A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs Comprising French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese and Danish, with English Translations and a General Index

Part 32

Chapter 324,768 wordsPublic domain

A goaded ass must needs trot, 4, 72

A golden bit makes none the better horse, 99, 150

A golden hammer breaks an iron gate (Gold goes in at any gate), 150

A golden key opens every door, 78

A golden key opens every door save that of heaven, 372

A good advice is as good as an eye in the hand, 61

A good anvil does not fear the hammer, 75

A good appetite does not want sauce, 75

A good beast heats with eating, 9

A good beginning makes a good ending, 76

A good cause needs help, 8

A good cavalier never lacks a lance, 65

A good cock was never fat, 278

A good conscience is a soft pillow, 151

A good dog hunts by instinct, 8

A good dog never barks at fault, 27

A good dog never gets a good bone, 1

A good driver turns in a small space, 8

A good fire makes a quick cook, 320

A good fox does not eat his neighbour’s fowls, 61

A good friend is better than silver and gold, 314

A good gaper makes two gapers, 61

A good handicraft has a golden foundation, 371

A good head does not want for hats, 48

A good heart breaks bad fortune, 206

A good horse and a bad horse need the spur; a good woman and a bad woman need the stick, 76

A good horse is worth his fodder, 313

A good horse never lacks a saddle, 65

A good king is better than an old law, 371

A good lawyer, a bad neighbour, 8, 205

A good life defers wrinkles, 206

A good man is a man of goods, 9

A good meal is worth hanging for, 143

A good name covers theft, 205

A good name is a rich inheritance, 143

A good name is better than oil (_i. e._ riches), 313

A good neighbour is better than a brother far off, 371

A good paymaster does not hesitate to give good security, 76

A good paymaster is keeper of other men’s purses, 216

A good paymaster needs no security, 196

A good pilot is not known when the sea is calm and the weather fair, 371

A good repast ought to begin with hunger, 61

A good swimmer is not safe against drowning, 8

A good swordsman is never quarrelsome, 9

A good thing is known when it is lost, 269

A good thing lost is a good thing valued, 205

A good thing lost is valued, 75

A good trade will carry farther than a thousand florins, 161

A good word extinguishes more than a pailful of water, 231

A good word quenches more than a caldron of water, 281

A goose, a woman, and a goat, are bad things lean, 263

A goose drinks as much as a gander, 365

A gosling flew over the Rhine, and came home a goose, 145

A gossiping woman talks of everybody, and everybody of her, 283

A grain does not fill a sieve, but it helps its fellow, 223

A greased mouth cannot say no, 75

A great book is a great evil, 314

A great church and little devotion, 100

A great estate is not gotten in a few hours, 19

A great lance-thrust to a dead Moor, 199, 260

A great leap gives a great shake, 195

A great liar has need of a good memory, 74

A great man’s entreaty is a command, 254

A great talker is a great liar, 19

Agree between yourselves (as to the time), quoth Arlotto, and I will make it rain, 66

A greedy mill grinds all kinds of corn, 370

A green Christmas makes a fat churchyard, 365

A guest and a fish after three days are poison, 37

A guest and a fish stink in three days, 109, 218, 288, 313

A hair casts its shadow on the ground, 260

A hair of the dog cures the bite, 91

A handful of good life is better than seven bushels of learning, 39

A handful of might is better than a sack full of right, 143

A handful of motherwit is worth a bushel of learning, 231

A handsome hostess is bad for the purse, 8, 224, 279

A handsome woman is either silly or vain, 227

A handsome shoe often pinches the foot, 31

A handsome man is not quite poor, 205

A happy heart is better than a full purse, 96

A hard bit does not make the better horse, 372

A hawk’s marriage: the hen is the better bird, 38

A head is not to be cut off because it is scabby, 387

A headless army fights badly, 380

A hearth of your own is worth gold, 365

A heavy shower is soon over, 104

A hired horse and one’s own spurs make short miles, 149, 313

A honeyed tongue with a heart of gall, 30

A horse grown fat kicks, 77

A horse may stumble, though he have four legs, 76, 315

A house filled with guests is eaten up and ill spoken of, 208

A house full of daughters is a cellar full of sour beer, 314

A house ready built and a vineyard ready planted, 208

A house ready made and a wife to make, 37

A huckster who cannot pass off mouseturd for pepper, has not learned his trade, 144

A hundred bakers, a hundred millers, and a hundred tailors are three hundred thieves, 328

A hundred tailors, a hundred millers, and a hundred weavers are three hundred thieves, 208

A hundred waggonsful of sorrow will not pay a handful of debt, 380

A hundred years a banner, a hundred years a barrow—A very old proverb, signifying the changeful fortunes of great feudal families], 10

A hundred years cannot repair a moment’s loss of honour, 70

A hundred years hence we shall all be bald, 193

A hundred years is not much, but never is a long while, 10

A hundred years of regret pay not a farthing of debt, 10, 153

A hundred years of wrong do not make an hour of right, 153

A hungry ass eats any straw, 72

A hungry belly has no ears, 63, 131, 143, 220, 290, 314

A hungry clown is half mad, 64

A hungry dog and a thirsty horse take no heed of blows, 380

A hungry dog does not fear the stick, 13, 76

A hungry man discovers more than a hundred lawyers, 231

A hungry wolf is not at rest, 280

A husband with one eye rather than with one son, 218

A jackfish does more than a letter of recommendation, 61

A jade eats as much as a good horse, 110

A joyous evening often leads to a sorrowful morning, 371

A kick from a mare never hurt a horse, 27

A kitchen-dog is never a good rabbit-hunter, 240

A kitchen dog never was good for the chase, 76

A lame goat will not sleep by day, 206

A lame man won’t walk with one who is lamer, 60

A landmark is well placed between two brothers’ fields, 28

A large fire often comes from a small spark, 346

A lawsuit for a maravedi consumes a real’s worth of paper, 198

A lawyer and a cart-wheel must be greased, 142

A lazy boy and a warm bed are difficult to part, 354

A lazy ox is little the better for the goad, 193

A lean calf forgets to skip, 386

A lean compromise is better than a fat lawsuit (Agree, for the law is costly), 144, 314—_see also_ A bad compromise, &c.

A lean horse does not kick, 77

A liar is sooner caught than a cripple, 121, 126, 281

A liar must have a good memory, 74, 314

A lie has short legs, 273

A light belly, a heavy heart, 158

A litigious man, a liar, 20

A little absence does much good, 62

A little dinner, long expected and cold, is by no means given, but dearly sold, 45

A little dog, a cow without horns, and a short man, are generally proud, 399

A little gall spoils (or embitters) a great deal of honey, 62, 121, 240, 242

A little help does a great deal, 62

A little injury dismays, and a great one stills, 292

A little leaven leavens (sours) a great mass, 45

A little loss frightens, a great one tames, 240

A little makes a debtor and much an enemy, 290

A little man fells a great oak, 45

A little man often casts a long shadow, 92

A little man sometimes casts a long shadow, 62

A little pack serves a little pedlar, 4

A little pot is soon hot, 314

A little rain stills a great wind, 45

A little sheep always seems young, 45

A little spark kindles a great fire, 120, 173, 212

A little spark shines in the dark, 45

A little stone may upset a large cart, 120, 384

A little thing often helps, 45

A little too late, much too late, 144, 316

A little truth makes the whole lie pass, 130

A living ass is better than a dead doctor, 131

A load of March dust is worth a ducat, 144

A long tongue betokens a short hand, 226, 265

A lord of straw devours a vassal of steel, 62

A lord without land, is like a cask without wine, 374

A lordly taste makes a beggar’s purse, 151

A lovelorn cook oversalts the porridge, 172

A lover’s anger is short-lived, 125

A loving man, a jealous man, 131

A mad dog cannot live long, 13

A mad parish, a mad priest, 68

A man cannot carry all his kin on his back, 388

A man assailed is half overcome, 20

A man, a word; a word, a man, 144

A man conducts himself abroad as he has been taught at home, 375

A man dances all the same, though he may dance against his will, 373

A man does not always aim at what he means to hit, 400

A man does not look behind the door unless he has stood there himself, 354

A man forewarned is as good as two—(Forewarned is forearmed), 224—_see_ A man warned, &c.

A man is bound by his word, an ox with a hempen cord, 395

A man is not a lord because he feeds off fine dishes, 386

A man is not known till he cometh to honour, 333

A man is valued according to his own estimate of himself, 7

A man may hap to bring home with him what makes him weep, 196

A man may threaten yet be afraid, 58

A man must eat, though every tree were a gallows, 333

A man must keep his mouth open a long while before a roast pigeon flies into it, 389

A man of straw is worth a woman of gold, 62, 279

A man of straw needs a woman of gold, 130

A man often kisses the hand he would fain see cut off, 386

A man overboard, a mouth the less, 315

A man’s character reaches town before his person, 396

A man’s face is a lion’s, 140

A man’s own opinion is never wrong, 103

A man’s will is his heaven, 386

A man’s word is his honour, 386

A man takes his own wherever he finds it, 43

A man that has had his fill is no eater, 224

A man that is lean, not from hunger, is harder than brass, 256

A man travels as far in a day as a snail in a hundred years, 6

A man warned is as good as two, 62, 130, 224

A man warned is half saved, 149

A man well mounted is always proud, 62

A man who has but one eye must take good care of it, 50

A man who is not spoken of is not abused, 396

A man who wants bread is ready for anything, 15

A man who wants to drown his dog says he is mad, 54

A man without money is like a ship without sails, 315

A meagre (or lean) compromise is better than a fat lawsuit, 350

A measly hog infects the whole sty, 219

A melon and a woman are hard to know (or choose), 18, 219

A merry host makes merry guests, 316

A merry life forgets father and mother, 28

A mewing cat is never a good mouser, 223

A mild sheep is sucked by every lamb, 119

A modest dog seldom grows fat, 397

A monkey remains a monkey, though dressed in silk, 203

A Montgomery division: all on one side, nothing on the other, 44

A morsel eaten gains no friend, 269

A morsel eaten selfishly does not gain a friend, 205

A muffled cat never caught a mouse, 27, 99

A mule and a woman do what is expected of them, 227

A nail secures the horse-shoe, the shoe the horse, the horse the man, the man the castle, and the castle the whole land, 144

A naughty child must be roughly rocked, 394

A near neighbour is better than a distant cousin, 97

A necessary lie is harmless, 143

A neighbour’s eye is full of jealousy, 393

A new broom is good for three days, 100

A new net won’t catch an old bird, 124

A noble prince or king never has a coin to bless himself, 62

A north wind has no corn, and a poor man no friend, 259

A pack of cards is the devil’s prayer-book, 156

A pair of light shoes is not all that is wanted for dancing, 357

A peasant between two lawyers is like a fish between two cats—(Catalan), 202

A peg for every hole, 7

A penny in time is as good as a dollar, 366

A penny saved is a penny gained, 145

A penny saved is twopence got, 142

A penny spared is a penny saved, 247

A penny spared is better than a florin gained, 316

A pet child has many names, 381

A pig bought on credit grunts all the year, 242

A pig on credit makes a good winter and a bad spring, 268

A pig’s life, short and sweet, 63

A pig’s tail will never make a good arrow, 212

A plaster house, a horse at grass, and a friend in words, are all mere glass, 314

A pleasant companion on a journey is as good as a postchaise, 14

A pleasant thing never comes too soon, 362

A plough that worketh, shines; but still water stinks, 315

A poor man has few acquaintances, 368

A poor man is all schemes, 224

A poor man is hungry after eating, 279

A poor man’s joy has much alloy, 368

A Portuguese apprentice who can’t sew, yet would be cutting out, 200

A priest’s pocket is not easily filled, 395

A promise is a debt, 172

A proud pauper and a rich miser are contemptible beings, 75

A ragged coat finds little credit, 74

A ragged colt may make a handsome horse, 38, 272

A ragged sack holds no grain, a poor man is not taken into counsel, 124

A rash man, a skin of good wine, and a glass vessel, do not last long, 279

A reconciled friend is a twofold enemy, 199

A resolute heart endures no counsel, 273

A restive morsel needs a spur of wine, 3

A rich child often sits in a poor mother’s lap, 394

A rich man is never ugly in the eyes of a girl, 62

A rich widow weeps with one eye and laughs with the other, 268

A rich wife is a source of quarrel, 396

A rickety chair will not long serve as a seat, 392

A rod is better than a fox’s brush, 396

A rolling stone gathers no moss, 45, 120, 174, 240, 291, 315

A royal heart is often hid under a tattered cloak, 393

A runaway horse punishes himself, 77

A runaway monk never speaks well of his convent, 316

A sack full of fleas is easier to watch than a woman, 143

A sack is best tied before it is full, 42

A sack was never so full but it could hold another grain, 33, 113

A sad bride makes a glad wife, 313

A saddle fits more backs than one, 130

A scabby colt may make a good horse, 212

A scabby head fears the comb, 315

A scald head needs strong lye, 357

A scalded cat dreads cold water, 13, 278

A scalded dog thinks cold water hot, 65

A scorpion never stung me but I cured myself with its grease, 113

A seat in the council is honour without profit, 288

A secret between two is God’s secret, a secret between three is everybody’s, 242

A secret imparted is no longer a secret, 125

A servant and a cock must be kept but one year, 289

A sharp tooth for hard bread, 200, 266

A sheep’s bite is never more than skin deep, 110

A shock dog is starved and nobody believes it, 240

A short cut is often a wrong cut, 370

A short halter for a greedy horse, 194

A short mass and a long dinner, 14

A short rest is always good, 384

A short sword for a brave man, 7

A short tail won’t keep off flies, 89

A shut mouth keeps me out of strife, 269

A sick man sleeps, but not a debtor, 215

A silent man’s words are not brought into court, 400

A silly song may be sung in many ways, 368

A silver hammer breaks an iron door, 62

A sin concealed is half pardoned (meaning when care is taken to conceal the scandal), 45, 119

A sin confessed is half forgiven, 119, 130

A single day grants what a whole year denies, 312

A single penny fairly got, is worth a thousand that are not, 144

A single stroke don’t fell the oak, 173

A slight suspicion may destroy a good repute, 396

A slothful man never has time, 131

A small bolt to the house is better than none at all, 350

A small cloud may hide both sun and moon, 367

A small fire that warms you, is better than a large one that burns you, 366

A small hatchet fells a great oak, 291

A smart coat is a good letter of introduction, 317

A smooth tongue is better than smooth locks, 350

A soft answer turneth away wrath, 316

A solitary man is either a brute or an angel, 131

A son-in-law’s friendship is a winter’s sun, 199

A sow is always dreaming of bran, 59

A sow may find an acorn as well as a hog, 366

A sow prefers bran to roses, 60

A sparrow in the hand is better than a bustard on the wing, 231

A sparrow in the hand is better than a crane on the wing, 62

A sparrow in the hand is better than a pigeon on the roof, 144

A sparrow in the hand is better than a pigeon on the wing, 39

A sparrow suffers as much when it breaks its leg as does a Flanders horse, 366

A spot shows most on the finest cloth, 221

A starved town is soon forced to surrender, 88

A stepmother has a hard hand, 356

A stick is a peacemaker, 7

A stick is soon found to beat a dog, 128

A still sow eats up all the draff, 307

A stingy man is always poor, 20

A stout heart tempers adversity, 89, 270, 320

A Sunday’s child never dies of the plague, 50

A table friend is changeable, 3

A tender-hearted mother makes a scabby daughter, 38, 106

A thankless man never does a thankful deed, 400

A thief makes opportunity, 312

A thief seldom grows rich by thieving, 142

A thief thinks every man steals, 402

A thing done has a head (The exultation of an ancient sculptor on his satisfactorily completing the head of his statue), 89

A thing is never much talked of but there is some truth in it, 114

A thing is not bad if well understood, 142

A thing lost is a thing known, 13

A thing too much seen is little prized, 13

A thorn comes into the world point foremost, 33

A thousand probabilities do not make one truth, 110

A threatened buffet is never well given, 125

A threatened man lives long, if he can get bread, 383

A threatened man lives longer than one that is hanged, 132

A threatened man lives seven years, 312

A timid man has little chance, 395

A tottering man must lean upon a staff, 399

A tree often transplanted is never loaded with fruit, 69

A tree often transplanted neither grows nor thrives, 240

A true gentleman would rather have his clothes torn than mended, 224

A truth-teller finds the doors closed against him, 363

A truth-telling woman has few friends, 397

A turn of the key is better than the conscience of a friar, 232

A used plough shines, standing water stinks, 149

A usurer, a miller, a banker, and a publican, are the four evangelists of Lucifer, 316

A vagabond monk never spoke well of his convent, 110

A vicious colt may make a good horse, 38

A vicious dog must be tied short, 3

A voluntary burthen is no burthen, 77

A well-formed figure needs no cloak, 273

A well-wisher sees from afar, 246

A white wall is the fool’s paper, 39, 110

A wicked dog must be tied short, 38

A willing helper does not wait until he is asked, 366

A wise man, a strong man, 176

A wise man and a fool together, know more than a wise man alone, 125

A wise man does at first what a fool must do at last, 123

A wise man may learn of a fool, 62

A wolf hankers after sheep even at his last gasp (The ruling passion strong in death), 316

A woman and a glass are always in danger, 144, 227

A woman and a hen are soon lost through gadding, 265

A woman and a melon are hard to choose, 18, 219

A woman conceals only what she does not know, 61, 144

A woman laughs when she can, and weeps when she pleases, 18

A woman may be ever so old, if she take fire she will jump, 346

A woman strong in flounces is weak in the head, 145

A woman’s first counsel is the best, 362

A woman’s in pain, a woman’s in woe, a woman is ill when she likes to be so, 93

A woman’s tears and a dog’s limping are not real, 235

A woman’s tongue is her sword and she does not let it rust, 29

A woman’s vengeance knows no bounds, 176

A woman who accepts, sells herself; a woman who gives, surrenders, 18

A woman who looks much in the glass spins but little, 18

A woman who loves to be at the window is like a bunch of grapes on the wayside, 93

A word and a stone once let go cannot be recalled, 239, 267

A word from the mouth, a stone from the hand (A word and a blow), 239, 291

A word once out flies everywhere, 44

A word is enough to the wise, 149, 270

A wound foreseen pains the less, 120

A wound never heals so well that the scar cannot be seen, 346

A wreck on shore is a beacon at sea, 316

A young angel, an old devil, 15

A young ewe and an old ram, every year bring forth a lamb, 314

A young foal and an old horse draw not well together, 402

A young wife is an old man’s post-horse to the grave, 156

Abbot of Carçuela, you eat up the pot and ask for the pipkin, 193

About the King and the Inquisition, hush!, 209

Absence is a foe to love; away from the eyes, away from the heart, 204

Absence is a foe to love; out of sight out of mind, 73

Absent, none without blame; present, none without excuse, 1, 233

Abstinence and fasting cure many a complaint, 369

According to his pinions the bird flies, 396

According to the arm be the bleeding, 56

According to the custom of Aragon, good service, bad guerdon, 194

According to the worth of the man is the worth of his land, 58

Act honestly, and answer boldly, 370

Act so in the valley, that you need not fear those who stand on the hill, 370

Adam got a hoe, and Eve got a spinning-wheel, and thence came all our nobles, 346

Adam must have an Eve to blame for his own faults, 133

Adversity makes a man wise, 63

Advice after the mischief is like medicine after death, 395

Advice is not compulsion, 166

Advice should precede the act, 166

Advice to a fool goes in at one ear and out at the other, 351

Advisers are not givers, 337

Advisers are not the payers, 34

Advising is easier than helping, 166

Advising is often better than fighting, 166

After a feast a man scratches his head, 4

After a thrifty father, a prodigal son, 200

After breaking my head you bring plaister, 213

After Christmas comes Lent, 163

After death the doctor, 4

After dinner stand a while, or walk nearly half a mile, 163

After ebb comes flood, and friends with good, 334

After great droughts come great rains, 335

After high floods come low ebbs, 335

After honour and state follow envy and hate, 334

After meat comes mustard, 168, 334

After me the deluge, 4

After mischance every one is wise, 4

After one loss come many, 4

After one pope another is made, 93

After one that earns comes one that wastes, 365

After one vice a greater follows, 259

After pleasant scratching comes unpleasant smarting, 365

After rain comes sunshine, 4, 134, 163, 334, 335

After shaving there’s nothing to shear, 4, 93, 275

After stuffing pears within, drink old wine till they swim, 258

After the act wishing is in vain, 4

After the daughter is married, then come sons-in-law in plenty, 47

After the house is finished, he deserts it, 213

After the sour comes the sweet, 335

After the vintage, baskets, 213

Age is a sorry travelling companion, 346

Age makes many a man whiter, but not better, 346

Alas! father, another daughter is born to you, 223

Alas for the son whose father went to heaven, 278

All are brave when the enemy flies, 129

All are not asleep who have their eyes shut, 147

All are not cooks who carry long knives, 147, 325, 352

All are not free who mock their chains, 147

All are not hunters that blow the horn, 40, 147, 352

All are not friends who smile on you, 325

All are not princes who ride with the emperor, 345

All are not saints who go to church, 115

All are not soldiers who go to the wars, 237, 286

All are not thieves whom the dogs bark at, 163

All beginnings are hard, said the thief, and began by stealing an anvil, 296

All bite the bitten dog, 263

All but saves many a man, 393

All cats are not to be set down for witches, 23

All clouds do not rain, 297

All cocks must have a comb, 297

All covet, all lose, 86, 299

All do not beg for one saint, 237

All do not bite that show their teeth, 345

All flesh is not venison, 59

All freight lightens, said the skipper, when he threw his wife overboard, 133

All hairy skins must not be singed, 389

All heads are not sense-boxes, 59

All in the way of joke the wolf goes to the ass, 206

All is luck or ill luck in this world, 26

All is not butter that comes from the cow, 112

All is not gold that glitters, 59, 118, 146, 286, 322, 324

All is not lost that is delayed, 11

All is not lost that is in danger, 237

All is well: for if the bride has not fair hair, she has a fair skin, 297

All’s well that ends well, 120, 145, 322, 391