English proverbs

The saying presents love as a touchstone: a test that reveals whether moral character is genuine. Here, love need not mean romantic feeling; it means caring concern for others. Virtue is not measured only by stated principles or outward correctness.

Good health is worth more than financial riches because it makes daily life, independence, and enjoyment possible. Money may provide comfort or care, but it cannot fully replace physical well-being.

Severe hunger can make even unpleasant or unpalatable food seem welcome. Need changes what a person can accept and how they judge comfort, quality, or taste.

The saying urges someone not only to pardon a wrong but also to stop dwelling on it. It presents reconciliation as releasing resentment rather than repeatedly reviving the injury.

The saying offers a broad, proverbial reassurance that land will not remain without an owner merely because no heir is immediately apparent. It treats succession as likely to be resolved somehow, rather than making a precise claim about inheritance law.

A small concession to a greedy or overreaching person may be treated as permission for a much larger demand. An ell is an old unit of length; the contrast with an inch stresses how disproportionate the demand is.

Someone who listens in on talk not meant for them may hear criticism rather than praise. The saying warns that overheard conversation can be painful when it reveals unflattering private opinions.

Pleasure is often accompanied by irritation, inconvenience, or minor trouble. In this compact rhyme, “annoy” works as a noun-like label for annoyance or bother, presenting enjoyment and difficulty as paired experiences.

The saying observes that goods of real quality tend to attract buyers readily, making them easier and faster to sell.

The saying paints humanity in a bleak two-part division: people are imagined either as knaves, in the older moral sense of dishonest or unscrupulous people, or as fools, who are easily misled. It expresses cynical distrust of the moral and intellectual quality of public life.

The first clause welcomes a larger company, suggesting that extra participants can make a social occasion livelier and more enjoyable. It presents numbers as adding to the spirit of shared amusement.

Separation may weaken a mild attachment. Without regular contact, a feeling that was never especially strong can lose its urgency and gradually fade.

The proverb points to a tendency to assign blame to people who are absent, especially when they cannot answer an accusation or offer their account.

The proverb suggests that a prolonged absence can weaken a person's place in other people's thoughts. Familiarity depends, in part, on continued contact.

The proverb imagines teeth as occupants of the mouth. When they ache, they become troublesome tenants whose presence is hard to ignore.

The proverb contrasts two possible outcomes of hardship: a person may gain insight from difficulty without gaining money or possessions. Its emphasis is on what experience can teach, not on material reward.

Difficult circumstances test the strength of a friendship. A person’s loyalty can become clearer when offering support requires effort or sacrifice.

Hardship does not soften its message to protect anyone’s pride. Its difficulties remain difficult regardless of how a person wishes to be seen.

The proverb urges restraint when you think someone could benefit from your advice. Even a well-meant suggestion may be unwelcome if the person has not asked for it.

Seeking guidance and offering opinions are easy; taking someone else’s counsel seriously can be much harder.

Seeking guidance has little value when the person asking has already ruled out acting on what they hear. The proverb points to a mismatch between requesting help and being willing to use it.

Guidance offered after an action is complete cannot influence the choice that has already been made or prevent its consequences.

Anyone who enters a dangerous undertaking must accept that harm or setbacks are possible. Wanting to avoid every wound is incompatible with joining a battle.

A frightening experience has caused less injury or damage than the person expected. The fear was real, but the outcome was not as bad as it seemed it might be.

The saying gives older people priority when deciding who should go first. It asks a younger person to yield the first turn or place to an elder.

The proverb presents old age as a condition worthy of esteem. It asks listeners to regard later life with respect rather than treating it as a reason for contempt.

People who do similar work may still hold sharply different opinions. Shared expertise does not guarantee that they will reach the same judgment.

The proverb urges people in a dispute to consider an agreement before turning to the law. Legal proceedings can consume money that both sides might otherwise save.

The proverb presents a bout of springtime fever as something that may do a person good, despite its discomfort. Calling it medicine fit for a king emphasizes the value it assigns to that supposed benefit.

The rider and the walker represent two different speeds: a feverish illness can take hold suddenly, then fade only gradually.

Air may be essential, but it cannot sustain a person by itself. Food and other basic provisions are also needed to stay alive.

Saving is portrayed as practical magic: money kept rather than spent can gradually become a useful reserve.

The proverb presents good ale as though it could meet several basic needs at once: nourishment, refreshment, and the comfort associated with warm clothing.

Some purchases bring along parts the buyer would rather do without. Stones, bones, and shells are included alongside the things that make land, meat, and eggs desirable.

A newly opened alehouse draws people willing to spend a little money there, even if they might usually be careful with their coins.

A satisfactory outcome can change how people look back on the difficulties that came before it. The ending becomes the main reason to judge the whole experience favorably.

Every person has limits. However capable someone may be, there are tasks they cannot perform and outcomes they cannot bring about.

The proverb separates a feared outcome from what actually occurred. However close someone came to disaster, the disaster itself did not happen.

The proverb criticizes someone who takes something valuable and then gives away a small part of the proceeds as an act of charity. The gift does not undo the theft.

The proverb presents brief anger as consistent with good character. A decent person may become angry, but does not stay angry for long.

The proverb advises keeping clear of someone whose position gives their anger unusual weight. It is a warning about the risks of becoming the target of that anger.

People given to anger are rarely free of trouble or sorrow. Here, “want” means “lack”: the proverb says that angry people tend to have plenty of woe.

The proverb places responsibility for an unfounded grievance on the person who is angry. If no one has done them a wrong, no one owes them a remedy.

A hardship is felt most fully by the person living with it. Others may see the circumstances without grasping the effort or distress involved.

April and May are presented as decisive months: conditions during spring can shape how the rest of the year unfolds.

April’s horn represents thunder. The proverb welcomes the rain that commonly accompanies it as beneficial to hay and grain crops.

The proverb imagines April taking three days from March to explain why part of April can feel disagreeable. The borrowed days retain the character of the earlier month.

The proverb links the wind and rain of early spring with the flowers that appear later. What feels unpleasant at the time can also be part of a process of growth.

The proverb contrasts sharp awareness in familiar surroundings with poor perception beyond them. Its exaggerated images make the difference pointed rather than merely descriptive.

The proverb tells a person that eating their food is no cause for shame. It treats eating as an ordinary act that need not bring embarrassment.