter: insider techniques and tactics for

finding a top-paying job. Adams Media. p. 65. ISBN 1598695479.

If you want a thing done right, do it yourself.


Publishing. p. 139. 0816066736.

If you want breakfast in bed, sleep in the kitchen.

o Meurer, D. (2004). If You Want Breakfast in Bed, Sleep in the Kitchen, David

C. Cook.

If you're in a hole, stop digging.



If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.

o Kahane, Adam (2010). Power and love: a theory and practice of social

change. Tate Publishing. p. 125. ISBN 1605093041.

Ignorance is bliss.

o Common mal-shortening of "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise.

o Thomas Gray, "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College" [[9]]

In for a penny, in for a pound.

o Alternate version: In for a dime, in for a dollar.



In one ear and out the other.

o Cf. Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales: "One eare it heard, at the other

out it went"

In order to get where you want to go, you first have to leave where you are.

o From Sandy Elsberg's Bread Winner, Bread Baker; Upline Press,

Charlottesville, VA; 1977, p. 80

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.



In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity

o O'Hara, K. (2011). Lost and Found in London: How the Railway Tracks Hotel

Changed Me, Xlibris Corp.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.

o Alternatively "Stupidity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting

different results"

o Smart, S. (2005). Flight Pattern, Lulu.com.

It ain't over till the fat lady sings.

o Variation: Church ain't over until the fat lady sings.

o Attributed as an old Southern saying in Smith & Smith, Southern Words and

Sayings (1976), according to Quinion, Michael (21 August 1999). "It Ain't

Over Till the Fat Lady Sings". World Wide Words. Retrieved on 2007-01-23.

It's a cracked pitcher that goes longest to the well.

o Project, M. o. A. (1870). Harper's magazine, Harper's Magazine Co.

It's a good horse that never stumbles.

o Chambers, W. and R. Chambers (1858). Chamber's information for the people:

A popular encyclopædia, J.L. Gihon.





http://www.bartleby.com/66/73/25873.html


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Elsberg


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_ain%27t_over_%27til_the_fat_lady_sings

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/August_21

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/1999

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-ita1.htm

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-ita1.htm

It's a long lane that has no turning.



It's always darkest before the dawn



It's an ill wind that blows no good.


Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 316. ISBN 039572774X.

It's better to be safe than sorry.



It's better to be silent and thought a fool, than to speak up and remove all doubt.

o Marques, J. F. (2004). Empower The Leader In You!: An Analysis Of The Most

Important Factors That Distinguish A Great Leader From An Average One,

Authorhouse.

It is better to die on one's feet than live on one's knees.



It's better to give than to receive.

o Spears, R. A. (2005). McGraw-Hill's dictionary of American idioms and

phrasal verbs, McGraw-Hill.

It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.



It's cheaper to keep her.

o Dattilio, F. M. (2001). Case Studies in Couple and Family Therapy: Systemic

and Cognitive Perspectives, Guilford Press.

It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

o Attributed to Grace Hopper

It's easy to be wise after the event.



It's never too late to mend.



It's no use crying over spilt milk.

o Ammer, Christine (1997). The American Heritage dictionary of idioms.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 139. 039572774X.

It ain't over till it's over.

o Yogi Berra

o Often attributed to sportscaster Dan Cook (1978)

o Meaning: No matter how the outlook is things can always turn back. In other

words you should not celebrate until you are 100% sure there is a reason to do

so.

o Goldman, Steven (2008). It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over: The Baseball Prospectus

Pennant Race Book. pp. 480.

It's the early bird that gets the worm.

o Meaning: Those who are first or joins something at it's outlook gets much.






http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper


http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yogi_Berra

o Ayres, Gene (2010). Inside the New China: An Ethnographic Memoir. p. 36.

ISBN 1412813506.

It's the empty can that makes the most noise.



It takes all sorts to make a world.

o Alternatively: It takes all sorts to make the world go round.

o Alternatively: It takes all kinds to make the world go round.



It takes two to make a quarrel.



It takes two to tango.

o Oshry, Barry (1996). Seeing systems: unlocking the mysteries of

organizational life. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. p. 59. 1881052990.

[edit] J

Jack of all trades and master of none. (18th Century)



Joan is as good as my lady in the dark. (17th Century)

o Manser, M. (2006). The Wordsworth dictionary of proverbs, Wordsworth

Editions, Limited.

A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.

o Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Ch. 64, line 12. 千里之行，始于足下

Justice delayed is justice denied.(Legal Proverb, India)

o Sanda, Akin A (2001). Justice delayed is justice denied: problems and

solutions. Spectrum Books. pp. 54. ISBN 9780292519.

Justice pleaseth few in their own house.


Editions, Limited.

[edit] K

Keep your mouth shut and your eyes open.

o Titelman, G. (2000). Random House dictionary of America's popular proverbs

and sayings, Random House.

Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.

o Meaning: It is best to gather as much information about your enemies as

possible. This might give the false impression that your enemies are your

friends.

o Williams, Spencer D (2011). The Man Book: The 100 Things Every Man

Should Know, Or Live by. Xlibris Corporation. p. 195. 1456899333.

Keep your mouth shut and your ears open.

o Manser, M. H., R. Fergusson, et al. (2007). The Facts on File Dictionary of

Proverbs, Facts On File.

Kindness, like grain, increase by sowing.







http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Laozi





A kingdom is lost for want of a shoe.

o See: "For want of a nail the shoe is lost, ..."

Knaves and fools divide the world.



Knowledge is power. (17th Century)



Kindness, like a boomerang, always returns

o Cavitt, C. (2007). Customer Service Superstars, Lulu.

[edit] L

Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and you cry alone.

o Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and your mascara runs. - variation

by advice columnist Ann Landers.



Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.

o Richardson, B. (2001). Working with challenging youth: lessons learned along

the way, Brunner-Routledge.

The law is a jealous mistress.

o - Professor Ferdinand Fairfax Stone, Tulane Law School, early and mid 1960s.

Law is the solemn expression of legislative will.

o Johnson, A. and P. H. Bergeron (1997). The papers of Andrew Johnson:

September 1867-March 1868, University of Tennessee Press.

Lead by example

o Baldoni, John (2009). Lead by example: 50 ways great leaders inspire results.

AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. 0814412947.

Learn to walk before you run.

o Meaning: Learn the basics of any subject first.

o Rich, David A (2006). 7 Biblical Truths You Won't Hear in Church: But Might

Change Your Life. Harvest House Publishers. p. 145. 0736916075.

Least said sooner mended.



Less is more.

o Campbell, Cimberly Hill (2007). Less is more: teaching literature with short

texts, grades 6-12. Stenhouse Publishers. 157110710X.

Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.

o Jesus Christ

Let sleeping dogs lie.

o From Troilus and Criseyde (bk. III, 764) by Geoffrey Chaucer - Chaucer wrote

this in just the reverse form -- 'It is nought good a slepyng hound to wake.'

Let the cobbler stick to his last.

o Meaning: Don't talk about things you don't know anything about.

o Whitling, Bartlett Jere (1977). Early American proverbs and proverbial

phrases. Harvard University Press. p. 145. 0674219813.



http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jesus_Christ

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Chaucer

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.

Lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas.



Life begins at forty.



Life imitates art

o Bloom, H. (2007). Arthur Miller, Bloom's Literary Criticism.

Life imitates chess - Garry Kasparov

o Kasparov, G. (2008). How Life Imitates Chess, Random House.

Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.

o Unkown origin, though sometimes attributed to Lou Holtz or Chuck Swindoll

Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.

o - From the film, Forrest Gump

Life is too short to drink bad wine.

o Hoggart, S. (2009). Life's Too Short to Drink Bad Wine: 100 Wines for the

Discerning Drinker, Quapuba.

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.

o Attributed to John Lennon

Life is what you do while you're waiting to die.

o Quote from song sung by Zorba from the musical 'Zorba' by Kander and Ebb

Life is what you make of it. Always has been, always will be.

o Unkown origin, though sometimes attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt or Grandma

Moses

Life's battle don't always go to the stronger or faster man, but sooner or later the man

who wins is the one who thinks he can.

o Lucier, T. J. (2005). How to make money with real estate options: low-cost,

low-risk, high-profit strategies for controlling undervalued property-- without

the burdens of ownership!, Wiley.

Lightning never strikes twice in the same place.



Like cures like.

o Mallandaine, C. E., C. Shepperson, et al. (1901). Like cures like, Society for

Promoting Christian Knowledge.

Like father, like son.



Like water off a duck's back.


Editions, Limited.

Little by little and bit by bit.

o Meaning: Many incremental changes will after some time transform what is

pathetic into something grand.

o Dickens, Charles (1867). Nicholas Nickleby, Volumes 1-4. Hurd & Houghton.

p. 145. 0814412947.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Spurgeon

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Garry_Kasparov

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lou_Holtz

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Swindoll

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Forrest_Gump

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Lennon

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eleanor_Roosevelt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandma_Moses

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandma_Moses


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 little pot is easily hot.



Live and let live.



o Alternative: Live simply to let others simply live.

Long absent, soon forgotten.


Dictionary of American proverbs. p. XII.

The longest mile is the last mile home.

o Meaning: It is always the end of something that feels the most difficult.

o Macfarlane, David (2001). The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Proverbs. Sterling

Publishing Company, Inc.. p. 296. ISBN 0806974893.

Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.



Look before you leap.



Look on the sunny side of life.



Loose lips sink ships.

o Eugene, D. (2002). 20 Good Reasons to Stay Sober, Booksurge Llc.

Love is blind.



Love is like war, Easy to start, Hard to end, Impossible to forget.

o Kumar, E. S. The Unofficial Joke book of New SMS, Diamond Pocket Books

(P) Ltd.

Love is not finding someone to live with; it's finding someone whom you can't live

without.

o Lipper, D. and E. Sagehorn (2008). The Everything Wedding Vows Book: How

to Personalize the Most Important Promise You'll Ever Make, Adams Media.

Love is stronger than any addiction, baby. Hell, it is one. - Madea

o Williams, T. M. (2008). Black pain: it just looks like we're not hurting : real

talk for when there's nowhere to go but up, Scribner.

Love laughs at locksmiths.



[edit] M

Make hay while the sun shines.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexander_Pope






http://en.wikiquote.org/w/index.php?title=Madea&action=edit&redlink=1





Make the best of a bad bargain.


Dictionary of American proverbs. p. lxxv.

A man is known by the company he keeps.



A man's home is his castle.

o William Blackstone refers to this traditional proverb in Commentaries on the

Laws of England (1765–1769), Book 4, Chapter 16:

And the law of England has so particular and tender a regard to the

immunity of a man's house, that it stiles it his castle, and will never

suffer it to be violated with immunity: agreeing herein with the

sentiments of ancient Rome, as expressed in the works of Tully; quid

enim sanctius, quid omni religione munitius, quam domus unusquisque

civium?

Translation: What more sacred, what more strongly guarded by

every holy feeling, than a man's own home?

Manners maketh the man.

o From 'Manners makyth man' - the motto of William of Wykeham(1320 - 1404)

Many a true word is spoken in jest

o ** Speake, Jennifer; Simpson, John (2009). The Oxford dictionary of proverbs.


Many hands make light work



Many things are lost for want of asking.

o Canfield, J. and M. V. Hansen (2003). Chicken Soup for the Soul: Living Your

Dreams : Inspirational Stories, Powerful Principles, and Practical Techniques

to Help You Make Your Dreams Come True, Health Communications.

Many words will not fill a bushel.

o This Proverb is a severe Taunt upon much Talking. - Divers Proverbs, Nathan

Bailey, 1721 [10]

Marry in haste, and repent at leisure.



Measure twice, cut once.



Mind your P's and Q's.

o British: Mind your manners (origin theories)

o Makhene, E. R. W. (2008). Mind Your Ps and Qs, Lulu.com.

Misery loves company.



Misfortunes never come singly.



A miss by an inch is a miss by a mile.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Blackstone

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commentaries_on_the_Laws_of_England

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commentaries_on_the_Laws_of_England

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tully

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_of_Wykeham




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_your_Ps_and_Qs#Origin_theories

o Meaning: A miss is a miss regardless the distance

o Cf. Scottish Proverbs Collected and Arranged by Andrew Henderson, 1832,

p.103: "An inch o' a miss is as gude as a span." [11]

Missing the wood for the trees.

o Meaning: While tending to every detail you might miss out the big picture.

o Singh, Amita (2006). Administrative reforms: towards sustainable practices.

Sage Publications. p. 169. 0761933921.

Money cannot buy happiness.



(love of) Money is the root of all evil.



Money makes the mare go.



Money makes the world go around.

o Garson, B. (2002). Money makes the world go around, Penguin Books.

Money talks.

o Variant: Money talks, bullshit walks.



o Related: Talk is cheap.

o Related: Actions speak louder than words.

Monkey see, monkey do.



More haste, less speed.

o Meaning: Hurry, but work slowly to make sure what you attend to gets done

properly.

o Sharma, B. D (2006). General English for Competitive Examinations. Lotus

Press. p. 25. 8183820808.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

o From the French: Plus ça change, plus c'est pareil.

o Meaning: The only thing consistent is the absence of consistency.

o Washington, Ruth (2007). The More Things Change the More They Stay the

Same: A Behind the Scenes Look at United Airlines Maintenance Base.

Authorhouse. pp. 132. ISBN 1425985386.

The more you study, the more you know. The more you know, the more you forget.

The more you forget, the less you know. The less you know the more you study.

o Riggs, J. L. and L. L. Bethel (1979). Industrial organization and management,

McGraw-Hill.

[edit] N

The nail that sticks up will be hammered down.

o Whatling (2009). A Vigil for Joe Rose: Stories of Being Out in High School.

iUniverse. p. 13. ISBN 1440178550.

Nature never did betray the heart that loved her.

http://www.archive.org/stream/scottishproverbs00henduoft/scottishproverbs00henduoft_djvu.txt





o Robinson, J. F. and J. J. Marshall (1902). The flora of the East Riding of

Yorkshire: including a physiographical sketch, A. Brown & Sons.

Nature, time, and patience are three great physicians.


Editions, Limited.

Necessity is the mother of invention.


Editions, Limited.

Ne'er cast a clout till May be out.



Never judge a book by its cover.



Never let the right hand know what the left hand is doing.



Never lie to your doctor.

o Huler, Scott (1999). From Worst to First: Behind the Scenes of Continental's

Remarkable Comeback. John Wiley & Sons. p. 200. 0471356522.

Never lie to your lawyer.

o Huler, Scott (1999). From Worst to First: Behind the Scenes of Continental's

Remarkable Comeback. John Wiley & Sons. p. 200. 0471356522.

Never look a gift horse in the mouth.

o Goudreau, Colleen Patric (2011). Vegan's Daily Companion: 365 Days of

Inspiration for Cooking, Eating, and Living Compassionately. Quarry Books.

p. 133. 1592536794.

Never put off till (until) tomorrow what you can do today.

o Templeton (2002). Wisdom from world religions: pathways toward heaven on

earth. Templeton Foundation Press. p. 264.

Never say die.

o Jacoby, S. (2011). Never Say Die: The Myth and Marketing of the New Old

Age, Pantheon Books.

Never say never.



Never trouble trouble 'til trouble troubles you.



A new broom sweeps clean.

o Meaning: Newcomers are the most ambitious.

o Oxnam, Robert B. (2005). A fractured mind: my life with multiple personality

disorder. Hyperion. p. 159. 1401302270.

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 (30 October 2006). "Har, me hearties! Excavating

Blackbeard's ship". Reuters (via Yahoo! News). Retrieved on 2006-11-01.

No man can serve two masters.

o Christian New Testament



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mercury_(element)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/syphilis

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/October_30

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/2006

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061030/us_nm/life_blackbeard_dc

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061030/us_nm/life_blackbeard_dc

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/New_Testament

No man is an island

o Meaning: We are all interdependent.

o Merton, Thomas (2005). No Man Is an Island. Shambhala Publications.

pp. 272. ISBN 1590302532.

No news is good news.



No pain, no gain.


Editions, Limited.

No time like the present.



Noblesse oblige.

o French expression: the nobility is obligated to care for the lower classes.

o Applegate, S. (2009). Noblesse Oblige: Spending Your Life on What Matters

Most, Tate Pub & Enterprises Llc.

None but the brave deserve the fair.

o John Dryden, Alexander's Feast

Nothing succeeds like success.


Editions, Limited.

Nothing to be feared in life, but understood.

o Templeton, J. M. (1998). Worldwide Laws of Life: 200 Eternal Spiritual

Principles, Templeton Foundation Press.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

o Variant: Nothing ventured, nothing have. - Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey,

1721 ..[12]

[edit] O

An old dog will learn no tricks.

o Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721[13]

Old habits die hard.

o Hunt, La Jill (2009). Old Habits Die Hard. Urban Books. pp. 280. ISBN

1601621949.

One good turn deserves another.

o Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721[14]

One grain of sand can tip the scale.

o Waldman, S. (2005). Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, Feldheim Publishers.

One hand washes the other.

o From the Latin MANUS MANAM LAVAT, meaning "Hand washes hand," or

"One hand washes the other"; or impliedly, "You scratch my back, and I'll

scratch yours."

One man's junk is another man's treasure.

o Guyer, C. S. (2011). On the Money Journal, Atlasbooks Distribution.

One man's meat is another man's poison.



One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. - Ronald Reagan



http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Dryden








o Abdul-Nabi, R. (2002). "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom

fighter": the role of the media in constructing Palestinian identity.

One might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb. - English, 17th century



One murder makes a villain, millions a hero.

o Milton, J. (1996). Tramp: The Life of Charlie Chaplin: The Life Of Charlie

Chaplin, HarperCollins.

One rotten apple will spoil the whole barrel.

o Cf. Dan Michael of Northgate, Ayenbite of Inwyt (1340): "A rotten apple will

spoil a great many sound ones." (Middle English: "A roted eppel amang þe

holen: makeþ rotie þe yzounde.")

One scabbed sheep mars the whole flock.

o This Proverb is apply'd to such Persons who being vicious themselves,

labour to debauch those with whom they converse. - Divers Proverbs, Nathan

Bailey, 1721 [15]

One swallow doesn't make a summer.

o Webb, P. and C. Bain (2010). Essential Epidemiology: An Introduction for

Students and Health Professionals, Cambridge University Press.

Once bitten, twice shy

o William Caxton, the first English printer, gave the earliest version of this

saying in 'Aesope' (1484), his translation of Aesop's fables: 'He that hath ben

ones begyled by somme other ought to kepe hym wel fro(m) the same.'

Centuries later, the English novelist Robert Surtees referred to the saying in

'Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour' (1853) with '(He) had been bit once, and he was

not going to give Mr. Sponge a second chance.' The exact wording of the

saying was recorded later that century in 'Folk Phrases of Four Counties'

(1894) by G.G. Northall and was repeated by, among others, the English

novelist Joseph Conrad (1920, 'The Rescue'), the novelist Aldous Huxley

(1928, 'Point Counter Point'), and the novelist Wyndham Lewis (1930, 'The

Apes of God'). 'Once bitten, twice shy' has been a familiar saying in the

twentieth century. From Wise Words and Wives' Tales by Stuart Flexner and

Doris Flexner (Avon Books, New York, 1993).

o A variation, once burned, twice shy, is also traced back to Mr. Sponge's

Sporting Tour. Once burned was First attested in the United States in 'Dead

Sure' (1949) by S. Sterling. The meaning of the saying is One who had an

unpleasant experience is especially cautious. From the Random House

Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random

House, New York, 1996).

The only free cheese is in the mouse trap.

o Russian saying.

o Gage, R. (2010). Why You're Dumb, Sick & Broke...And How to Get Smart,

Healthy & Rich!, John Wiley & Sons.

The only stupid question is the one that is not asked.

o Hull, E., K. Jackson, et al. (2005). Requirements engineering, Springer.

Only the good die young



Opportunity knocks only once.


http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ayenbite_of_Inwyt





An ounce of discretion is worth a pound of wit.



Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.

o Confucius



Out of sight... Out of mind

o Cf. Fulke Greville's sonnet "And out of minds as soons as out of sight"



Out of small acorns grow mighty oaks.

o A meager beginning can still result in something magnificent.

o Waters Yarsinke, Amy (2000). Mighty Oaks from Little Acorns Grow: The

History of Norfolk Collegiate School. Hallmark Pub Co Inc. pp. 144.

0965375994.

Owt for Nowt

o Northern English, Anything for nothing...



[edit] P

Paddle your own canoe.

o Meaning: Act independently.

o Lababidi, Lesley Kitchen (1997). Paddle your own canoe: an American

woman's passage into Nigeria. Spectrum. pp. 168. ISBN 9782463132.

The pen is mightier than the sword.

o Mazer, Anna (2009). The Pen Is Mightier Than the Sword. Baker & Taylor.

1442012889.

A penny saved is a penny earned.


Editions, Limited.

o Attributed to Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanac, but actually 17th c.

English

Penny wise, pound foolish.


Dictionary of American proverbs. p. BLANK.

People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

o Variation: Whose house is of glasse, must not throw stones at another.

George Herbert, Outlandish Proverbs, 1640; cited in "Proverbs 120".

The Yale Book of Quotations. 2006. pp. p. 613. ISBN 0-300-10798-

6.*** George Herbert, Jacula Prudentum, 1651, number 196

Perfect Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. (a.k.a The six P's)

o Mitchell, D. A. (2006). An Introduction to Oral And Maxillofacial Surgery,

Oxford University Press.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

o (Originally a marketing slogan, promoting magazine display ads.)





http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Poor_Richard%27s_Almanac




o Sexton, P. (2008). A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words, F+W Media.

The pitcher which goes too often to the well gets broken.



Politeness costs nothing and gains everything. <M.W. Montagu>



Politics makes strange bedfellows.



Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.

o Attributed to Lord Acton



Practice before you preach.

o Variation: Practice what you preach

o Maister, David H (2001). Practice What You Preach: What Managers Must

Do To Create A High Achievement Culture. Simon and Schuster. pp. 272.

0815776314.

Practice makes perfect.

o James, Julie (2009). Practice Makes Perfect. Berkley Sensation. 0425226743.

Prevention is better than cure.

o Variation: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

o Meaning: It is best to be proactive.

o Russell, Louise B (1986). Is prevention better than cure?. Brookings

Institution Press. p. 159. 0815776314.

Pride comes before a fall

o Jakes, TD (2010). Help Me I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up.

ReadHowYouWant.com. p. 1. 1459600363.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating.



Procrastination is the thief of time.


Oxford University Press. p. 233. ISBN 0199539537.

Proverbs run in pairs.

o Meaning: Every proverb seems to be contradicted by another proverb with an

opposed message, such as "too many cooks spoil the broth" and "many hands

make light work."

o Burton, Richard Francis (1863). Abeokuta and the Camaroons Mountains: an

exploration, Volym 1. Tinsley Brothers. p. 309.

Put a beggar on horseback and he'll ride it to death.


Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. xciii. ISBN 039572774X.

Put a beggar on horseback and he'll ride to the devil.



Put your money where your mouth is.

o Barry M, Casper (2000). Lost in Washington: finding the way back to

democracy in America. Univ of Massachusetts Press. p. 190. 155849247X.





http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/proverbs_run_in_pairs

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Francis_Burton



[edit] R

Reality is not only stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine.

o Caper, R. (1999). A mind of one's own: a Kleinian view of self and object,

Routledge.

Reality is often stranger than fiction

o Pearce, G. and C. McLaughlin (2007). Truth or dare: art & documentary,

Intellect.

Repetition is the mother of memory.

o Latin: REPETITIO MATER MEMORIAE

o Rowlingson, Cameron B. (1919). Fundamentals of memory development.

University Pub. Co.. p. 15.

Revenge is a dish best served cold.



A rising tide lifts all boats.



o This traditional proverb is sometimes attributed to John F. Kennedy because he

repeated it several times, but he disclaimed originality in his address in the

Assembly Hall at the Paulskirche in Frankfurt, West Germany, 25 June 1963:

As they say on my own Cape Cod, a rising tide lifts all the boats.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

o Earlier variants of this proverb are recorded as Hell is paved with good

intentions. recorded as early as 1670, and an even earlier variant by Saint

Bernard of Clairvaux Hell is full of good intentions or desires.

o Similar from Latin: "The gates of hell are open night and day; Smooth the

descent, and easy is the way" — Virgil, the Aeneid Book VI line 126

A rolling stone gathers no moss.



o Early versions include:

Saxum volutum non obducitur musco

A rolling stone does not gather moss.

Publius Syrus (var. Publilius), Sententiae (c. 42 BC), Maxim

524

Musco lapis volutus haud obducitur.

A rolling stone is not covered with moss.

Desiderius Erasmus, Adagia (1500–1536), III, iv

The rollyng ſtone neuer gathereth moſſse.

The rolling stone never gathers moss.

John Heywood, Proverbs (1546), Part 1, Ch. 11

Rome wasn't built in a day.

o Meaning: It takes time to create something impressive.

o Coady, Linus J. (1984). Rome wasn't built in a day: the history of the

foundation of Brent's Cove Parish, 1959-1965. L.J. Coady. pp. 86.

The rotten apple injures its neighbors.



Rules were meant to be broken.




http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=9303

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=9303

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_of_Clairvaux

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_of_Clairvaux

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Aeneid/Book_VI

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Publius_Syrus

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Desiderius_Erasmus

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Heywood




[edit] S

Say something nice or say nothing at all.

o Fluke, Joanne (2010). Plum Pudding Murder. Kensington Books. p. 270.

0758210256.

Seek and ye shall find.

o Christian New Testament

Seek water in the sea.

o Luther, M., E. G. Rupp, et al. (1969). Luther and Erasmus: Free Will and

Salvation, Westminster Press.

Seeing is believing.

o Meaning: You believe in something when it is confirmed by concrete

evidence.

o Martin, Elena (2005). Seeing Is Believing. Capstone Press. pp. 16.

0736852638.

Self trust is the first secret of success.

o Scorza, J. A. (2008). Strong liberalism: habits of mind for democratic

citizenship, University Press of New England.

Sell a man a fish, he eats for a day, teach a man how to fish, he eats for the rest of his

life.

o Karl Marx

o D'Ambrosio-Crabtree, G. (2008). Secondhand Hope, Lulu.com.

Set a thief to catch a thief.



Shit or get off the pot.

o Gaddis, W. (1975). J R, Knopf : distributed by Random House.

Silence is golden.



Slow and steady wins the race.



o Variant: Slowly but surely wins the race.

Smile, and the world smiles with you; cry, and you cry alone.

o Dela Riva, M. Pebbles in the Pond, Goodwill Trading Co., Inc.

Some days you get the bear, other days the bear gets you.

o (2002). The economist, Economist Newspaper Ltd.

Someone who gossips to you will gossip about you.



Something is better than nothing.



A son is a son 'till he gets him a wife; a daughter's a daughter all her life.





http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/New_Testament

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karl_Marx




Spare the rod, spoil the child.



The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

o Gospel of Matthew 26:41

The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

o Meaning: A person that complains about a service often gets much.

o King, Jim (2009). Writings of a Cave Man. Jim King. p. 309. 0981688470.

Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.

o Contrast: "A blow with a word strikes deeper than a blow with a sword."

A still tongue makes a wise head.

o From Lewis the (Black) Barber; Lake Charles, LA; who always told people,

"Never let the right hand know what the left hand is doing; a still tongue makes

a wise head; still water runs deep."

Still waters run deep.

o Meaning: Taciturn people have the most interesting things to say.

o Knoebel, Suzanne (2004). Still Waters Run Deep: A Health Care Novel.

Warren H. Green Inc. pp. 200. 0875275443.

A stitch in time saves nine.

o Cf. Gnomologia: Adagies and Proverbs Collected by Thomas Fuller, 1732,

Vol. II, p. 283, Nr. 6291 : "A Stitch in Time // May save nine." [16]

Stolen fruit is the sweetest.

o Meaning: Forbidden things are the most desirable.


Publishing. p. 93. 0816066736.

Strike while the iron is hot.

o George Farquhar, The Beaux' Stratagem, Act IV, scene 2; reported as a

proverb in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 642.

Walter Scott, The Fair Maid of Perth, Chapter V. Webster, Westward Ho, III.

2. Geoffrey Chaucer, Troylus and Cresseyde, Book II, Stanza 178.

Success (only) comes after every necessary precaution.

o Only time will tell (what was, or wasn't, necessary).

Success grows out of struggles to overcome difficulties.

o Peterson, C. W. and D. C. Jones (1989). Wake up, Canada!: reflections on vital

national issues, University of Alberta Press.

Success is a journey not a destination.

o Puckridge, P. (2006). Success Is a Journey, Not a Destination, Success

Technologies.

Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

o Meaning: Don't worry about the future; focus on today's worries.

o From Matthew 6:34

[edit] T

Take an old dirty, hungry, mangy, sick and wet dog and feed him and wash him and

nurse him back to health, and he will never turn on you and bite you. This is how man

and dog differ.

o (Possibly Lord Byron)

Take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.

http://en.wikiquote.org/w/index.php?title=Gospel_of_Matthew&action=edit&redlink=1

http://ia600306.us.archive.org/14/items/gnomologiaadagi00conggoog/gnomologiaadagi00conggoog_desc.html

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Farquhar

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walter_Scott

http://en.wikiquote.org/w/index.php?title=Webster&action=edit&redlink=1

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Chaucer


http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lord_Byron



Talk of the devil and he's sure to appear.



That which does not kill you, makes you stronger.

o Meaning: Unpleasant experiences will make you wiser.

o Friedrich Nietzsche, The Twilight of the Idols (1888)

The worth of a thing is what it will bring.

o Carr, D. H., D. R. E. Education, et al. (2003). Mastering Real Estate Appraisal,

Kaplan Publishing.

There is luck in odd numbers.



The teacher has not taught, until the student has learned.

o Nater, Swen; Gallimore, Ronald; Walton, Bill; Sinegal, Jim (2010). You

Haven't Taught Until They Have Learned: John Wooden's Teaching Principles

and Practices. Fitness Information Technology, Incorporated, 2010. pp. 151.

1935412086.

There are no small parts, only small actors.

o Southgate, M. (2006). Third Girl from the Left, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

There is a thin line between love and hate

o William T. Golson, J. (2007). On the Matter of Relationships, Xulon Press.

There's always a calm before a storm.

o Mills, J. (2001). The Sacred Seal, Key Porter Books.

o or The calm before the storm.

There's many a slip 'twixt cup and lip.

o This comes from a Greek legend, as follows: One of the Argonauts returned

from his voyage, and went home to his winery. He called for the local

soothsayer, who had predicted before his voyage that he would die before he

tasted another drop of his wine, from his vinery. As he finished saying this, he

raised a cup filled with wine to his lips, in toast to the soothsayer, who said

something in reply. Just then, he was called away to hunt a wild boar that was

approaching, and died in his attempt to kill it. The phrase that the soothsayer

said is translated best as, There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip.

Where there's muck there's brass.



There's more than one way to skin a cat.



There's no accounting for taste.

o From the Latin: De gustibus non est disputandum.

o Kramer, Gary M (2006). Independent queer cinema: reviews and interviews.

Routledge. p. 1. 1560233435.

There's no fool like an old fool.

o Meaning: An old person's experiences are supposed to make him wise.



There's no peace for the wicked


http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche


http://en.wikiquote.org/w/index.php?title=Argonauts&action=edit&redlink=1


http://en.wikiquote.org/w/index.php?title=Latin&action=edit&redlink=1

o Granger, P. (2011). No Peace For The Wicked, Transworld.

There's no place like home.



There is no royal road to learning.



There's no such thing as a free lunch.



There's no time like the present.

o Elkin, A. (1999). Stress management for dummies, John Wiley & Sons.

There is only eight years between success and failure in politics.

o Jim Brown, Louisiana statesman

A thief thinks everyone steals.

o Sweeney, J. (1995). 350 Fabulous Writing Prompts: Thought-Provoking

Springboards for Creative, Expository, and Journal Writing, Scholastic.

Think before you speak.

o Lewicki, R. J., A. Hiam, et al. (1996). Think before you speak: the complete

guide to strategic negotiation, J. Wiley.

This, too, shall pass.



Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.



Time and tide wait for none.

o Spender, D. (1984). Time and tide wait for no man, Pandora Press.

Time flies.

o Cosby, B. (1988). Time flies, Bantam Books.

o Latin: Tempus fugit!

Time flies when you're having fun.

o Hauser, J. R., G. L. Urban, et al. (1992). Time flies when you're having fun:

how consumers allocate their time when evaluating products, Sloan School of

Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Time is money

o Leonard, F. (1995). Time is money: a million dollar investment plan for

today's twenty- and thirty-somethings, Perseus Books Group.

Time will tell.



'Tis better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.

o (Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "In Memoriam:27")

Tit for tat.

o Smith, J. G. (2008). Tit for Tat: BiblioLife.

To each, his own.

o Sciascia, L., & Foulke, A. W. (2000). To each his own: New York Review

Books.

To err is human; to forgive, divine.

o Pope, Essay on Criticism




To know the road ahead ask those coming back.

o Peltason, R. (2008). I Am Not My Breast Cancer: Women Talk Openly about

Love & Sex, Hair Loss & Weight Gain, Mothers & Daughters, and Being a

Woman with Breast Cancer: HarperCollins.

Tomorrow is another day.



Too many cooks spoil the broth.



Too much of one thing, good for nothing.

o From Shakespeare

o Meaning: You can have too much of something good.

o Hattaway, Michael (2000). As you like it. Cambridge University. p. 165.

052122232X.

Tread on a worm and it will turn.

o This Proverb is generally used by Persons who have received gross insults and

Injuries from others (which they have for some time bore with Patience) to

excuse their

being at last transported to some Warmth of Resentment and Passion. - Divers

Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721 [17]

Trouble shared is trouble halved.



Truth is stranger than fiction.

o "Truth is always strange — stranger than fiction." Lord Byron, Don Juan

The truth shall set you free, or The truth will set you free.

o In the Bible, John 8:32.

Truth will out.



Try not to become a man of success but a man of value.

o Wiersbe, W. W. (2001). Be Successful (1 Samuel): Attaining Wealth That

Money Can't Buy: David C. Cook.

Two heads are better than one.

o Homzie, H., & Phillips, M. (2009). Two Heads Are Better Than One: Baker &

Taylor, CATS.

Two things prolong your life: A quiet heart and a loving wife.


Editions, Limited.

Two wrongs don't make a right.



Two's company; three's a crowd.

o William Ickes, P. D., & Ickes, W. K. (2004). Two's Company; Three's a

Crowd: Booksurge Llc.

[edit] U

Unprepare to prepare, be prepared to be unprepared




http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lord_Byron

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bible




o supposedly said by W.B.Govo in 1916

Use it or lose it



Use it up, wear it out, make do with, or do without

o Great depression era proverb.

[edit] V

Variety is the spice of life.

o An early version is found in William Cowper, The Task (1785), Book II, "The

Timepiece", lines 606–7:

Variety's the very spice of life,

That gives it all its flavour.

Virtue which parleys is near a surrender.


Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare. (Japanese

proverb)

o Kushner, M. (2011). Presentations For Dummies: John Wiley & Sons.

[edit] W

Walk softly, carry a big stick.

o Variant of an African proverb that was made famous in the U.S. by Teddy

Roosevelt, "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far".

Walk the walk and talk the talk.

o Meaning: First do your task, then talk about it.

o Skoll, Geoffrey R (1992). Walk the walk and talk the talk: an ethnography of a

drug abuse treatment facility. Temple University Press. pp. 198. 0877229171.

Waste not, want not.



A watched pot never boils.



The way to a man's heart is through his stomach.


Editions. p. 272. ISBN 1840223111.

We can't always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the

future.

o By: Franklin D. Roosevelt

We have nothing to fear but fear itself.

o By: Franklin D. Roosevelt

We must take the bad with the good.

o Variant: We must take the bitter with the sweet.

We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean,but the ocean

would be less without that drop.

o Chinoda, A. K. (2009). Simply Significant: Leaving a Legacy of Hope: Morgan

James Publishing.



http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Cowper



http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/quotes.htm

http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/quotes.htm


http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

o Attributed to Mahatma Gandhi

Well begun is half done.

o Variant: Well begun is half ended.


"Well done" is better than "well said".

o Whiting, B. J. (1977). Early American proverbs and proverbial phrases:

Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.

o Meaning: A lie will always spawn a bigger lie.



What goes around comes around.



What goes up must come down.



What you see is what you get.

o McLenighan, Valjean (1981). What you see is what you get. Follett Pub. Co..

p. 4. 0695313703.

What you sow is what you reap.

o Goodwin, F. A. (2005). You Reap What You Sow. R.A.N. Pub id =

1411643550. pp. 203.

Where there is a will, there is a way.

o Similar to You reap what you sow

o Based on the Bible (Gal. 6:7): "for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also

reap." [20]

What's good for the goose is good for the gander.



When a thing is done advice comes too late.

o Richardson, S. (2010). Clarissa Harlowe and Pamela: Clarissa Harlowe or

the history of a young lady (in 9 volumes) and Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded

(Mobi Classics): MobileReference.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.



When one door closes, another door opens.

o Meaning: When you lose something, an opportunity for something else

presents itself.

o Bachom, Sandi (2007). Hell in the Hallway: When One Door Closes Another

Door Opens--But It's. Hazelden Publishing. pp. 125. 1592853684.

When the cat is away, the mice will play.



When the going gets tough, the tough get going.



Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise. [[21]]








o Thomas Gray, "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College"

Where there's a will, there's a way.

o Maguire, L. (2006). Where there's a will there's a way: or, all I really need to

know I learned from Shakespeare: Perigee Book.

Where vice goes before, vengeance follows after.


The whole dignity of man lies in the power of thought.

o B. Pascal

Willful waste makes woeful want.



The wish is father to the thought.



A woman is like a tea bag; you'll never know how strong she is until she's in hot water

o Massing, M. (2000). The Fix: University of California Press.

A woman's work is never done.

o From a folk rhyme - "A man may work from sun to sun, but woman's work is

never done."

Women need men like a fish needs a bicycle.

o Gurian, M. (2002). The Wonder of Girls: Understanding the Hidden Nature of

Our Daughters: Pocket Star.

A word spoken is past recalling.



The world is your oyster.

o Opdyke, J. D. (2008). The World Is Your Oyster: The Guide to Finding Great

Investments Around the Globe, Crown Business.

Worship the Creator not His creation.

o McDowell, S. (2010). Apologetics Study Bible for Students: B&H Publishing

Group.

The worst way to miss someone is to be sitting right beside them knowing you can't

have them.

o Hall, M., & Hunt, J. (2005). FW: FW : through the firewall: Publish On

Demand.

Work is worship.

o Furuseth, A. (1927). Work is worship: a call to and defense of freedom, labor

and labor unions based upon Christian belief and historical evolution :

delivered to the students at the California University, Labor Day, 1927: s.n.

[edit] Y

You always admire what you really dont understand.

o Cook, J., S. Deger, et al. (2007). The Book of Positive Quotations, Fairview

Press.

You always find something in the last place you look.

o Mass, W. (2008). Jeremy Fink and the meaning of life, Scholastic.

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

o Meaning: You can give someone an opportunity, but you can't force him to

take advantage of it.



o Medlin, Carl (2008). Second Great Reformation: Man Shall Not Live by Faith

Only. Xulon Press. p. 74. 1606476459.

o Similar to What you sow is what you reap

The younger brother the better gentleman.


You can't have an omelette unless you break the egg.



You don't shit where you eat.

o Meaning: Different segments of your life must remain contiguous such as

business, your love life and leisure.

o Iles, Greg (2007). Third Degree. Simon and Schuster. p. 159. 0743292502.


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