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List of proverbial phrases#G

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{{Cleanup MOS|article||date=August 2022}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}

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.{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1497581 | jstor=1497581 | title=Proverbial Phrases from California | last1=Adams | first1=Owen S. | journal=Western Folklore | date=17 September 2023 | volume=8 | issue=2 | pages=95–116 | doi=10.2307/1497581 | url-access=subscription }}Arvo Krikmann "the Great Chain Metaphor: An Open Sezame for Proverb Semantics?", Proverbium:Yearbook of International Scholarship, 11 (1994), pp. 117–124.

In 1768, John Ray defined a proverbial phrase as:

{{blockquote|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{{cite book |last=Ray |first=John |title=A compleat collection of English proverbs |publisher=W. Otridge, S. Bladon |location=London |year=1768 |url=https://archive.org/details/acompleatcollec00raygoog |pages=xi–xii}}}}

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A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

  • Make hay while the sun shines{{listref|a}}
  • Make love not war{{listref|a}}
  • Man does not live by bread alone{{listref|a}}
  • Man proposes, heaven disposes
  • Manners maketh man{{listref|a}}
  • Many a little makes a mickle{{listref|a}}
  • Many a mickle makes a muckle{{listref|a}}
  • Many a true word is spoken in jest{{listref|a}}
  • Many hands make light work{{listref|a}}
  • March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb{{listref|a}}
  • Marriages are made in heaven{{listref|a}}{{listref|a}}{{cite web |title=marriages are made in heaven |url=https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/marriages+are+made+in+heaven |website=The Free Dictionary |access-date=3 October 2022}}{{cite web |title='Marriages are Made in Heaven' – Origin, Meaning, Explanation, Importance |url=https://nmk.world/marriages-made-heaven-origin-meaning-explanation-importance-5215/ |website=NMK |access-date=3 October 2022 |date=January 16, 2017}}Leo Tolstoy. War and Peace II:III:XXII
  • Marry in haste, repent at leisure{{listref|b}}
  • Memory is the treasure of the mind
  • Men are blind in their own cause – Heywood Broun (1888–1939), American journalist
  • Men get spoiled by staying, women get spoiled by wandering{{listref|b}}
  • Might is right{{listref|b}}
  • Might makes right
  • Mighty oaks from little acorns grow{{listref|a}}
  • Milking the bull
  • Misery loves company{{listref|a}}
  • Moderation in all things{{listref|a}}
  • Monday's child is fair of face, Tuesday's child is full of grace, Wednesday's child is full of woe, Thursday's child has far to go, Friday's child is loving and giving, Saturday's child works hard for its living, and a child that is born on the Sabbath day is fair and wise and good and gay{{listref|a}}
  • Money does not grow on trees{{listref|a}}
  • Money earned by deceit, goes by deceit{{listref|a}}
  • Money is not everything{{listref|a}}
  • Money demands care, you abuse it and it disappears – Rashida Costa
  • Money makes the world go around{{listref|a}}
  • Money talks{{listref|a}}
  • Money makes many things, but also makes devil dance{{listref|a}}
  • More haste, less speed{{listref|a}}
  • Mud sticks
  • Music has charms to soothe the savage beast{{listref|a}}

N

O

P

  • Parsley seed goes nine times to the Devil{{listref|a}}
  • Patience is a virtue{{listref|a}}
  • Pearls of wisdom{{listref|a}}
  • Penny wise and pound foolish{{listref|a}}
  • Penny, Penny. Makes many.
  • People who live in glass houses should not throw stones{{listref|a}}
  • Physician, heal thyself{{listref|a}}
  • Play stupid games, win stupid prizes{{Cite web |title=Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes Definition & Meaning {{!}} YourDictionary |url=https://www.yourdictionary.com/play-stupid-games-win-stupid-prizes |access-date=2024-04-04 |website=www.yourdictionary.com}}
  • Possession is nine-tenths of the law{{listref|a}}
  • Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely{{listref|a}}
  • Practice makes perfect{{listref|a}}
  • Practice what you preach{{listref|a}}
  • Preaching to the choir
  • Prevention is better than cure{{listref|a}}
  • Pride comes/goes before a fall (O.T.),{{listref|a}}{{listref|b}}
  • Procrastination is the thief of time
  • Putting the cart before the horse
  • Put your best foot forward{{listref|a}}
  • Put your money where your mouth is{{listref|a}}

R

  • Rain does not fall on one roof alone.{{Cite web|date=2022-11-08 |title=African Proverbs|url=https://www.coachabilityfoundation.org/post/african-proverbs-1 |access-date=2025-04-15 |language=en-US}}
  • Red sky at night shepherd's delight; red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning{{listref|a}}
  • Respect is not given, it is earned.
  • Revenge is a dish best served cold{{listref|a}}
  • Revenge is sweet{{listref|a}}
  • Rome was not built in one day{{listref|a}}{{listref|b}}
  • Right or wrong, my country{{listref|a}}
  • Risk it for a biscuit.{{Cite web |date=2024-09-04 |title=Risk it for the Biscuit – Meaning, Origin and Usage - History of English |url=https://www.thehistoryofenglish.com/risk-it-for-the-biscuit |access-date=2024-10-15 |language=en-US}}
  • 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{{listref|a}}
  • See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil{{listref|a}}
  • Seeing is believing{{listref|a}}
  • Seek and ye shall find{{listref|a}}
  • Set a thief to catch a thief{{listref|a}}
  • Shiny are the distant hills{{listref|a}}
  • Shrouds have no pockets{{listref|a}}
  • (Speech is silver but) Silence is golden{{listref|a}}
  • Sit crooked and talk straight{{Cite web|title=Armenian Proverbs You'll Love About Life – With English Translations|access-date=13 September 2023|website=Digital Daybook|date=30 September 2020 |url=https://digitaldaybook.com/armenian-proverbs-you-will-love/#:~:text=Let's%20Sit%20Crooked%20and%20Talk%20Straight&text=This%20is%20used%20as%20a,have%20to%20speak%20the%20truth.}}
  • Slow and steady wins the race{{listref|a}}
  • Slow but sure{{listref|a}}
  • Smooth move
  • Snake in the grass
  • Softly, softly, catchee monkey{{listref|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{{listref|a}}
  • Spare the rod and spoil the child{{listref|a}}
  • Speak as you find{{listref|a}}
  • Speak of the devil and he shall/is sure/will appear
  • Speak softly and carry a big stick{{listref|a}}
  • Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me{{listref|a}}
  • Still waters run deep{{listref|a}}
  • Strike while the iron is hot{{listref|a}}
  • Stupid is as stupid does{{listref|a}}
  • Success has many fathers, while failure is an orphan{{listref|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

  • Take care of the pennies, and the pounds will take care of themselves{{listref|a}}
  • Talk is cheap{{listref|a}}
  • Talk of the Devil, and he is bound to appear{{listref|a}}
  • Talk of Angels, and hear the flutter of their wings
  • Tell me who your friends are, and I'll tell you who you are[http://www.worldofquotes.com/author/Proverb/208/index.html World of Quotes] Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  • Tell the truth and shame the Devil (Shakespeare, Henry IV){{listref|a}}{{listref|b}}
  • The age of miracles is past{{listref|a}}
  • The apple does not fall/never falls far from the tree{{listref|a}}
  • The best condiments are authentic flavors{{listref|b}}
  • The best defense is a good offense{{listref|a}}
  • The best-laid schemes of mice and men often go awry{{listref|a}}
  • The best things in life are free{{listref|a}}
  • The bigger they are, the harder they fall{{listref|a}}
  • The boy is father to the man{{listref|a}}
  • The bread never falls but on its buttered side{{listref|a}}
  • The child is the father of the man{{listref|a}}
  • The cobbler always wears the worst shoes{{listref|a}}
  • The comeback is greater than the setback{{listref|a}}
  • The course of true love never did run smooth{{listref|a}}
  • The customer is always right{{listref|a}}
  • The darkest hour is just before the dawn{{listref|a}}
  • The Devil finds work for idle hands to do{{listref|a}}
  • The Devil looks after his own{{listref|a}}
  • The die is cast{{Cite web|url=http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/358600.html|title='The die has been cast' – the meaning and origin of this phrase|last=Martin|first=Gary|website=Phrasefinder|language=en|access-date=2017-06-27}}
  • The early bird catches the worm{{listref|a}}
  • The end justifies the means{{listref|a}}
  • The enemy of my enemy is my friend
  • The exception which proves the rule{{listref|a}}
  • The female of the species is more deadly than the male{{listref|a}}
  • The good die young{{listref|a}}
  • The grass is always greener (on the other side) (of the fence){{listref|a}}
  • The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world{{listref|a}}
  • The husband is always the last to know{{listref|a}}
  • The innocent seldom find an uncomfortable pillow – William Cowper, English poet (1731–1800){{cite web |url=http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/williamcow156808.html |title=The innocent seldom find an uncomfortable pillow |access-date=2010-04-06}}
  • The labourer is worthy of his hire{{listref|a}}
  • It is the last straw that breaks the camel's back{{listref|a}}
  • The law is an ass (from English writer Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist)
  • The leopard does not change his spots{{listref|a}}
  • The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing
  • The light is on but nobody is home
  • The longest day must have an end{{listref|b}}
  • The longest journey starts with a single step{{listref|a}}
  • The Moon is made of green cheese
  • The more the merrier{{listref|a}}
  • The more things change, the more they stay the same{{listref|a}}
  • The only disability in life is a bad attitude – Scott Hamilton
  • The only way to understand a woman is to love her{{listref|a}}
  • The old wooden spoon beats me down{{listref|a}}
  • The only way to find a friend is to be one
  • The pen is mightier than the sword{{listref|a}}
  • The pot calling the kettle black
  • The proof of the pudding is in the eating{{listref|a}}
  • The rich get richer and the poor get poorer
  • The road to Hell is paved with good intentions{{listref|a}}
  • The shoemaker's son always goes barefoot{{listref|a}}
  • The squeaky wheel gets the grease{{listref|a}}
  • The streets are paved with gold
  • The stupid monkey knows not to eat the banana skin
  • The truth is effortless (Rashida Costa)
  • The truth will set you free
  • The way to a man's heart is through his stomach{{listref|a}}
  • The work praises the man.
  • There ain't no such thing as a free lunch
  • There are more ways of killing a cat than choking it with cream{{listref|a}}
  • There are none so blind as those who will not see{{listref|a}} {{ndash}} attributed variously to Edmund Burke or George Santayana
  • There are two sides to every question{{listref|a}}
  • There but for the grace of God go I{{listref|a}}
  • There is an exception to every rule{{listref|a}}
  • There are always more fish in the sea{{listref|a}}
  • There is honour among thieves{{listref|a}}
  • There is many a good tune played on an old fiddle{{listref|a}}
  • There is many a slip 'twixt cup and lip{{listref|a}}
  • There is more than one way to skin a cat{{listref|a}}
  • There is no accounting for tastes{{listref|a}}
  • There is no fool like an old fool{{listref|a}}
  • There is no I in team
  • There's no need to wear a hair shirt
  • There is no place like home{{listref|a}}
  • There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out.
  • There is no smoke without fire/Where there is smoke, there is fire{{listref|a}}
  • There is no such thing as a free lunch{{listref|a}}
  • There is no such thing as bad publicity{{listref|a}}
  • There is no time like the present{{listref|a}}
  • There are none so deaf as those who will not hear{{listref|a}}
  • There's nowt so queer as folk{{listref|a}}
  • There is one born every minute{{listref|a}}
  • There is safety in numbers{{listref|a}}
  • They that sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind{{listref|a}}
  • Third time is a charm{{listref|a}}
  • Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it {{ndash}} George Santayana{{listref|a}}
  • Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones{{listref|a}}
  • Those who know many languages live as many lives as the languages they know (Czech proverb)
  • Those who sleep with dogs will rise with fleas{{listref|a}}
  • Time and tide wait for no man{{listref|a}}
  • Time flies{{listref|a}}
  • Time goes by slowly when your are living intensely{{listref|a}}
  • Time is a great healer{{listref|a}}
  • Time is money{{listref|a}}
  • (Only) time will tell{{listref|a}}
  • 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all{{listref|a}}
  • To be worn out is to be renewed – Laozi, Chinese philosopher (604 BC – c. 531 BC)
  • To each his own
  • To err is human, to forgive divine{{listref|a}}
  • To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world (Chinese proverb)
  • To the victor go the spoils{{listref|a}}
  • To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive{{listref|a}}
  • Tomorrow is another day{{listref|a}}
  • Tomorrow never comes{{listref|a}}
  • Too many cooks spoil the broth{{listref|a}}
  • Too little, too late
  • Too much of a good thing
  • Truth is stranger than fiction{{listref|a}}
  • Truth is more valuable if it takes you a few years to find it – often attributed to French author Jules Renard (1864–1910)
  • (Like) Trying to grow a goose
  • (The) truth will out{{listref|a}}
  • Turn your face toward the sun and the shadows fall behind you
  • Two birds with one stone
  • Two can play at that game
  • Two heads are better than one{{listref|a}}
  • Two is company, but three is a crowd{{listref|a}}{{listref|b}}
  • Two wrongs (do not) make a right{{listref|a}}

U

  • Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown{{Cite web|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/uneasy-lies-the-head-that-wears-a-crown|title=Definition of uneasy lies the head that wears a crown {{!}} Dictionary.com|website=www.dictionary.com|language=en|access-date=2019-12-28}}
  • United we stand, divided we fall{{Cite web|url=http://proverbhunter.com/letter/u/|title=Proverbs starting with letter U ‹ Proverb Hunter|website=Proverb Hunter|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-28}}
  • Until the lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter (African Proverb){{Cite web|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1689887188?sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals|title=When Lions Write History|last=King|first=LaGarrett J.|website=ProQuest|language=en|access-date=2024-10-16}}
  • 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){{cite web|title= William Cowper Quotes|url=http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/williamcow383185.html |access-date=2016-05-22}}
  • Virtue is its own reward

W

  • Walk softly but carry a big stick (26th U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, 1900 in letter relating an old African proverb){{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm139.html |title=Speak Softly. . . |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=2010-04-08}}
  • Walls have ears
  • Walnuts and pears you plant for your heirs{{listref|a}}
  • Waste not, want not{{listref|a}}
  • Well begun is half done
  • What does not kill me makes me stronger
  • Well done is better than well said
  • What cannot be cured must be endured{{listref|a}}
  • What goes around, comes around
  • What goes up must come down{{listref|a}}
  • What you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts{{listref|a}}
  • What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander{{listref|a}}
  • What is the worst that can happen?{{Cite web |title=English Phrase: What's the worst that can happen? {{!}} PhraseMix.com |url=https://www.phrasemix.com/phrases/whats-the-worst-that-can-happen |access-date=2024-10-15 |website=www.phrasemix.com}}
  • What the eye does not see (the heart does not grieve over)
  • When in Rome, (do as the Romans do). St. Ambrose, 347 AD{{cite web |url=http://www.trivia-library.com/b/origins-of-sayings-when-in-rome-do-as-the-romans-do.htm |title=When in Rome... |access-date=2010-04-08}}
  • Whatever floats your boat
  • When it rains it pours
  • When life gives you lemons, make lemonade{{listref|a}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-FxIAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA237|title=Selected Writings of Elbert Hubbard|last=Hubbard|first=Elbert|publisher=Wm. H. Wise & Co./The Roycrofters|year=1922|volume=V|page=237|author-link=Elbert Hubbard}} [https://archive.org/details/SelectedWritingsOfElbertHubbard1922-Volume5-TheElect Alt URL]
  • When the cat is away, the mice will play{{listref|a}}
  • When the going gets tough, the tough get going{{listref|a}}
  • When the oak is before the ash, then you will only get a splash; when the ash is before the oak, then you may expect a soak{{listref|a}}
  • When you have seen one, you have seen them all
  • What is learnt in the cradle lasts to the tombs
  • What the eye does not see, the heart does not grieve over{{listref|a}}
  • Where there is a will there is a way{{listref|a}}
  • Where there is muck there is brass{{listref|a}}
  • Where there is life there is hope{{Cite web |title=Quotesyo.com {{!}} All Types Of Quotes |url=https://quotesyo.com |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=quotesyo.com |language=en}}
  • Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right{{listref|a}}
  • While there is life there is hope{{listref|a}}
  • Who will bell the cat?
  • Whom the Gods love die young{{listref|a}}
  • Why keep a dog and bark yourself?{{listref|a}}
  • With great power comes great responsibility (often attributed to Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man)
  • Woe to the vanquished
  • Woman is the root of both good and evil{{listref|a}}
  • Wonders will never cease{{listref|a}}
  • Work expands so as to fill the time available{{listref|a}}
  • Worrying never did anyone any good{{listref|a}}

Y

  • You are never too old to learn{{listref|a}}
  • You are what you eat{{listref|a}}
  • You can have too much of a good thing{{listref|a}}
  • You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink{{listref|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{{listref|a}}
  • You cannot get blood out of a stone{{listref|a}}
  • You cannot make a silk purse from a sow's ear{{listref|a}}
  • You cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs{{listref|a}}
  • You cannot make bricks without straw{{listref|a}}
  • You cannot push a rope
  • You cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hounds{{listref|a}}
  • (You cannot) teach an old dog new tricks{{listref|a}}
  • You cannot unscramble eggs
  • You cannot win them all{{listref|a}}
  • You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar{{listref|a}}
  • You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain{{listref|a}}
  • You pay your money and you take your choice{{listref|a}}
  • Youth is wasted on the young{{listref|a}}
  • You may/might as well be hanged/hung for a sheep as (for) a lamb
  • You must have rocks in your head{{listref|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{{listref|a}}
  • You've made your bed and you must lie in/on it

Z

  • Zeal without knowledge is fire without light

Notes

{{listref/reflist|

|id1=a |ref1= {{cite web |url=http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/proverbs.html |title=Meanings and Origins of Phrases, Sayings and Idioms|access-date=4 April 2010 |publisher=Gary Martin }}

|id2=b |ref2={{cite book |last=Benham |first=W. Gurney |title=Putnam's Complete Book of Quotations, Proverbs, and Household Words |location=New York | publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons|year=1926}}

}}

References

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External links

{{Wikiquote|English proverbs}}

{{Commons category|Proverbial phrases in English}}

  • {{cite web|url = http://proverbhunter.com | work= ProverbHunter.com |title = English Proverbs Explained}}
  • {{cite web|url = http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/proverbs.html |title = List of proverbs}}
  • {{cite web|url = http://www.proverbium.org |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120425125942/http://www.proverbium.org |url-status = dead |archive-date = 2012-04-25 |title = Proverbium.org}}, list of proverbs, idioms and quotes
  • {{cite web|url = http://english.proverbs.center:80 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170805163030/http://english.proverbs.center:80 |url-status = dead |archive-date = 2017-08-05 |title = English Proverbs Center}}

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