English proverbs

Do not take on a challenge that exceeds your present abilities before learning the skills needed to handle it safely. Confidence alone is no substitute for competence.

People do not always receive rewards in proportion to what they deserve. Effort or good conduct may go unrecognized, while benefits may fall to someone less deserving.

The proverb urges a person to earn a claim to something before wishing to receive it. Effort and conduct should come before expectations of reward or recognition.

A delay can intensify a wish rather than diminish it. The longer people must wait for something they want, the more strongly they may desire it.

People can respond to the same thing in opposite ways: what one person strongly rejects may be something another eagerly wants. Desire and dislike are not universal measures of value.

The proverb places two starkly different turns in a person’s life—marriage and execution—under the power of destiny. Its jarring pairing gives a fatalistic view of outcomes that people might otherwise expect to control.

Someone who was just being discussed turns up unexpectedly, as though mentioning them had summoned them.

A person who willingly brings trouble into their affairs cannot expect it to become pleasant or easy. They must work with the situation they have created.

Fair judgment requires recognizing a person's genuine merits, even when you strongly disapprove of that person overall.

Even when someone deserves criticism, it is unfair to exaggerate their faults. A judgment should reflect what is known rather than add imagined offenses.

The image is of someone being driven forward by the devil: the person moves because the force behind them will not let them remain where they are.

Circumstances may force someone to help or accommodate a person they consider objectionable. Holding the candle suggests serving that person, even while disapproving of them.

Trouble does not stay with one person or household. Someone spared a difficulty today may have to face it another time.

Fear and suffering can prompt a person to promise a profound change. The promise may reflect the pressure of the moment rather than a lasting commitment.

The proverb treats Saint Bartholomew as a marker for a seasonal change: dew that once felt mild now feels cold in the morning.

The proverb urges someone to keep trying through difficulty instead of treating a setback as certain defeat.

Death can come at any age. Youth offers no guarantee of survival, while even a long life must eventually end.

Steady effort can be valuable in the way an inheritance is valuable: it gives a person a resource to draw on when facing work and difficulty.

Steady, careful work can help bring about favorable results. The proverb treats good fortune not simply as a lucky accident, but as something that effort can help create.

The proverb recommends two different responses to meals: take a short rest after dinner, then go for a walk after supper.

Looking too closely at how a meal is made may spoil a guest’s enjoyment of it. The kitchen stands for the work and imperfections that are usually out of sight when a friend offers dinner.

Hardship can feel easier to bear when someone else is facing it alongside you. Companionship may ease the loneliness of suffering without removing its cause.

Enjoyable conversation can make even a long span of time feel brief. The saying connects the pleasure of talking with a reduced awareness of passing hours.

Knowing when to hold back can be more valuable than having a clever response ready. The proverb places careful judgment above verbal quickness.

Pleasure can carry a cost to health: something enjoyable in the moment may be followed by illness.

The proverb treats recognizing an illness as an important part of dealing with it. Until the trouble is identified, choosing an effective response is much harder.

The first food served tends to receive a warm reception. People who are ready to eat may be less particular about what arrives first.

Treat other people with the same consideration you would want them to show you. Your own wishes offer a guide for choosing how to act toward someone else.

When the course we prefer is not possible, we must act within the limits of what we can do. A workable choice may be better than waiting for ideal conditions.

The paired plants recall a charm for a nettle sting: dock is welcomed in while the nettle’s painful effect is urged away. The words express a wish for relief, not a claim that dock is an effective treatment.

Specialized knowledge is valuable, but it need not be the only source of insight. A partner who thinks differently may notice something the expert overlooks.

The proverb recommends choosing a doctor with many years behind them but a lawyer who is relatively young. It treats age as a different kind of advantage in each profession.

Someone who is overlooked or unsuccessful now may still have a chance to succeed later. Present circumstances need not define a person's prospects forever.

Good conduct or valuable effort deserves a reward that reflects its worth. The proverb argues for treating a deserving person generously rather than taking their contribution for granted.

A crust stands for a very small allowance. The saying suggests that a dog would have to be exceptionally bad to merit being denied even that much.

A threatening display can be an early warning of more serious action. The proverb urges people not to dismiss an initial sign of aggression merely because no harm has occurred yet.

The proverb contrasts going in person with sending someone else. It presents direct involvement as the surer path to getting a task done, while suggesting that delegation may leave the outcome uncertain.

The proverb contrasts a large sum of money with a modest quantity of fodder to show how little material wealth matters in the face of final judgment.

The loss of one opportunity does not necessarily end a person's prospects; another possibility may still arise.

Acting rightly is presented as a path to being treated well. The proverb connects a person’s conduct with the good that may come back to them.

The proverb presents a harsh response to another person's misfortune: instead of helping someone in a weakened position, people add to that person's troubles.

The person described is easily influenced: even a slight effort can steer their choices or behavior. The weak thread emphasizes how little resistance they offer.

When people face severe danger or hardship, they may reach for an option that offers little realistic hope. The straw represents help too slight to save a drowning person.

The ox suggests that water can be drunk in hearty quantities. The royal image gives wine a different measure: it is to be enjoyed with restraint.

The proverb warns that satisfying a want before it becomes a need can leave a person without what they require later. Its image of thirst makes the cost of poor timing immediate and concrete.

The image is of securing one nail firmly before driving another, so the work already begun is not left loose or unfinished.

A single small contribution may seem inconsequential, but many such contributions can create a substantial result.

The saying links the order in which two trees produce leaves with dry weather. If ash leads oak, it treats that observation as a sign of drought.

Do not add to the troubles of someone who has already suffered enough. Further punishment or criticism may serve no purpose beyond making a bad situation worse.

The saying places continual drunkenness beside a continual state of being dry. It suggests that heavy drinking does not bring an end to the need for a drink.