INDEX. (continued 4)
Reading edition
That which is customary requires no excuse, 88
That which is stamped a penny will never be a pound, 352
That which is unsaid, may be said; that which is said, cannot be unsaid, 363
That which must be, will be, 362
That’s all well and good, but gold is better, 303
That’s as much as a bean in a brewing copper, 325
That’s but an empty purse which is full of other men’s money, 354
That’s quickly done which is long repented, 324
Thaw reveals what has been hidden by snow, 362
The abbey does not fail for want of one monk, 46
The absent are always in the wrong, 33, 303
The absent were never in the right, 237
The accomplice is as bad as the thief, 294
The account is correct, but not a sixpence appears, 224
The act of treachery is liked, but not he that does it, 228
The aged in council—the young in action, 352
The ant gets wings that she may perish the sooner, 233 (See God gives wings)
The anvil is not afraid of the hammer, 138, 365
The anvil is used to noise, 138
The anvil lasts longer than the hammer, 95, 120
The archer that shoots badly has a lie ready, 261, 269
The arguments of the strongest have always the most weight, 31
The arms of Bruges: an ass in an arm-chair, 325
The art is not in making money, but in keeping it, 323
The ass and his driver do not think alike, 138, 304
The ass carries corn to the mill and gets thistles, 138
The ass dead, the barley at his tail, 195, 267
The ass does not know the worth of his tail till he has lost it, 107
The ass embraced the thistle, and they found themselves relations, 263
The ass of many owners is eaten by wolves, 202, 267
The ass that is common property is always the worst saddled, 30
The ass that is hungry eats thistles, 268
The ass that trespasses on a stranger’s premises will leave them laden with wood (i.e. cudgelled), 268
The ass well knows in whose house he brays, 205, 269
The ass’s hide is used to the stick, 107
The ass’s son brays one hour daily, 288
The back door is the one that robs the house, 107
The bacon of paradise for the married man that does not repent, 220
The bad barber leaves neither hair nor skin, 220
The bad man always suspects knavery, 218
The bad neighbour gives a needle without thread (Galician), 198, 265
The bagpipe never utters a word till its belly is full, 27
The bailiff’s cow and another’s cow are two different cows, 140
The balance in doing its office knows neither gold nor lead, 18
The bath has sworn not to whiten the blackamoor, 225
The beadle’s cow may graze in the churchyard, 157, 331
The beadle of the parish is always of the vicar’s opinion, 31
The beard does not make the philosopher, 105
The beast dead, the venom dead, 39, 110
The beast that goes well is never without some one to try his paces, 225, 263
The beaten pay the fine, 33
The beggar’s wallet has no bottom, 103, 136
The beginning hot, the middle lukewarm, the end cold, 134
The bell does not go to mass, and yet calls every one to it, 112, 235
The belly does not accept bail, 263
The belly gives no credit, 351
The belly is a bad adviser, 138
The belly overrules the head, 36
The belly warm, the foot at rest, 268
The benefice must be taken with its liabilities, 22
The best always goes first, 125
The best cast at dice is not to play, 218
The best cause requires a good pleader, 303
The best cloth has uneven threads, 221
The best company must part, as King Dagobert said to his hounds, 26
The best driver will sometimes upset, 25
The best feed of a horse is his master’s eye, 218, 303
The best friends are in one’s purse, 140
The best goods are the cheapest, 321
The best horse stumbles sometimes, 321 (See Even a horse)
The best is the cheapest, 102, 137
The best is what one has in his hand, 137
The best manure is under the farmer’s shoe, 357
The best of the mill is that the sacks can’t speak, 154
The best pears fall into the pigs’ mouths, 76
The best pilots are ashore, 303
The best spices are in small bags, 111 (See Precious ointments)
The best swimmer is the first to drown himself, 85
The best trees are the most beaten, 104
The best wine has its lees, 32
The better day the better deed, 8, 221, 276
The better lawyer, the worse Christian, 328
The big fish eat the little ones, 34, 103
The bird once out of hand is hard to recover, 367
The bird ought not to soil its own nest, 37
The biter is sometimes bit, 57, 78
The bites of priests and wolves are hard to heal, 176
The blade wears out the sheath, 29
The blind man has picked up a coin, 264
The blunders of physicians are covered by the earth, 290
The boor looks after a cent as the devil after a soul, 303
The bow may be bent until it breaks, 396
The bow must not be always bent, 303
The bow that is always bent slackens or breaks, 202
The bowels support the heart, and not the heart the bowels, 260
The branch is seldom better than the stem, 397
The branch must be bent early that is to make a good crook, 363
The braying of an ass does not reach heaven, 124
The bread eaten, the company departed, 219, 291
The bucket goes so often to the well that it leaves its handle there, 128
The buckets take to fighting with the well, and get their heads broken, 109
The bud becomes a rose, and the rose a hip, 31
The busy fly is in every man’s dish, 219
The candle that goes before gives the best light, 305
The candle that goes before is better than that which comes after, 28
The cask always smells of the herring, 28
The cask can give no other wine than what it contains, 105
The cask full, the mother-in-law drunk, 226
The cask smells of the wine it contains, 226
The cat always leaves her mark upon her friend, 203
The cat is a good friend, but scratches, 206, 269
The cat loves fish, but is loth to wet her feet, 106, 141
The cat well knows whose beard she licks, 269
The cats that drive away mice are as good as those that catch them, 147
The chamber-bell (chamber-clapper, or curtain lecture) is the worst sound a man can have in his ears, 101
The chamois climbs high and yet is caught, 149
The child who gets a stepmother also gets a stepfather, 357
The church, the sea, or the royal household, for those who would thrive, 225
The churl knows not the worth of spurs, 36
The coalheaver is master at home, 13
The cock is a lord (or king, or valiant) on his own dunghill, 95, 134, 138
The cock often crows without a victory, 400
The cook shuts his eyes when he crows, because he knows it by heart, 138
The concealer is as bad as the thief, 152
The corn falls out of a shaken sheaf, 15
The corn that is taken to a bad mill will be badly ground, 362
The counterfeit image of a pot with two ears, 305
The court of Rome likes not sheep without wool, 89
The cow does not know the value of her tail till she has lost it, 305, 383
The cow gives milk through her mouth, 141
The cow is milked, not the ox; the sheep is shorn, not the horse, 383
The cow licks no strange calf, 141
The cow that does not eat with the oxen, either eats before or after them (Galician), 204
The cows that low most give the least milk, 141
The cross on his breast, and the devil in his acts, 226
The crow will find its mate (Like will to like), 383
The curse on the hearth wounds the deepest, 347
The danger past, the saint cheated, 118
The day I did not make my toilette, there came to my house one I did not expect, 217
The day I did not sweep the house, there came to it one I did not expect, 217
The day is never so holy that the pot refuses to boil, 352
The day is sure to come when the cow will want her tail, 352
The day you marry ’tis either kill or cure, 217
The days follow each other and are not alike, 35
The dead and the absent have no friends, 199, 265
The dead are soon forgotten, 35
The dead open the eyes of the living, 290
The dearer the child, the sharper must be the rod, 382
The debts go to the next heir, 141
The deceived sheep that went for wool and came back shorn, 216
The devil gets into the belfry by the vicar’s skirts, 241
The devil has his martyrs among men, 304
The devil is bad because he is old, 102
The devil is civil when he is flattered, 139
The devil is fond of his own (Galician), 238
The devil is not always at a poor man’s door, 32
The devil is not so black (or ugly) as he is painted, 102, 139, 285, 304
The devil is so fond of his son that he put out his eye, 258
The devil leads him by the nose, who the dice too often throws, 10
The devil likes to souse what is already wet, 139
The devil lurks (or sits) behind the cross, 15, 152, 213, 304
The devil may die without my inheriting his horns, 32
The devil tempts all, but the idle man tempts the devil, 102
The devil turns away from a closed door, 69, 212
The devil was handsome when he was young, 32
The devil will tempt Lucifer, 102
The devil’s in the cards, said Sam, four aces and not a single trump, 302
The devil’s meal turns half to bran, 28
The difficult thing is to get foot in the stirrup, 103
The doctor is often more to be feared than the disease, 32
The doctor seldom takes physio, 92
The dog barks and the ox feeds, 76
The dog does not get bread every time he wags his tail, 159
The dog gets into the mill under cover of the ass, 57
The dog rages at the stone, not at him who throws it, 138
The dog that barks much, bites little, 272 (See Dogs that bark)
The dog that barks much is never good for hunting, 271
The dog that bites does not bark in vain, 76
The dog that has been beaten with a stick is afraid of its shadow, 101
The dog that has its bitch in town never barks well, 208
The dog that is forced into the woods will not hunt many deer, 354
The dog that is quarrelsome and not strong, woe to his hide, 77
The dog that kills wolves, is killed by wolves, 240, 271
The dog that licks ashes is not to be trusted with flour, 65
The dog that means to bite don’t bark, 101
The dog that starts the hare is as good as the one that catches it, 138
The dog wags his tail, not for you but your bread, 110, 232, 269
The dog will not get free by biting his chain, 379
The dogs bite the hindermost, 137
The dog’s kennel is not the place to keep a sausage, 380
The dress does not make the friar, 217
The drunken man’s joy is often the sober man’s sorrow, 363
The drunken mouth reveals the heart’s secrets, 171
The eagle does not catch (or hunt) flies, 29, 138 (See Eagles)
The eagle does not war against frogs, 107
The early riser is healthy, cheerful, and industrious, 20
The earth covers the errors of the physician, 99
The earth hides, as it takes, the physician’s mistakes, 230
The earth is always frozen to lazy swine, 382
The earthen pan gains nothing by contact with the copper pot, 384
The egg will be more knowing than the hen, 137
The election of the abbot is not stopped for want of a monk, 119
The elephant does not feel a flea-bite, 108
The Emperor of Germany is the king of kings, the King of Spain king of men, the King of France king of asses, the King of England king of devils, 33
The empty waggon must make room for the full one, 139
The end crowns the work, 29, 102, 288, 322
The end of all things is death, 322
The end of mirth is the beginning of sorrow, 322
The end of the corsair is to drown, 102
The end of wrath is the beginning of repentance, 191
The envious man’s face grows sharp and his eyes big, 196, 266
The envious will die, but envy never, 34
The evil which issues from thy mouth falls into thy bosom, 218
The executioner is a keen shaver, 138
The eye is bigger than the belly, 140
The eye is blind if the mind is absent, 88
The eye is never satiated with seeing, 136
The eye of the master fattens the steed, 37, 109, 219, 380
The eye of the master makes the horse fat, and that of the mistress the chambers neat, 325
The eyes are bigger than the belly, 306
The eyes believe themselves, the ears other people, 140
The fairer the hostess, the heavier the reckoning, 155
The false friend is like the shadow of a sun-dial, 32
The farther from Rome the nearer to God, 328
The farthest way about is the nearest way home, 143
The fat sow knows not what the hungry sow suffers, 353
The father a saint, the son a sinner (or devil), 92, 212, 275
The fatter the flea the leaner the dog, 154
The fault is as great as he that commits it, 28, 258
The fear of war is worse than war itself, 119
The feast passes and the fool remains, 118, 239
The fertile field becomes sterile without rest, 216
The fewer the words the better the prayer, 155
The fierce ox becomes tame on strange ground, 216
The fingers of the same hand are not alike, 290
The fire burns brightest on one’s own hearth, 351
The fire heeds little whose cloak it burns, 380
The fire is welcome within when icicles hang without, 351
The fire well knows whose cloak burns, 205
The first at the mill grinds first, 85
The first bird gets the first grain, 353
The first blow is as good as two, 33, 103
The first comer grinds first (First come, first served), 33
The first dish pleases every one, 107
The first in the boat has the choice of oars, 317
The first occasion offered quickly take, lest thou repine at what thou didst forsake, 320
The first step binds one to the second, 33
The first step is all the difficulty, 26 (See The difficult thing)
The first wife is a broom, and the second a lady, 228
The fish lead a pleasant life, they drink when they like, 140
The fisherman fishes in troubled water, 284
The flame is not far from the smoke, 385
The flatterer’s throat is an open sepulchre, 100
The flawed pot lasts longest, 36
The flitch hangs never so high but a dog will look out for the bone, 368
The fly flutters about the candle till at last it gets burnt, 306
The fly that bites the tortoise breaks its beak, 106
The fool cuts himself with his own knife, 32
The fool hunts for misfortune, 32
The fool knows more in his own house than the sage in other men’s, 120
The fool who is silent passes for wise, 19, 289
The foot of the farmer manures the field, 351
The forest has ears, and the field has eyes, 398
The fortress that parleys soon surrenders, 77
The fox advised the others to cut off their tails, because he had left his own in the trap, 107
The fox changes his skin, but keeps the rogue, 138
The fox does not do as much mischief in a year as it pays for in an hour, 235
The fox does not go twice into the same trap, 395
The fox does not prey near his hole, 188
The fox goes through the corn and does not eat, but brushes it down with his tail (Galician), 204
The fox is knowing, but more knowing he who catches him, 233, 284
The fox knows well with whom he plays tricks, 205
The fox may lose his hair, but not his cunning, 316
The fox said the grapes were sour, 107
The fox says of the mulberries when he cannot get at them, they are good for nothing, 2
The fox that sleeps in the morning has not his tongue feathered, 55
The fox that tarries long is on the watch for prey, 254
The fox thinks everybody eats poultry like himself, 20
The Frenchman sings well when his throat is moistened, 269
The friar (or monk) who begs for God begs for two, 222
The friendship of great men is like the shadow of a bush, soon gone, 4
The friendship of the great is fraternity with lions, 70
The frog does not bite, because it cannot, 107
The frog will jump back into the pool, although it sits on a golden stool, 307
The fruit falls not far from the stem, 307
The fugitive finds everything impede him, 66
The full belly does not believe in hunger, 89
The full cask makes no noise, 105 (See Full vessels)
The full-fed cow makes company of her tail, 228
The full-fed sheep is frightened at her own tail, 238, 290
The fuller the cask, the duller its sound, 155
The gallows takes its own, 226
The gallows was made for the unlucky, 106, 239
The game is not worth the candle, 32
The gardener’s dog neither eats greens (or lettuce) nor lets any one else eat them, 76, 219, 290
The gardener’s dog, neither full nor hungry, 219
The gardener’s feet do no harm to the garden, 230
The generous man enriches himself by giving, the miser hoards himself poor, 310, 354
The gentle calf sucks all the cows, 269
The gentle hawk mans herself, 41
The gentle lamb sucks any ewe as well as its mother, the surly lamb sucks neither its own nor another, 216
The Germans carry their wit in their fingers, 33
The girl as she is taught, the flax as it is wrought, 227
The glass-dealer’s horses fell out, and he looked on to see which kicked hardest, 254
The goat can’t well cover herself with her tail, 230
The golden ass passes everywhere, 202
The golden key opens every door, 88, 105
The good seaman is known in bad weather, 101
The good shepherd shears, not flays, 101
The good time comes but once, 103
The goose goes so often into the kitchen, till at last she sticks to the spit, 369
The goose hisses, but does not bite, 305
The goose that has a good gander cackles loudly, 353
The goose that has lost its head no longer cackles, 353
The goslings would lead the geese out to grass, 35
The gossips fall out and tell each other truths, 254
The gown does not make the friar (or monk), 36, 105
The grapes are sour, said the fox when he could not reach them, 202, 304 (See The fox said)
The greater the fear, the nearer the danger, 382
The greatest burdens are not the gainfullest, 17
The greatest conqueror is he who conquers himself, 185
The greatest cunning is to have none at all, 30
The greatest step is out of doors, 138
The green burns for the dry, and the righteous pay for sinners, 202
The greyhound that starts many hares kills none, 223, 278
The guests will go away, and we will eat the pasty, 279
The gutter by dropping wears the stone, 226
The handsomest snuffs the candle, 141
The handsomest woman can only give what she has, 30
The hardest step is over the threshold, 103
The hare always returns to her form, 32
The hare starts from where it is least expected, 91, 214, 241
The hasty man was never a traitor, 152
The headache is mine, and the cows are ours, 264
The heart does not lie, 322
The heart does not think all the mouth says, 113
The heart is no traitor, 216
The heart leads whither it goes, 32
The hen flies not far unless the cock flies with her, 399
The hen is ill off when the egg teaches her how to cackle, 360
The hen lays upon an egg, 258
The hen likes to lay in a nest where there are eggs already, 137
The hen lives by pickings, as the lion by prey, 396
The hen ought not to cackle in presence of the cock, 30
The hen that stays at home picks up the crumbs, 278
The hen’s eyes are with her chickens, 30
The hen’s eyes follow her eggs (Galician), 204, 289
The herb patience does not grow in every man’s garden, 400
The heron blames the water because he cannot swim, 374
The higher the ape climbs the more he shows his rump, 45, 154
The higher the bell is hung, the shriller it sounds, 154
The higher the mountain the lower the vale, the taller the tree the harder the fall, 328
The higher the rise the greater the fall, 15, 69, 211
The hole invites the thief, 215
The honest man enjoys the theft, 216
The horse is not judged of by the saddle, 137
The horse must go to the manger, and not the manger to the horse, 374
The horse that draws best is the most whipped, 43, 137
The horse thinks one thing, and his rider another, 260
The horse’s best allowance is his master’s eye, 280 (See The eye of the master)
The horseshoe that clatters wants a nail, 224
The house completed, possession defeated, 77
The hunchback does not see his own hump, but sees his companion’s, 31, 216
The husband’s mother is the wife’s devil, 140
The ill year comes in swimming, 32
The injurer never forgives, 84
The interested friend is a swallow on the roof (Prepared to leave at the approach of winter), 29
The Italianised Englishman is a devil incarnate, 109
The Italians are wise before the act, the Germans in the act, the French after the act, 99
The Italians cry, the Germans bawl, and the French sing, 35
The Jew ruins himself with passovers, the Moor with wedding feasts, and the Christian with lawsuits, 218
The kettle smuts the frying-pan, 31
The key at the girdle keeps me good and my neighbour too, 264
The key that is used grows bright, 139
The keys at the girdle, the dog in the larder, 228
The king cannot always rule as he wishes, 139
The king goes as far as he can, not so far as he would, 220
The king likes the treachery, but not the traitor, 239
The king of the bees has no sting, 290
The king’s chaff is better than other folk’s corn, 140
The kite’s malady, its wings broken and its beak sound, 218
The laggard cow gets the sour grass, 355
The lame goat does not take a siesta, 270
The land a man knows is his mother, 228
The last come is the best liked, 32
The last comers are often the masters, 34
The last shuts the door, 87, 139
The last stole the sack, 139
The late comer is ill lodged, 86
The later the evening the fairer the company, 155
The law devised, its evasion contrived, 278
The law says what the king pleases, 29
The lawyer’s pouch is a mouth of hell, 29
The lazy pig does not eat ripe pears, 121
The lazy servant takes eight steps to avoid one, 219, 289
The lean dog is all fleas, 197
The less said the sooner mended, 343
The letter enters with blood, 226
The liar is not believed when he speaks the truth, 69
The liar is sooner caught than the cripple, 200
The light is painful to sore eyes, 68
The lion had need of the mouse, 102
The lion is known by his claws, 90
The lion is not so fierce as he is painted, 235
The list is worse than the cloth, 29
The listener makes the backbiter, 32
The little alms are the good alms, 30
The lives of doctors, the souls of priests, and the property of lawyers, are in great danger, 107
The longest way round is the shortest way home, 107
The Lord will not fail to come, though he may not come on horseback, 403
The loss which your neighbour does not know is no real loss, 267
The loyal man lives no longer than the traitor pleases, 237
The lucky man has a daughter for his first-born, 196, 264
The mad dog bites its master, 289
The magistrate’s son gets out of every scrape, 224
The magpie cannot leave her hopping, 304
The malady that is most incurable is folly, 289
The man has neither sense nor reason who leaves a young wife at home, 37
The man in the moon stole the wood, 139
The man of sense does not hang up his knowledge, 290
The man of your own trade is your enemy, 279
The mare’s kick does not harm the colt, 76, 226, 288
The mare’s kicks are caresses to the horse, 208, 273
The master derives honour from his art, 368
The master orders the man, the man orders the cat, and the cat orders her tail, 282
The master’s eye and foot are the best manure for the field, 303
The master’s eye does more than both his hands, 136
The master’s eye makes the horse fat, 289 (See The eye of the master)
The master’s foot is manure for the estate, 219
The maw costs much, 305
The meaning is best known to the speaker, 33
The merchant that loses cannot laugh, 38
The middle path is the safe path, 162
The mill does not grind with water that is past (or without water), 33, 102, 209, 272
The mill gains by going, and not by standing still, 199
The miller is never so drunk that he forgets to take his dues, 390
The miller’s hen and widower’s maid, of want need never be afraid, 162
The millstone that lies undermost also helps to grind, 354
The miser and the pig are of no use till dead, 31
The miser’s bag is never full, 370
The money paid, the workman’s arm is broken, 5
The monk preached against stealing, and had the goose in his larder (The friar preached against stealing, and had a pudding in his sleeve), 306
The monk responds as the abbot chants, 32, 139
The monk (or friar) that begs for God’s sake begs for two, 39, 222
The month loses its own, but not the year, 240
The moon does not heed the baying of dogs, 106
The more a man exposes his nakedness the colder he is, 46
The more a woman admires her face, the more she ruins her house, 227
The more by law, the less by right, 382
The more cooks the worse broth, 382
The more fools the more laughter, 46
The more haste, the less (or worse) speed, 46, 154, 250, 328
The more knave, the better luck, 382
The more law, the less justice, 155
The more one has the more one wants, 250
The more servants the worse service, 328
The more shepherds the less care, 382
The more the fox is cursed, the more prey he catches, 123
The more the well is used the more water it yields, 155
The more you court a clown the statelier he grows, 261
The more you stir a t—d (or filth, or mire) the more it stinks, 46, 155, 328, 357
The more you stroke the cat’s back the more she sets up her tail, 123
The morning hour has gold in its mouth, 162, 306, 390
The mortar always smells of the garlic, 32, 103
The most cautious passes for the most chaste, 227
The most covered fire is always the most glowing, 32
The most cunning are the first caught, 36
The most difficult mountain to cross is the threshold, 362 (See The hardest step)
The most disorderly students make the most pious preachers, 140
The most friendly fortune trips up your heels, 29
The most learned are not the wisest, 305
The most prudent yields to the strongest, 70
The moth does most mischief to the finest garment, 111
The Mother of God appears to fools, 197
The mother reckons well, but the child reckons better, 205
The mother-in-law does not remember that she was once a daughter-in-law, 237, 285
The mother-in-law must be entreated, and the pot must be let stand, 228
The mountain is in labour, and brings forth a mouse, 118
The mountaineer’s ass carries wine and drinks water, 30
The mouse does not leave the cat’s house with a bellyful, 91, 210
The mouse is knowing, but the cat more knowing, 390
The mouse may find a hole, be the room ever so full of cats, 394
The mouse that has but one hole is soon caught, 57, 219, 315
The mouth and the purse, shut, 225
The month often utters what the head must answer for, 390
The mouth that says yes, says no, 205, 269
The mule long keeps a kick in reserve for its master, 33
The myrtle is always a myrtle, though it be among nettles, 102
The nearer the bone the sweeter the flesh, 155, 328
The nearer the church the farther from God, 46, 155
The nearer the inn, the longer the road, 155
The nearer the minster the later to mass, 46
The nearest boor is the nearest kinsman when the calf lies in the ditch, 334
The nearest the dearest, 137
The nest made, the bird dead, 287
The new is always liked, though the old is often better, 393
The niggard spends as much as he who is liberal, and in the end more, 7
The night brings counsel, 30
The nobler the blood the less the pride, 382
The nobler the tree the more pliant the twig, 328
The noise is so great one cannot hear God thunder, 31
The oaths of one who loves a woman are not to be believed, 225
The office teaches the man, 136
The official who can’t lie may as well be out of the world, 219
The oft-moved (or rolling) stone gathers no moss, 356
The old branch breaks if bent, 370
The old for want of ability, and the young for want of knowledge, let things be lost, 220
The old man at home, and the young abroad, lie after the same fashion, 220
The old monkey gets the apple, 30
The old ones sing, the young ones pipe (or, As the old cock crows, the young cook learns), 342
The old saints are forgotten in the new, 291
The old wife, if she does not serve for a pot, serves for a cover, 227
The older a fool the worse he is (There is no fool like an old fool), 154
The older one grows the more one learns, 328
The older, the colder; the more avaricious, the more vicious, 154
The one-eyed is a king in the land of the blind, 6, 172, 222, 286
The only victory over love is flight, 31
The only way to keep a secret is to say nothing, 25
The open door invites the thief, 306 (See The hole; also Opportunity)
The owl does not praise the light, nor the wolf the dog, 402
The owl thinks her children the fairest, 402
The ox comes to the yoke at the call of his feeder, 197
The ox spoke and said “Moo,” 223
The ox that tossed me threw me into a good place, 216, 270
The ox without a bell is soon lost, 216
The pan says to the pot, Keep off, or you’ll smutch me, 106
The paunch warm, the foot sleepy, 204
The people’s voice, God’s voice, 64, 132, 140, 174
The pike grows big on small fry, 370
The pitcher goes so often to the well that it gets broken at last, 58, 139, 305, 383
The pitcher goes so often to the well that it leaves its handle or its mouth, 131, 208, 258, 271
The point of the thorn is small, but he who has felt it does not forget it, 97
The poor man eats at double cost, 288
The poor man has his crop destroyed by hail every year, 217
The poor man seeks for food, the rich man for appetite, 368
The poor man wants much, the miser everything, 353
The poor man’s corn always grows thin, 368
The poor must dance as the rich pipe, 140
The poor-houses are filled with the honestest people, 211
The pope and a peasant know more than the pope alone, 125
The pope eats peasants, gulps gentlemen, and voids monks, 139
The pot boils best on your own hearth, 365
The pot that boils too much loses its flavour, 291
The pot upbraids the kettle that it is black, 306
The pride of the poor does not endure, 368
The priest errs at the altar, 97
The priest loves his flock, but the lambs more than the wethers, 139
The priest to his book, the peasant to his plough, 395
The proof of the pudding is in the eating, 307
The rat does not leave the cat’s house with a bellyful, 274
The rat that has but one hole is soon caught, 198, 354, 299 (See The mouse)
The raven always thinks that her young ones are the whitest, 395
The raven is fair when the rook is not by, 395
The repeated stroke will fell the oak, 173
The rich devour the poor, and the devil devours the rich, and so both are devoured, 306
The rich have many friends, 337
The rich man has more relations than he knows, 33
The rich man transgresses the law, and the poor man is punished, 259
The rich widow’s tears soon dry, 396
The richest man carries nothing away with him but a shroud, 33
The richest man, whatever his lot, is he who’s content with what he has got, 318
The right hand is slave to the left, 105
The righteous man sins before an open chest, 221
The righteous pays for the sinner, 290
The river does not swell with clear water, 102
The river passed the saint forgotten, 118
The road to heaven is equally short, where’er we die, 361
The road to ruin is paved with good intentions, 139
The roses fall, and the thorns remain, 108
The rotten apple spoils its companion, 227
The saint has no believers unless he works miracles, 114
The saint who works no cures has few pilgrims to his shrine, 55
The saint’s-day over, farewell the saint, 29
The same fire purifies gold and consumes straw, 126
The same shoe does not fit every foot, 74
The scabbier the sheep the harder it bleats, 328
The scalded cat (or dog) dreads cold water, 101, 223
The scoffer’s own house is often on fire, 357
The secret in swimming is to know how to take care of your clothes, 226
The secret of two is God’s secret, the secret of three is everybody’s secret, 56
The servant wench that has a mother in town swoons seven times a day, 250
The shadow of a lord is a cap for a fool, 118
The sharper soon (or easily) cheats the covetous man, 220, 290
The she-bear thinks her cubs pretty, 70
The sheep on the mountain is higher than the bull on the plain, 28
The sheep that bleat most give the least milk, 367
The sheep that bleats loses a mouthful, 9, 119, 238, 290
The sheep that is too tame is sucked by too many lambs, 9
The ship does not go without the boat, 106
The shirt is nearer than the doublet, 66, 231, 398
The shortest follies are the best, 35
The shovel scouts the poker, 30
The sick man is free to say all, 109
The sick man is vexed with the flies on the wall, 137
The sick man sleeps when the debtor cannot, 106
The silent dog is the first to bite, 168
The silent man is most trusted, 400
The skin is nearer than the shirt, 30
The sky is not the less blue because the blind man does not see it, 374
The smith’s dog sleeps at the noise of the hammer, and wakes at the grinding of teeth, 219
The smoke of my own house is better than another man’s fire, 121
The snail, to be rid of annoyances, bartered its eyes for horns, 216
The soldier is well paid for doing mischief, 103
The soldier’s blood exalts the captain, 103
The son of an ass brays twice a day, 217
The son-in-law’s sack is never full, 290
The sound of the bell does not drive away rooks, 127
The sow prefers the mire, 398
The spider’s web lets the rat escape and catches the fly, 228
The spot will come out in the washing, 197
The steps at court are slippery, 401
The stew mixed by many is ill-seasoned and worse cooked (Too many cooks spoil the broth), 238
The stew that boils much loses flavour, 238
The still swine eat the mash, the wild ones run past it, 352
The stone is hard and the drop is small, but a hole is made by the constant fall, 228
The stone that everybody spits upon will be wet at last, 356
The strong man’s sport is the weak man’s death, 170
The stronger the seam the worse the rent, 14
The strongest is always in the right, 103
The sun passes over filth and is not defiled, 71
The sun shines for all the world, 35
The sun will bring to light what lay under the snow, 141
The sun-dial counts only the bright hours, 141
The sweetest grapes hang highest, 141
The sword and the ring according to the hand that bears them, 226, 264
The sword keeps the peace of the land, 403
The tail is the hardest to scourge, 30, 105
The tailor ill-dressed, the shoemaker ill-shod, 265
The talker sows, the listener reaps, 85
The teeth of the puppy are growing while the old dog is gnawing bones, 347
The tender surgeon makes a foul wound, 102
The thief becomes the gallows well, 269
The thief cannot find any tree that suits him for a gallows, 147
The thief is frightened even by a mouse, 69
The thief proceeds from a needle to gold, and from gold to the gallows, 288
The thief thinks that all men are like himself, 240, 288
The thief’s wife does not always laugh, 114
The third person makes good company, 304
The thirteenth man brings death, 304
The thorn comes into the world point foremost, 226
The thread breaks where it is thinnest, 217
The threatener loses the opportunity of vengeance, 215
The threatener sometimes gets a drubbing, 58
The threshold says nothing but what it hears of the hinge, 235
The tired mare goes willingly to grass, 276
The tired ox plants his foot firmly, 216
The tongue goes where the tooth aches (or to the aching tooth), 29, 94, 196, 280
The tongue of a bad friend cuts more than a knife, 226
The tongue wounds more than a lance, 61
The tooth often bites the tongue, and yet they keep together, 400
The town that parleys is half surrendered, 64
The trade of thick-headed Michael: eating, drinking, and idling, 303
The treason approved, the traitor abhorred, 172, 265
The tree does not fall at the first stroke, 6, 31, 70, 304
The tree is not felled at one blow, 68
The tree is not to be judged of by its bark, 91
The tree is sure to be pruned before it reaches the skies, 401
The tree must be bent while it is young, 137
The Trojans were wise too late, 128
The two make a pair, 34
The unbidden guest is ever a pest, 171
The unfortunate know who are their real friends, 89
The unrighteous penny consumes the righteous dollar, 172
The upright never grow rich in a hurry, 396
The venom is in the tail, 111
The virtue of silence is a great piece of knowledge, 132
The voice of the people is the voice of God, 262 (See Vox Populi, vox Dei, in Dict. of Quotations)
The waggon must go whither the horses draw it, 403
The watch-dog does not get sweet milk unless there be drowned mice in it, 398
The water breaks out where it is not expected, 94
The water runs while the miller sleeps, 402
The weakest goes to the wall, 125
The weakest must hold the candle, 6
The wedding feast is not made with mushrooms only, 237
The weeping bride makes a laughing wife, 176
The well-bred hound, if he does not hunt to-day will hunt to-morrow, 216
The well-dressed woman draws her husband away from another woman’s door, 227
The well-fed man does not believe in hunger, 103
The well-fed sheep makes a cloak of its tail, 227
The wet branch burns better than the dry stone, 349
The white coat does not make the miller, 107
The wicked shun the light as the devil shuns the cross, 306
The will gives the work its name, 140
The will is everything, 107
The will is taken for the deed, 37
The will is the soul of the work, 140
The wind does not always blow from the same quarter, 147
The wine given to your workmen is that for which you get the best paid, 36
The wine is not known by the hoops, 42
The wine-skin has its reasons for smelling of pitch, 264
The winter is gone, the spring is come, a fig for those who us good have done, 218
The wise drunkard is a sober fool, 171
The wise hand does not all that the tongue says, 227
The wise knows that he does not know, the ignoramus thinks he knows, 205
The wise man does not hang his knowledge on a hook, 217
The wise man has long ears and a short tongue, 139
The wit one wants spoils what one has, 36
The wolf and the fox are both in one story, 218
The wolf bemoans the sheep, and then eats it, 102
The wolf does that in the course of the week which hinders him from going to mass on Sunday, 218
The wolf eats of what is counted, 211, 275 (See Counted sheep)
The wolf is always left out of the reckoning, 90
The wolf is not always a wolf, 102
The wolf is not so big as people make him (or The wolf is always said to be bigger than he is), 42, 126
The wolf loses his teeth, but not his inclinations, 218, 233, 288
The wolf picks the ass’s fleas by moonlight, 195
The wolf preys not in his own field (or commits no mischief at home), 218, 402
The wolf will die in his skin, 32
The woman in finery, the house in filth, but the doorway swept, 227
The woman who gives is seldom good; the woman who accepts is in the power of the giver, 93
The wood has ears, the field has eyes, 139
The word of honour of a gentleman—another pledge would be better, 18
The words are fair, said the wolf, but I will not come into the village, 307
The work praises the workman, 137
The workman is known by his work, 3, 70, 296
The workman is worthy of his hire, 312
The world belongs to the phlegmatic, 103
The world is for him who has patience, 103
The world is governed with little brains, 89
The world is like a staircase; some go up, others go down, 103
The world likes to be cheated, 307
The world likes to have night-owls, that it may have matter for wonder, 141
The world wags on with three things: doing, undoing, and pretending, 103
The world’s a stage; each plays his part, and takes his share, 307
The worse service, the better luck, 328
The worse the carpenter, the more the chips, 328
The worse the dun, the worse the paymaster, 154
The worst clothed go to windward, 35
The worst ewe dungs in the milking-pail, 227
The worst jests are those that are true, 11
The worst of a lawsuit is that out of one there grow a hundred, 229
The worst pig eats the best acorn (or pear), 70, 197, 289
The worst wheel creaks most (or makes the most noise), 12, 96, 137, 325, 328
The worth of a thing is what it will bring, 295
The wrath of brothers is the wrath of devils, 225, 280
The wrong-doer never lacks a pretext, 66, 197
The year has a wide mouth and a big belly, 346
The young may die, the old must die, 138, 330
The young pig must often suffer for what the old sow did, 394
The young ravens are beaked like the old, 305
Their dogs don’t hunt in couples, 36
There are calumnies against which even innocence loses courage, 27
There are eyes that fall in love with bleared ones (Fancy surpasses beauty), 238
There are fagots and fagots (all are not alike), 27
There are good and bad everywhere, 119
There are good dogs of all sizes, 15
There are ills that happen for good, 279
There are many days in the year, and still more meals, 356
There are many preachers who don’t hear themselves, 173
There are many roads to Rome, 119
There are more asses than carry sacks, 126
There are more foolish buyers than foolish sellers, 27
There are more old drunkards than old doctors, 43, 145
There are more thieves than are hanged, 302
There are more thieves than gibbets, 126
There are more threatened than hurt, 121, 231
There are no children now-a-days, 25
There are no foolish trades, there are only foolish people, 25
There are only two good women in the world: the one is dead, the other not to be found, 146
There are some who despise pride with greater pride, 127
There are some who see ill, and would like to see worse, 88
There are three bad neighbours: great rivers, great lords, and great roads, 356
There are three things from which no good can be got without a beating: a walnut-tree, a donkey, and a shrew, 401
There are toys for all ages, 27
There come just as many calf-skins to market as cow-skins, 146, 302
There die as many lambs as wethers, 294
There goes more than one ass to market, 98
There is a cause for all things, 116
There is a fool at every feast, 301
There is a remedy for everything but death, 27, 43, 203, 317, 356
There is always a Pharaoh who does not know Joseph, 146
There is little peace in that house where the hen crows and the cock is mute, 104
There is little use in watching a bad woman, 199
There is more disputing about the shell than the kernel, 159
There is never a cry of “Wolf!” but the wolf is in the district, 97
There is never a great dunghill at a sportsman’s door, 200
There is never enmity between the cook and the butler, 128
There is never enough where nought is left, 115
There is never wanting a dog to bark at you, 287
There is no answer for Get out of my house, and What have you to do with my wife?, 195
There is no appeal from time past, 91
There is no beard so well shaven but another barber will find something more to shave from it, 115
There is no beast so savage but sports with its mate, 236
There is no better patch than one off the same cloth, 236
There is no bush so small but casts its shadow, 26
There is no chapel so small but has its saint, 25
There is no choicer morsel than that which is stolen, 236
There is no cure against a slanderer’s bite, 356
There is no day without its night, 285
There is no disputing about taste, 258
There is no dog, be he ever so wicked, but wags his tail, 115
There is no fire without smoke, 356
There is no flavour in a swallowed morsel, 39
There is no fool like a learned fool, 105
There is no getting blood from a turnip, 90
There is no good in preaching to the hungry, 137
There is no helping him who will not be advised, 66
There is no house without its hush! hush!, 236
There is no hunting but with old hounds, 24
There is no joy without alloy, 318
There is no law but has a hole in it, for those who can find it out, 146
There is no lock if the pick is of gold, 236
There is no love without jealousy, 25, 112
There is no making pancakes without breaking the eggs, 84
There is no mother like the mother that bore us, 236
There is no need to bind up one’s head before it is broken, 111
There is no need to blow what does not burn you, 358
There is no need to fasten a bell to a fool, he is sure to tell his own tale, 390
There is no occasion for priests to marry while peasants have wives, 146
There is no pleasure but palls, and the more so if it costs nothing, 236, 285
There is no pot so bad (or ugly) but finds its cover, 26, 236
There is no pride like that of a beggar grown rich, 24
There is no saint so petty but claims his own candle, 146
There is no spite like that of a proud beggar, 25
There is no stripping a naked man, 142
There is no such thing as an insignificant enemy, 25
There is no such witness as a good measure of wine, 236
There is no tax upon lying, 219
There is no thief without a receiver, 230
There is no use in blowing a fire that burns well, 362
There is no use in saying, I will not go such a way, nor drink of such a water, 113
There is no virtue in a promise unless it be kept, 380
There is no worse fruit than that which never ripens, 112
There is no worse joke than a true one, 112, 115, 236
There is no worse thief than a bad book, 115
There is no worse water than that which sleeps, 24
There is not a pair of ears for every Jew, 239
There is nothing for which the boors pray so much to God as that the horses of the squirearchy may not die, for otherwise they would ride the boors with spurs, 140
There is nothing so bad but may be of some use, 156
There is nothing so secret but it transpires, 317
There is nothing so well done but may be mended, 25
There is plenty of corn in Castile, but he who has none starves, 284
There is some distance between Peter and Peter, 196
There never was a banquet so sumptuous but some one dined ill at it, 25
There never was a looking-glass that told a woman she was ugly, 25
There never was a shoe, however handsome, that did not become an ugly slipper, 113
There were never fewer nobles than when all would be so, 346
There would be no ill word if it were not ill taken, 235
There’s cunning in—a pointed chin, 169
There’s many a knave concealed under a surplice, 366
There’s neither rhyme nor reason in him, 25
There’s no argument like that of the stick, 236
There’s no catching trouts with dry breeches, 286
There’s no disputing about tastes, 91
There’s no getting to heaven in a coach, 114
There’s no guarding against the privy thief, 16
There’s no handsome woman on the wedding-day, except the bride, 285
There’s no living without friends, 285
There’s no making a donkey drink against his will, 112, 332
There’s no making a good cloak of bad cloth, 212
There’s no making a silk purse of a sow’s ear, 332
There’s no making apples of plums, 165
There’s no need to grease the fat pig’s rump, 42
There’s no putting off a lie upon the belly, 138
There’s no showing the wolf to a bad dog, 3
There’s no smoke without fire, 112
There’s no turning a windmill with a pair of bellows, 114
There’s not enough if there’s not too much, 5
There’s nothing like being bespattered for making a man defy the gutter, 25
There’s nothing like having the key of the fields, 25
There’s nothing new under the sun, 145
There’s virtue in a man’s face (i. e. presence carries weight), 17
They agree like cats and dogs, 345
They are all honest men, but my cloak is not to be found, 259
They are rich who have friends, 201, 267
They may whip me in the market-place, so it be not known at home, 259
They must be strong legs that can support prosperous days, 147
They must hunger in frost who spring-time have lost, 182
“They say” is a fool (or a liar), 41, 126
They took away the mirror from me because I was ugly, and gave it to the blind woman, 254
They understand one another like thieves in a fair, 345
They whip the cat if our mistress does not spin, 204
They who are often at the looking-glass seldom spin, 344
They who come from afar have leave to lie, 173, 311
They who deserve honour fail of it, and they who obtain it do not deserve it, 181
They who do not wash well do not bleach well, 378
They who don’t keep goats and yet sell kids, where do they get them?, 230
They who don’t kill pigs must not expect black-puddings, 201
They who eat cherries with the great are like to have the stones and stalks flung in their face, 162
They who fight with golden weapons are pretty sure to prove their right, 310
They who shun the smoke often fall into the fire, 126
They wrangle about an egg and let the hens fly away, 169
Thick wine is better than clear water, 97
Things are not as they are, but as they are regarded, 108
Things promised are things due, 13 (See Promises make debts)
Think much, say little, write less, 45, 119
Think of many things, do one, 273
Thinking is not knowing, 273
Thinking of where you are going, you forget whence you came, 273
Thirst comes from drinking, 75
Thirteen nuns, fourteen children!, 141
Thistles and thorns prick sore, but evil tongues prick more, 311
Those besoms can be sold cheapest which are stolen ready made, 140
Those who climb high often have a fall, 378
Though a lie be swift, truth overtakes it, 75
Though my father-in-law is a good man, I do not like a dog with a bell, 203
Though the ass may carry a sack of gold, it feeds on thistles, 348
Though the bird may fly over your head, let it not make its nest in your hair, 368
Though the fool waits, the day does not, 54
Though the fox runs, the pullets have wings, 75
Though the heron flies high the falcon kills it, 264
Though the speaker be a fool, let the hearer be wise, 203
Though we are negroes, we are men, and have souls, 264
Though you are a prudent old man, do not despise counsel, 204
Though you seat the frog on a golden stool, he’ll soon jump off and into the pool, 168
Though you see me with this coat, I have another up the mountain, 203
Though you teach a wolf the pater-noster, he will say, “Lamb! lamb!”, 383
Though your bloodhound (or mastiff) be gentle, don’t bite him on the lip, 203, 264
Thought when sober, said when drunk, 164
Thoughts are toll-free, but not hell-free, 149
Thousands drink themselves to death before one dies of thirst, 147
Threads do not break for being fine, but for being gouty and ill-spun, 285
Threatened folks eat bread, 229, 294
Threats are arms for the threatened, 108
Threats don’t kill (Men don’t die of threats), 340
Three brothers, three castles, 60, 128, 295
Three daughters and a mother, four devils for the father, 260
Three know it, all know it, 128
Three or four daily will bring you to the bottom of the sack, 270
Three removals are as bad as a fire, 60, 141
Three things drive a man out of doors: smoke, dropping water (or a leaky roof), and a shrew, 128
Three things kill a man: a scorching sun, suppers, and cares, 260
Three who help each other are as good as six, 204
Three women and a goose make a market, 128, 312, 401
Three women, three geese, and three frogs, make a fair, 141
Thrift is better than an annuity, 39
Through being too knowing the fox lost his tail, 119
Through not spending enough, we spend too much, 241
Throw no stones at a sleeping dog, 389
Throw not the child out with the bath, 382
Throw not thy hatchet at the Lord, He will turn the sharp edge against thee, 382
Throw that bone to another dog, 200, 266
Thrust not thy finger into a fool’s mouth, 338
Thunder-showers and great men’s favour are always partial, 401
Tie me hand and foot and throw me among my own people, 108
Time and opportunity are in no man’s sleeve, 191
Time and place make the thief, 170, 338
Time and straw make medlars ripe, 334
Time and the hour are not to be tied with a rope, 295
Time and the hour run through the roughest day, 191
Time and tide wait for no man, 190
Time betrays and hangs the thief, 191
Time brings everything, to those who can wait for it, 190
Time brings roses, 190, 307
Time covers and discovers everything, 191
Time destroys all things, 307
Time gained, much gained, 339
Time goes, death comes, 307
Time is anger’s medicine, 190
Time is an inaudible file, 104
Time is God’s and ours, 307
Time is money, 339
Time is not tied to a post, like a horse to the manger, 400
Time is the best counsellor (or preacher), 138, 190
Time is the herald of truth, 190
Time makes hay, 190
Time passes like the wind, 295
Time past never returns, 307
Time waits for no man, 400
Time, wind, women, and fortune, are ever changing, 191
Timid dogs bark most, 173
Tired folks are quarrelsome, 34
Tired oxen tread hard, 162
’Tis a fat bird that bastes itself, 323
’Tis a good farthing that saves a penny, 9
’Tis a good horse that has no fault, 24
’Tis a long day, a day without bread, 12
’Tis a silly sheep that makes the wolf her confessor, 18, 110
’Tis a wise child that knows its own father, 323
’Tis as necessary to him as gold weights are to a beggar, 303
’Tis best to woo where you can see the smoke, 322
’Tis easier to hurt than heal, 172
’Tis everywhere the same as here, 11
’Tis good feasting in other men’s houses, 108
’Tis hard to swim against the stream, 187
’Tis possible if true, 56
’Tis the mind ennobles, not the blood, 141
’Tis too late to spare when the pocket (or cask) is bare, 191, 324
’Tis well that wicked cows have short horns, 323
’Tis written, “What’s not your own, that let alone,” 146
To a bold man fortune holds out her hand, 2
To a crazy ship every wind is contrary, 71
To a depraved taste sweet is bitter, 196
To a friend’s house the road is never long, 360
To a good cat a good rat, 1
To a hard knot a hard wedge, 198
To a hasty demand a leisure reply, 200, 263
To a quick ear half a word, 190
To a rogue a rogue and a half, 2
To a son-in-law and a hog you need show the way but once, 198
To a woman and a magpie tell your secrets in the market-place, 195
To a young heart everything is sport, 68
To ask wool of an ass, 15
To bait and to grease does not retard a journey, 348
To be a merchant, the art consists more in getting paid than in making sales, 256
To be content to let twelve pennies pass for a shilling, 132
To be led by the nose, 345
To be like a bunch of nettles, 256
To be like a fish in the water, 277
To be like a leek, a grey head and the rest green, 256
To be like a louse in a seam, 256
To be like a tailor’s pattern-book, 256
To be like the esquire of Guadalaxara, who knew nothing in the morning of what he said at night, 256
To be like the tailor of Campillo, who worked for nothing and found thread, 256
To be slow to give, and to refuse, are the same thing, 58, 295
To beards with money cavaliers pay respect, 195
To beat the dog in presence of the lion, 7
To become rich in this world, it needs only to turn one’s back on God, 119
To begin skinning the eel at the tail, 16
To blow hot and cold, 57
To break the constable’s head, and take refuge with the sheriff, 212
To bring down two apples with one stick, 339
To build castles in the air, 18, 330
To burn out a candle in search of a pin, 19
To buy a cat in a poke, 2
To cackle and lay no egg, 206, 270
To carry a lantern in mid-day, 46
To carry fir-trees to Norway (To carry coals to Newcastle), 338
To carry water to the sea (or river), 46, 176, 280, 343
To cast pearls before swine, 99, 336
To catch a hare with a cart, 120
To catch two pigeons with one bean, 12
To change and to better are two different things, 133
To change one’s habits smacks of death, 284
To circumstances and custom the law must yield, 368
To commit the sheep to the care of the wolf, 221
To cover the well after the child has been drowned in it, 137
To cry famine on a heap of corn, 14
To cry up wine, and sell vinegar, 242
To cut broad thongs from another man’s leather, 18 (See Broad thongs)
To cut into another man’s ear is like cutting into a felt hat, 348
To-day for money, to-morrow for nothing, 152, 339
To-day in finery, to-morrow in filth, 152
To-day in gold, to-morrow in the mould, 380
To-day must borrow nothing of to-morrow, 152
To-day red, to-morrow dead, 152, 321
To-day stately and brave, to-morrow in the grave, 321
To-day’s sorrow brings nought to-morrow (Sorrow will pay no debts), 325
To discover truth by telling a falsehood, 255
To do like the monkey, get the chesnuts out of the fire with the cat’s paw, 17
To do nothing teacheth to do evil, 335
To do, one must be doing, 42
To draw the foot out of the mire, 255
To draw the snake out of the hole with another’s hand, 209
To eat and to scratch, one has but to begin, 209
To eat, drink, and sleep together, is marriage, methinks, 8
To err is human (to forgive, divine), 154, 312
To every bird its nest seems fair, 6
To every evil-doer his evil day, 193
To every fool his cap, 329
To every lord every honour, 6
To every one his own is not too much, 155
To every saint his candle, 2, 68
To exchange a one-eyed horse for a blind one, 12
To expect what never comes, to lie in bed and not sleep, to serve well and not be advanced, are three things to die of, 73
To fall from the wall into the ditch (Out of the frying-pan into the fire), 340
To fall out of the frying-pan into the fire, 76, 340
To fawn with the tail and bite with the mouth, 223
To fetch water after the house is burned, 226
To find oneself in tight breeches (Ill at ease—we say, In tight boots), 261
To flay the flayed dog, 125
To flee and to run are not all one, 224
To get out of one muck into another, 255
To get out of the mire and fall into the river, 278
To get out of the rain under the spout, 134
To get out of the smoke and fall into the fire, 278
To get the chicks one must coax the hen, 21
To give a pea for a bean (A Rowland for an Oliver), 55
To give an egg to get an ox, 16, 313
To give change out for his coin, 55
To give counsel to a fool is like throwing water on a goose, 348
To give court holy-water, 16
To give is honour, to beg is dishonour, 274
To give is honour, to lose is grief, 217
To give one the sack, 329
To give quickly is to give doubly, 135
To give tardily is to refuse, 58, 295
To go for wool and come back shorn, 225
To go mulberry-gathering without a crook, 3
To go rabbit-catching with a dead ferret, 199
To go safely through the world you must have the eye of a falcon, the ear of an ass, the face of an ape, the mouth of a pig, the shoulders of a camel, and the legs of a deer, 87
To go to the vintage without baskets, 3
To God’s council-chamber there is no key, 372
To good eating belongs good drinking, 134
To grease the fat pig’s tail, 197
To grow rich one has only to turn his back on God, 24
To hang your sickle on another man’s corn, 307
To harness the horses behind the cart (To put the cart before the horse), 306
To have a belly up to one’s mouth, 259
To have friends both in heaven and hell, 7
To have hairs on his heart (Hard-hearted), 259
To have “heard say” is half a lie, 74
To have it written on his forehead, 259
To have luck needs little wit, 132
To have one eye on the cat and another on the frying-pan, 74
To have one’s brains in one’s heels, 259
To have the foot in two shoes, 259
To him who can take all you have, give what he asks, 67
To him who gives you a capon you may spare a leg and a wing, 197, 252
To him who gives you a pig you may well give a rasher, 67
To him who is determined it remains only to act, 67
To him who watches, everything is revealed, 67, 201
To hold the wolf by the ears, 58
To jump into the water for fear of the rain, 56
To jump out of the frying-pan into the fire, 55, 255
To keep one upon hot coals, 258
To kick against the pricks, 259
To kill a mercer for a comb, 60
To kill the hen by way of getting the egg, 60
To kill two birds with one stone, 282, 339
To know a man well one must have eaten a bushel of salt with him, 46
To know everything is to know nothing, 129
To know the law and do the right are two things, 348
To lather an ass’s head is only wasting soap, 262, 277
To laugh in one’s sleeve, 330
To live from hand to mouth, 64
To live long is to suffer long, 383
To lock the stable after the horses are stolen, 93
To look for a needle in a bundle (or bottle) of hay, 13, 143
To look for five feet in a cat, 206
To look for noon at fourteen o’clock, 13
To lose one eye that you may deprive another of two, 245
To love and to be wise are two different things (or impossible), 2, 198, 265
To mad words deaf ears, 200
To make a happy couple, the husband must be deaf and the wife blind, 46
To make a virtue of necessity, 18, 340
To make an elephant of a fly (To make a mountain of a molehill), 98
To make coqs-à-l’âne, 340
To make of a flea a knight cap-à-pie, 277
To make one hole by way of stopping another, 18
To make the cart go you must grease the wheels, 119
To make two hits with one stone, 18
To make two nails at one heat, 98
To marry once is a duty; twice a folly; thrice is madness, 316
To-morrow will be another day, 230
To-morrow’s remedy will not ward off the evil of to-day, 239
To offer one candle to God and another to the devil, 16
To one who has a pie in the oven you may give a bit of your cake, 1
To parade the gallows before the town, 233
To pay one in his own coin, 118, 291, 329
To piece the lion’s skin with that of the fox, 325
To pluck the goose without making it cry out, 45
To pray to the saint until the danger is past, 254
To preserve friendship one must build walls, 119
To promise is easy, to keep is troublesome, 385
To promise more butter than bread, 47
To promise more carts than oxen, 121
To promise much means giving little, 284
To protest and knock one’s head against the wall is what everybody can do, 122
To pull down the house for the sake of the mortar, 124
To put a good face on a bad game, 17
To put in a needle and take out a bar, 232
To put on one’s doublet before one’s shirt, 110
To put out the fire with tow, 126
To put the plough before the oxen (or cart before the horse), 38
To put water into a basket (To pour water into a sieve), 342
To quarrel over a straw, 336
To quench fire with fire, 255
To rain upon the wet, 272
To reckon without the hostess, 223, 277
To rise at five, dine at nine, sup at five, go to bed at nine, makes a man live to ninety-nine, 36
To rise at six, eat at ten, sup at six, go to bed at ten, makes a man live years ten times ten, 36
To rob a robber is not robbing, 64
To rude words deaf ears, 4
To save at the spiggot, and let it run out at the bung-hole (Also Scotch), 160
To save for old age, earning one maravedi and drinking three, 195
To scare a bird is not the way to catch it, 54
To see the sky through a funnel, 261
To see the mote in another’s eye and not the beam in your own, 307
To sell a cat for a hare, 261, 295
To sell honey to a bee-keeper, 131, 261, 295
To sell the bird in the bush, 131
To sell the skin of the bear before it is caught, 131
To send one arrow after another, 215
To sew the fox’s skin to the lion’s, 14
To shave an egg, 313
To shiver at work, and sweat at meals, 196
To show the sun with a torch, 39
To sign for both parties, 56
To sing out of tune and persist in it, 208
To sink a well by the river side, 163
To spend much and gain little is the sure road to ruin, 173
To spur a horse on level ground, 122
To squeeze an eel too hard is the way to lose it, 44
To start the hare for another’s profit, 280
To steal the leather, and give away the shoes for God’s sake, 137
To steal the pig, and give away the pettitoes for God’s sake, 124, 225, 278
To stop the hole after the mischief is done, 254
To strip one altar to cover another, 125
To strip Peter to clothe Paul, 14, 127 (To rob Peter to pay Paul)
To swallow a camel, and strain at a gnat, 259
To swallow both sea and fish, 307
To swim and swim more, and be drowned on shore, 233
To swim between two waters, 40
To take one foot out of the mire and put the other into it, 255
To take opportunity by the forelock, 46, 259
To take out a burning coal with another’s hand (To make a cat’s-paw of one), 255
To take the chesnuts out of the fire with the cat’s paw, 58
To take Villadiego’s boots (To take to your heels), 259
To the bold man fortune gives her hand, 196, 266
To the devil with so many masters, said the toad to the harrow, 6
To the fallen tree, hatchets! hatchets!, 67
To the grateful man give more than he asks, 195
To the jaundiced all things seem yellow, 59
To the lean pig a fat acorn (See The worst pig), 265
To the looker-on no work is too hard, 137
To thrash one’s jacket, 262
To throw oil on the fire, 336
To throw in a smelt to catch a codfish, 316
To throw the halter after the ass, 128
To throw the helve after the hatchet, 28, 215
To throw the rope after the bucket, 99
To throw the stone and conceal the hand, 259
To throw up a feather in the air, and see where it falls, 215
To turn fishmonger on Easter-eve, 56
To undo crosses in a straw-loft (i. e. to part all the straws that they may not lie crosswise; to be over nice), 213
To wait and be patient soothes many a pang, 348
To wash a blackamoor white, 323
To wash an ass’s head is but loss of time and soap (To reprove a fool is but lost labour), 3
To whom do you offer your shells for sale? To people who come from Saint Michel (where shells abound), 5
To whom you tell your secret you surrender your freedom, 66
To wipe up the sea with a sponge, 308
To withhold truth is to bury gold, 348
To wolf’s flesh dog’s teeth, 193, 264
To work for the bishop (Prayers, but no pay), 259
To your son give a good name and a trade, 203
Too keen an edge does not cut, too fine a point does not pierce, 60
Too late the bird cries out when it is caught, 6
Too little and too much spoils everything, 368
Too many cooks oversalt the porridge, 341
Too many sacks are the death of the ass, 173
Too much bursts the bag, 133
Too much familiarity breeds contempt, 266
Too much humility is pride, 191
Too much is not enough, 133
Too much of one thing is good for nothing, 338
Too much scratching smarts, too much talking harms, 60
Too much wax burns the church, 266
Too much will soon break, 191
Too much wisdom is folly, 191
Too much zeal spoils all, 60
Touch a galled horse and he’ll wince, 337
Touch not another man’s money, for the most honest never added to it, 40
Translators, traitors, 128
Travel east or travel west, a man’s own house is still the best, 339
Treachery and slander are long lived, 399
Treachery lurks in honeyed words, 402
Tread on a worm and it will turn, 63
Trees often transplanted seldom prosper, 302
Trick against trick, 159
Trickery comes back to its master, 60
Trim my beard and I will trim your topknot, 18
Tripe broth, you make much of yourself, 207
Trouts are not caught with dry breeches, 237
True jokes never please, 9
True love never grows old, 71
True love suffers no concealment, 215
True nobility is invulnerable, 64
Trueman’s house stands the longest, 174
Trust, beware whom!, 171
Trust, but not too much, 171
Trust everybody, but thyself most, 401
Trust in God upon good security, 40, 222
Trust no one till you have eaten a bushel of salt with him, 171
Trust not a dog that limps, 285
Trust not a skittish horse, nor a great lord, when they shake their heads, 389
Trust not still water nor a silent man, 401
Trust not tow with firebrands, nor a woman with men, 286
Trust not your gossip to a priest who has been a friar, 194
Trust not your money to one whose eyes are bent on the ground, 212
Trust was a good man, Trust-not was a better, 98
Trust-well rides away with the horse, 170
Truth and folly dwell in the wine-cask, 397
Truth and oil always come to the surface, 228, 268
Truth creeps not into corners, 174
Truth finds no asylum, 174
Truth gives a short answer, lies go round about, 174
Truth ill-timed is as bad as a lie (Truth should not always be revealed), 172
Truth is bitter food, 397
Truth is lost with too much debating, 333
Truth is the club that knocks down and kills everybody, 31
Truth is the daughter of time, 174, 307
Truth makes the tongue smart, 174
Truth may be suppressed, but not strangled, 174
Truth must be seasoned to make it palatable, 357
Truth’s cloak is often lined with lies, 400
Turn your tongue seven times before speaking, 23
’Twixt the spoon and the lip the morsel may slip, 339 (See Between, &c.)
’Twixt the word and the deed there’s a long step, 16
Two are the masters of one, 401
Two birds of prey do not keep each other company, 215
Two cannot fall out if one does not choose, 245
Two cats and one mouse, two women in one house, two dogs to one bone, will not agree long, 192
Two cocks in one house, a eat and a mouse, an old man and a young wife, are always in strife, 339
Two cocks in one yard do not agree, 113
Two dogs over one bone seldom agree, 191, 339
Two eyes see more than one, 282
Two eyes, two ears, only one mouth, 191
Two false men to one traitor, 204
Two hard flints never grind well, 191
Two heads are better than one, 95
Two may lie so as to hang a third, 401
Two men may meet, but never two mountains, 15
Two of a trade never agree, 249
Two sparrows on one ear of corn never agree, 15, 194
Two women and a goose make a market, 94
U.
Unbending the bow does not heal the wound, 14, 72, 120
Under a gold sheath a leaden knife, 258
Under a good cloak may be a bad man, 210
Under a shabby cloak may be a smart drinker, 210, 274
Under fair words beware of fraud, 274
Under my cloak I command (or kill) the king, 210, 258
Under the sackcloth there is something else, 258, 274
Under white ashes are often glowing embers, 126, 402
Union is strength, 317
Unlaid eggs are uncertain chickens, 135, 171, 336
Unlooked-for, often comes, 172
Until death there is no knowing what may befal, 99
Until hell is full no lawyer will ever be saved, 56
Unwilling service earns no thanks, 402
Unworthy offspring brag the most of their worthy descent, 394
Upbraiding makes a benefit an injury, 60
Upon a slight pretext the wolf takes the sheep, 4
Upon an egg the hen lays an egg, 57
V.
Vainglory bears no grain, 29
Vainglory blossoms, and bears no fruit, 223
Vanity has no greater foe than vanity, 31
Various are the roads to fame, 69
Very good corn grows in little fields, 17
Very hard times in the wood when the wolves eat each other, 21
Vetches seem bitter to the full-cropped pigeon, 67
Vice is learnt without a schoolmaster, 401
Vile let him be who thinks himself vile (or base), 293
Vipers breed vipers, 346
Virtue consists in action, 307
Virtue flourishes in misfortune, 171
Virtue in the middle, said the devil, when seated between two lawyers, 364
Virtue is its own reward, 304
Virtue never dies, 171
Virtue subdues power, 171
W.
Wait is a hard word to the hungry, 137
Wait time and place to take your revenge, for it is never well done in a hurry, 73
Wake not a sleeping cat (or dog), 40, 115, 167, 337
Walls have ears, 35, 141, 268, 306
Walls sink and dunghills rise, 193, 263
Want and necessity break faith and oaths, 401
War begun, hell unchained, 100
War is pleasant to him who does not go to it (or who has not tried it), 139, 275
War makes robbers, and peace hangs them, 29, 106
War with all the world, and peace with England, 209
Wash a dog, comb a dog, still a dog remains a dog, 31, 401
Wasting is a bad habit, sparing a sure income, 338
Watching a woman is labour in vain, 176
Water afar does not quench a fire at hand, 67
Water is the strongest drink; it drives mills, 176
Water past will not turn the mill, 67, 195
Water, smoke, and a vicious woman, drive men out of the house, 67 (See Smoke, &c.)
Water washes everything, 263
Wax, flax, and tin; much out and little in, 342
We are all well placed, said the cat, when she was seated on the bacon, 403
We are both carriers, and shall meet on the road, 202
We are not yet roasting, and already we are basting (or make sops in the pan), 203, 230
We beat the sack and mean the miller, 160
We cannot all be Pope of Rome, 188
We do in haste what we repent at leisure (Marry in haste and repent at leisure), 161
We give to the rich and take from the poor, 166
We hang little thieves and let great ones escape, 305 (See Great thieves hang, &c.)
We hang little thieves and take off our hats to great ones, 157
We have no son, and yet are giving him a name, 224
We have not yet saddled, and are already mounted (or riding), 203, 264
We knock in jest and it is opened in earnest, 153
We know what we have, but not what we shall get, 161
We learn by teaching, 104
We must bear our cross with patience, said the man when he took his wife on his back, 388
We must eat and drink though every tree were a gallows, 147, 333 (See A man must eat)
We must sow even after a bad harvest, 389
We must suffer much or die young, 389
We shall see, as the blind man said, 40
Wealth is not his who makes it, but his who enjoys it, 107
Weather, wind, women, and fortune, change like the moon, 58
Wedlock rides in the saddle and repentance on the crupper, 18
Weeds never die, 172, 402
Weight and measures save a man toil, 240
Weighty work must be done with few words, 403
Welcome, misfortune, if thou comest alone, 205, 221
Well begun is half done, 20, 76, 78, 151, 190, 206, 270, 287, 313, 403
Well-done outlives death, 190
Well fed but ill taught, 8
Well-regulated charity begins with one’s self (or at home), 13
Were all adulterers to wear grey coats the cloth would be dear, 169
Were every one to sweep before his own house, every street would be clean, 298
Were fools silent they would pass for wise, 345
Were he to throw a groat on the roof it would come down a dollar, 188
Were I a hatter, men would come into the world without heads, 174
Were it a wolf it would spring at your throat, 56
Were it not for “if” and “but,” we should all be rich for ever, 56
Were the devil to come from hell to fight, there would forthwith be a Frenchman to accept the challenge, 56
Were the sky to fall, not an earthen pot would be left whole, 341 (See If the sky, &c.)
Were there no fools there would be no wise men, 149
Were you at the wedding, Molly? No, mother, but the bride was very fine, 230
What a monk thinks, he dares, 10
What a woman wills, God wills, 10, 229
What belongs to the ravens is never drowned, 175
What can’t be cured must be endured, 175, 290
What children hear their parents say by the fireside they repeat in the highway, 213
What Christ (or the Church) does not take the Exchequer takes, 176, 229
What comes from the fife goes back to the drum (Lightly come, lightly go; or, what is got over the devil’s back is spent under his belly), 11
What comes from the heart, goes to the heart, 176
What comes seldom, comes sharp, 176
What costs little is little esteemed, 123
What costs nothing is worth nothing, 343
What cures Sancho makes Martha sick, 209
What does not happen in a year may happen in a moment, 229
What does not poison, fattens, 123
What does the moon care if the dogs bark at her?, 175
What force cannot do ingenuity may, 229
What God hath joined together let no man put asunder, 175
What harm is there in a good word? It costs nothing, 176
What has horns will gore, 343
What has not been, may be, 123
What I see with my eyes I can guess with my fingers, 229
What is another’s always pines for its master, 229, 294
What is bad for one is good for another, 11
What is bought is cheaper than a gift, 89, 281
What is bred in the bone won’t out of the flesh, 343
What is done cannot be undone, 102, 123, 370
What is done, is done for this time, 229
What is enough was never little, 11
What is got by begging is dearly bought, 351
What is in use, wants no excuse, 229
What is learned in the cradle lasts till the grave, 11
What is long spoken of happens at last (Long looked for comes at last), 333
What is lost in the fire must be sought in the ashes, 309
What is marriage, mother? Daughter, it is spinning, bearing children, and weeping, 281
What is mine is my own; my brother Juan’s is his and mine, 229
What is much desired is not believed when it comes, 229
What is new is always fine, 6
What is no sin, is no shame, 175
What is not taken by the Church is taken by the Exchequer, 176
What is play to the strong is death to the weak, 399
What is right for the one is reasonable for the other, 175
What is said is said, and no sponge can wipe it out, 149
What is sport (or play) to the cat is death to the mouse, 141, 382
What is sweet in the mouth is not always good in the stomach, 358
What is the use of running, when we are not on the right road?, 175
What is too high, that let fly, 175
What is true is not always probable, 36
What is whispered in your ear tell not to your husband, 229
What is worth receiving is worth returning (Give and take), 59
What is wrong to-day won’t be right to-morrow, 343
What! keep a dog and bark myself? 175
What keeps out the cold keeps out the heat, 123
What lay hidden under the snow cometh to light at last, 325
What man has made, man can destroy, 175
What Master Jacky does not learn, Mr. John never knows, 175
What much is worth comes from the earth, 229
What my neighbour eats does my stomach no good, 229
What one does not bake, another brews, 175
What ripens fast does not last, 174
What smarts, teaches, 176
What the abbot of Bamba cannot eat he gives away for the good of his soul, 215
What the child hears at the fireside is soon known at the parish church, 10
What the colt learns in youth he continues in old age, 11 (See What youth learns)
What the eye sees not, the heart craves not, 343
What the eye sees not, the heart rues not, 10, 115, 174
What the eyes see, the heart believes, 175
What the fool does at last the wise man does at first, 229, 290
What the gauntlet wins the gorget consumes, 10
What the lion cannot, the fox can, 175
What the peacock has too little on his head, he has too much on his tail, 175
What the she-wolf does (or brings forth) pleases the he-wolf, 10, 229
What the sober man has in his heart, the drunken man has on his lips, 358
What the sober man thinks, the drunkard tells, 10, 342
What three know everybody knows, 229
What three know will soon be known to thirty, 175
What was hard to bear is sweet to remember, 290
What water gives, water takes away, 263
What we want in hay we make up in straw, 175
What will be, will be, 77
What you can’t have, abuse, 123
What you dislike for yourself do not like for me, 229
What you do, do quickly, 175
What you do, do thoroughly (Age quod agis), 22
What you do yourself is well done, 397
What you give, is written in sand; what you take, with an iron hand, 177
What you learn to your cost you remember long, 362
What you lend to a friend an enemy sues for, 175
What youth learns age does not forget, 363
Whatever way you take there is a league of bad road, 241
What’s everybody’s business is nobody’s business, 238, 287
What’s of no use is too dear at a gift, 176
What’s the use of putting honey in an ass’s mouth, 176
When a cow is lost it is something to recover its tail, were it only to make a handle for one’s door, 16
When a dog runs away, hit him! hit him!, 65
When a fox is in his hole smoke fetches him out, 262
When a good offer comes for your daughter, don’t wait till her father returns from market, 243
When a man has fallen into the mire, the more he flounders the more he fouls himself, 83
When a man is down everybody runs over him, 179
When a man is in a sack, he must get out at the mouth or at the bottom, 392
When a man is not used to breeches the seams gall him, 250
When a man is rich he begins to save, 178
When a mouse has fallen into a meal sack, he thinks he is the miller himself, 298
When a peasant gets rich, he knows neither relations nor friends, 244
When a thing is done advice comes too late, 2
When a thing is done, make the best of it (Make the best of a bad bargain), 191
When a tree is falling, every one cries, Down with it, 67
When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman, 133, 339
When all other sins are old avarice is still young, 48
When an old dog barks, look out (When the old dog barks, he giveth counsel), 135, 298
When an old man cannot drink, prepare his grave, 244
When anger blinds the eyes truth disappears, 379
When apes climb high they show their naked rumps, 297 (See The higher)
When blind leads blind both fall into the ditch, 178
When bulls fight, woe to the frogs, 291
When cat and mouse agree the farmer has no chance, 391
When eats are mousing they don’t mew, 297
When Christ was alone the devil tempted him, 133
When David grew old he sang pious psalms, 133
When dirt comes to honour it knows not what to be, 392
When drink enters, wisdom departs, 214
When every man gets his own the devil gets nothing, 391
When every one minds his own business the work is done, 391
When every one says you are an ass, bray, 244
When every one sees that you are a pig, why don’t you go into the sty?, 297
When everybody says you are drunk, go to sleep, 123
When flies swarm in March sheep come to their death, 298
When fools go to market, pedlars (or hucksters) make money, 298, 391
When fortune’s chariot rolls easily, envy and shame cling to the wheels, 369
When fortune knocks, open the door, 123, 177
When glory comes, memory departs, 48
When gnats swarm in January the peasant becomes a beggar, 298
When God gives light he gives it for all, 243
When God means to punish a nation, He deprives its rulers of wisdom, 178, 298
When God pleases it rains in fair weather, 243
When God pleases it rains with every wind, 243, 299
When God says To-day, the devil says To-morrow, 178
When God sends flour the devil carries off the sack, 47
When God will not the saints cannot, 122, 243, 298
When gold speaks every tongue is silent, 94
When goods increase the body decreases, 47
When had comes, have is too late, 299
When he was born, Solomon passed by his door, and would not go in, 255
When his head is broken he puts on his helmet, 124
When I have money in my purse, I have food in my mouth, 391
When I was born I wept, and every day brings a reason why, 213
When I’m dead, everybody’s dead, and the pig too, 110
When ill-luck sleeps, let no one wake her, 244
When industry goes out of the door, poverty comes in at the window, 342
When it is God’s will to plague a man, a mouse can bite him to death, 298