Many a true word is spoken in jest, 123
Many are brave when the enemy flies, 110
Many can help one, 173
Many cooks spoil the broth, 173
Many desire the tree who pretend to refuse the fruit, 110
Many dogs are the death of the hare, 387
Many friends, and few helpers in need, 173
Many go out for wool and come home shorn, 161
Many grains of sand will sink a ship, 387
Many hands make quick work, 173, 340
Many have good intentions, but something comes across them, 161
Many have too much, but none have enough, 386
Many heads, many minds, 341
Many heirs make small portions, 173
Many hounds are the death of the hare, 173, 341
Many kiss the child for the nurse’s sake, 387 (_See_ He who kisses)
Many kiss the hand they would fain see chopped off, 233, 284
Many little rivulets make a great river, 386
Many littles make a mickle, 341
Many love to praise right and do wrong, 387
Many open a door to shut a window, 341
Many return from the war who cannot give an account of the battle, 124
Many scruple to spit in church, and afterwards defile the altar, 110
Many see more with one eye than others with two, 161
Many seek good nights and lose good days, 332
Many shun the brook and fall into the river, 161
Many shun the sword and come to the gallows, 161
Many stop their noses at ambergris, 71
Many take by the bushel and give with the spoon, 161
Many trades, begging the best, 173
Many words don’t fill the sack (_Scoticé_: Meikle crack fills nae
sack), 340
Many words go to a sackful (Many words will not fill a bushel), 302
Marriage is heaven and hell, 140
Marriages are not as they are made, but as they turn out, 104
Marriages are written in heaven, 35
Married to-day, marred to-morrow, 6
Marry and grow tame, 208, 272
Marry in haste and repent at leisure, 52, 86, 152, 321
Marry, marry, and what about the housekeeping, 272
Marry, marry, sounds well but tastes ill, 272
Marry me without delay, mother, for my face is growing wrinkled, 280
Marry your son when you please, your daughter when you can, 38, 77,
208, 272, 370
Marrying in the blood is never good, 152
Marrying is easy, but housekeeping is hard, 152
Martha sings well when she has had her fill, 268, 271
Mary Busybody never wants a bad day, and Mary Drone has God to give
and bring to her, 198
Master’s hints are commands, 101
Mastiff never liked greyhound (A churl never liked a gentleman), 41
May God not so prosper our friends that they forget us, 235
Measure thrice before you cut once, 110, 332
Meddle not with what you don’t understand, 286
Meddle with dirt and some of it will stick to you, 386 (_See_ He who
touches pitch)
Men after the modern fashion, and asses after the ancient, 100
Men are as old as they feel, and women as they look, 100
Men are rare, 35
Men can bear all things except good days, 297
Men go not laughing to heaven, 333
Men make wealth, and women preserve it, 100
Men must sail while the wind serveth, 333
Men’s ignorance makes the pot boil for priests, 37
Merchant to-day, beggar to-morrow, 152
Merchants’ goods are ebb and flood, 331
Michael is quits; he lost a ducat and gained a rabbit, 213
Michael, Michael, you have no bees, and yet you sell honey!, 232, 283
Might and courage require wit in their suite, 386
Might is not right, 19, 319
Milk the cow, but don’t pull off the udder, 333
Millers and bakers do not steal, people bring to them, 162
Millers, tailors, and weavers are not hanged, or the trade would soon
be extinct, 162
Mischief comes soon enough, 402
Misers’ money goes twice to market, 214, 288
Misfortune comes on horseback and goes away on foot, 32
Misfortune seldom comes alone to the house, 397
Misfortune upon misfortune is not wholesome, 37
Misfortune, wood, and hair, grow throughout the year, 172
Misfortunes never come single, 62, 108, 315
Misreckoning is no payment, 161
Money advances meacocks, 15
Money and friendship break the arms of justice, 123
Money borrowed is soon sorrowed, 5
Money burns many, 5
Money gets money, 214
Money in the purse dispels melancholy, 149
Money is a good servant but a bad master, 31
Money is an epitome of human power, 101
Money is lost only for want of money, 31
Money is money’s brother, 101
Money is more eloquent than a dozen members of parliament, 395
Money is not gained by losing time, 291
Money is power, 319
Money is round, and rolls, 5,101
Money is the measure of all things, 275
Money is the sinew of war, 322
Money lent, an enemy made, 275
Money makes dogs dance, 46
Money makes the man, 149
Money rules the world, 319
Money saved is money got (or as good as money gained), 354
Money soothes more than the words of a cavalier (or a gentleman’s
words), 231, 281
Money taken, freedom forsaken, 149
Money turns bad into good, 217
Money wins the battle, not the long arm, 275
Monks, mice, rats, and vermin, seldom sunder without harming, 162
More are drowned in the bowl than in the sea, 153
More belongs to dancing than a pair of dancing-shoes, 302
More belongs to riding than a pair of boots, 191
More flies are caught with a spoonful of syrup (or drop of honey)
than with a cask of vinegar, 333, 386
More grows in a garden than the gardener sows there, 286
More is done with words than with hands, 162
More luck than wit, 332
More people are slain by suppers than by the sword, 368
More unlucky than a dog in church, 121
Moses (_i.e._ a Jew) does not play because he has not the means, 236
Mother, I must have a husband, or I shall set fire to the house, 162
Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, storm and hail, 127
Mother, marry me, marry me, or the gull will fly away with me, 230
Mother, what is marrying? Spinning, bearing children, and crying,
daughter, 230
Mother’s love is ever in its spring, 58
Mother’s truth keeps constant youth, 162
Mouth and heart are wide apart, 162
Mouth of honey, heart of gall, 269
Month shut and eyes open, 75
Much broth is sometimes made with little meat, 387
Much caution does no harm, 266
Much chatter, little wit, 284
Much kindred, much trouble, 5
Much laughter, little wit, 289
Much memory and little judgment, 7
Much money, many friends (Where money, there friends), 173
Much never cost little, 237, 287
Much noise and little wool, said the devil, when he was shearing the
sow, 364 (_See_ Great cry and little wool)
Much smoke and little roast, 110
Much straw and little corn, 284
Much talk little work, 341
Much talking, much erring, 199
Much water passes by the mill that the miller perceives not, 73
Much water runs by while the miller sleeps, 357
Much wisdom is lost in poor men’s mouths, 154
Much wisdom is smothered in a poor man’s head, 329
Much wit is lost in a poor man’s purse, 147
Much worship, much cost, 35
Muddy water won’t do for a mirror, 67
Mules make a great fuss about their ancestors having been horses, 161
Must is a hard nut, 162
My chest locked, my soul safe, 283
My daughter-in-law tucked up her sleeves and upset the kettle into
the fire, 202
My friend’s enemy is often my best friend, 161
My gossips don’t like me because I tell them truths, 230, 282
My life and soul at your service, but not the pack-saddle, 228, 274
My money your money, let us go to the tavern, 283
My neighbour’s goat gives more milk than mine, 225, 263
My neighbour’s hen lays more eggs than mine, 226
My No is as good as your Yes, 128
My shirt is nearer than my cloak, 322
My sister’s son is a kinsman beyond dispute, 239
My teeth are nearer than my kindred, 231, 242
N.
National customs are national honours, 384
Nature and love cannot be hid, 163 (_See_ Love)
Nature draws stronger than seven oxen, 163
Nature requires little, fancy much, 163
Near is my petticoat, but nearer is my smock, 120
Near the church far from God, 132
Necessity becomes will, 106
Necessity breaks iron, 164
Necessity is the mother of invention (or teaches arts), 40, 164, 303
Necessity knows (or has) no law, 40, 111, 164, 335, 393
Necessity seeks bread where it is to be found, 164
Necessity teaches the lame to dance, 164
Necessity unites hearts, 164
Need makes the old wife trot, 8, 227, 306, 393
Needle and thread are half clothing, 224
Neighbour once over the hedge, neighbour over it again, 163
Neither a dumb barber nor a deaf singer, 286
Neither a good friar for friend, nor a bad one for enemy, 233
Neither handsome enough to kill, nor ugly enough to frighten, 230, 286
Neither reprove nor flatter thy wife, where any one heareth or seeth
it, 317
Neither serve one who has been a servant, nor beg of one who has been
a beggar, 230
Neither sign a paper without reading it, nor drink water without
seeing it, 230
Neither trust or contend, nor lay wagers or lend, and you’ll have
peace to your end, 285
Neither women nor linen by candlelight, 111
Neutrals are soused from above, and singed from below, 139
Neutrals think to tread on eggs and break none, 163
Never advise a man to go to the wars, or to marry, 225
Never ask of him who has, but of him you know wishes you well, 238
Never challenge a fool to do wrong, 23
Never did capon love a hen, 27
Never do evil that good may come of it, 114
Never fell oak at the very first stroke, 145 (_See_ An oak)
Never give advice unasked, 166
Never give the skin when you can pay with the wool, 150
Never heed the colour of a gift horse, 66
Never let fools see half-finished work, 388
Never let the bottom of your purse or of your mind be seen, 113
Never limp before the lame, 23
Never put your finger between the tree and the bark, 23
Never put your thumbs between two grinders, 222
Never refuse a good offer, 123
Never repent a good action, 403
Never say, Fountain, I will not drink of thy water, 23
Never say, of this water I will not drink, of this bread I will not
eat, 285
Never seemed a prison fair, or mistress foul, 24, 157
Never sell the bearskin till you have killed the bear, 24
Never speak of a rope in the house of a thief, 276
Never speak of a rope in the house of one who was hanged, 24, 114,
153, 221
Never spread your corn to dry before the door of a saintly man, 200
Never spur a willing horse, 76
Never was a mewing eat a good mouser, 113
Never was hood so holy but the devil could get his head into it, 302
New brooms sweep clean, 100, 163, 335, 393
New churches and new taverns are seldom empty, 163
New come, welcome, 163, 393
New doctor, new churchyard, 163
New laws, new roguery, 163
New loves drive out the old, 199
New songs are eagerly sung (or are liked the best), 163, 393
New trappings to an old mule, 199
Night has no friend, 30
No and yes cause long disputes, 393
No answer is also an answer, 381
No ape but swears he has the handsomest children, 156
No armour is proof against the gallows, 157
No better masters than poverty and want, 318
Nobody so wise but has a little folly to spare, 157
Nobody sows a thing that will not sell, 209
Nobody’s sweetheart is ugly, 335
No comforter’s head ever aches, 72
No corn without chaff, 318
No day but has its evening, 26, 115
No feast like a miser’s, 24
No fire without smoke, 40
No flies get into a shut mouth, 9, 104, 221, 276
No flies light on a boiling pot, 200
No good doctor ever takes physic, 111
No good lawyer ever goes to law himself, 111
No grass grows on a beaten road, 2, 104
No greater promisers than those who have nothing to give, 319
No house without a mouse, no barn without corn, no rose without a
thorn, 157
No house without its cross, 318
No is a good answer when given in time, 393
No jealousy, no love, 163
No jesting with edged tools, 53
No Jew a fool, no hare lazy, 230
No king was ever a traitor, or pope excommunicated, 230
No living man all things can, 62
No lock avails against a hatchet, 14
No mad dog runs seven years, 318
No man can serve two masters, 164
No man is a hero in the eyes of his valet, 25
No man is a prophet in his own country, 40
No man is so tall that he need never stretch, and none so small that
he need never stoop, 381
No man knoweth fortune till he dies, 335
No man learneth but by pain or shame, 335
No man limps because another is hurt, 381
No man looks for another in a sack, unless he has been there himself,
381
No man understands knavery better than the abbot who has been a monk,
20
No man’s master, no master’s man, 157
No meat ever remains in the shambles however bad it may be, 114
No money, no Swiss, 46, 157
No need to say “trot” to a good horse, 65
No need to seek shelter for an old ox, 193
No news is good news, 46, 115
No office so humble but is better than nothing, 335
No one betrays himself by silence, 162
No one can be caught in places he does not visit, 381
No one can blow and swallow at the same time, 164
No one can complain of the sea who twice suffers shipwreck, 164
No one can do nothing, and no one can do everything, 157
No one can guard against treachery, 172
No one can have peace longer than his neighbour pleases, 335
No one can see into another further than his teeth, 388
No one ever became poor through giving alms, 111
No one ever repented of having held his tongue, 111
No one ever saw a goat dead of hunger, 42, 113
No one falls low unless he attempt to climb high, 381
No one gets into trouble without his own help, 381
No one has seen to-morrow, 288
No one is a good judge in his own cause, 286
No one is always right, 287
No one is bound to do impossibilities, 3, 69
No one is content with his lot, 286
No one is poor but he who thinks himself so, 285
No one is rich enough to do without his neighbour, 381
No one is so liberal as he who has nothing to give, 41
No one is too old to learn, 191
No one is wise enough to advise himself, 164
No one is wise in his own affairs, 335
No one knows better where the shoe pinches than he who wears it, 111,
147
No one knows the parson better than the clerk, 381
No one knows where another’s shoe pinches, 335
No one likes justice brought home to his own door, 72
No one likes to bell the cat, 147
No one sees his own faults, 164
No one should take in an eating pawn (or pledge), 119
No one so hard upon the poor as the pauper who has got into power, 399
No one so sure but he may miss, 335
No one will get a bargain he does not ask for, 40
No one would be an innkeeper but for money, 233
No pear falls into a shut mouth, 104
No penny, no pater-noster, 164
No purchase like a gift, 26
No relation is poor, 236
No rose without a thorn, 46, 115, 318
No sauce like appetite, 26
No sheep runs into the mouth of a sleeping wolf, 306
No smoke without fire, 157, 189
No sooner is the law made than its evasion is discovered, 98
No tree falls at the first stroke, 156
No wind can do him good who steers for no port, 41
No woman is ugly if she is well dressed, 209, 269
No woman marries an old man for God’s sake, 147
No wonder if he breaks his head who stumbles twice over one stone, 248
No wonder lasts more than three days, 111
No word is ill spoken that is not ill taken, 285
None so busy as those who do nothing, 25
None so deaf as he (or those) that won’t hear, 24, 112, 236, 381
Not all are asleep who have their eyes shut, 115
Not all flowers are fit for nosegays, 163
Not all that is true is to be spoken, 286 (_See_ Every truth)
Not all that shakes (or trembles) falls, 129
Not all words require an answer, 129
Not every ball hits, 163
Not every dog that barks bites, 12
Not every land has all at hand, 163
Not every one may pluck roses, 166
Not every one that dances is glad, 12
Not every sort of wood is fit to make an arrow, 59
Not every wood will make wooden shoes, 358
Not every word requires an answer, 113
Not he gives who likes, but who has, 230
Not to wish to recover is a mortal symptom, 256
Not too little, not too much, 163
Nothing bolder than the miller’s shirt, that every morning collars a
thief, 26, 164
Nothing can come out of a sack but what is in it, 114
Nothing dries sooner than tears, 164
Nothing falls into the mouth of a sleeping fox, 2, 196, 267, 299
Nothing grows old sooner than a kindness, 55
Nothing happens for nothing, 55
Nothing in haste but catching fleas, 318
Nothing is difficult to a willing mind, 67
Nothing is done while something remains undone, 26
Nothing is ever well done in a hurry, except flying from the plague
or from quarrels, and catching fleas, 109
Nothing is had for nothing, 42
Nothing is ill said if it is not ill taken, 106
Nothing is impossible to a willing mind, 5
Nothing is lost on a journey by stopping to pray or to feed your
horse, 241
Nothing is more like an honest man than a rogue, 55
Nothing is so burdensome as a secret, 55
Nothing is so liberally given as advice, 55
Nothing is so new as what has long been forgotten, 164
Nothing is so new but it has happened before (There is nothing new
under the sun), 381
Nothing looks more like a man of sense than a fool who holds his
tongue, 164
Nothing passes between asses but kicks, 128
Nothing should be done in a hurry except catching fleas, 164
Nothing so bad but it finds its master, 318
Nothing so good as forbidden fruit, 55
Nothing venture, nothing have, 50
Nothing weighs lighter than a promise, 164
Now that I have an ewe and a lamb, every one says to me: Good morrow,
Peter, 194
Nurenberg wit and a skilful hand will find their way through any
land, 164
Nurse, you are mistress whilst the child sucks, and after that
nothing, 198
O.
“O what we must suffer for the sake of God’s church!” said the abbot,
when the roast fowl burned his fingers, 165
Of bad debtors you may take spoilt herrings, 388
Of big words and feathers many go to the pound, 151
Of brothers-in-law and red dogs few are good, 210
Of evils, choose the least, 211, 276
Of hasty counsel take good heed, for haste is very rarely speed, 321
Of judgment every one has a stock on hand for sale, 91
Of listening children have your fears, for little pitchers have great
ears, 331
Of little cloth but a short cloak, 15
Of oil, wine, and friends, the oldest, 268
Of other men’s leather large thongs, 212 (_See_ Good thongs)
Of soup and love, the first is the best, 228, 268
Of the good man a good pledge, and of the bad neither pledge nor
surety, 275
Of the great and of the dead either speak well or say nothing, 90
Of the malady a man fears, he dies, 211
Of this world each man has as much as he takes, 92
Of three things the devil makes a salad: lawyers’ tongues, notaries’
fingers, and a third that shall be nameless, 92
Of two cowards, the one who attacks conquers the other, 275
Of two evils choose the least, 14, 172, 340, 346
Of two lookers-on one is sure to become a player, 14
Of what does not concern you say nothing, good or bad, 91
Of what use is it that the cow gives plenty of milk, if she upsets
the pail, 175
Of your wife and your tried friend believe nothing but what you know
for certain, 213
Offend one monk, and the lappets of all cowls will flutter as far as
Rome, 135
Offer a clown your finger, and he’ll take your fist, 345 (_See_ Give
a clown)
Office without pay makes thieves, 134
Often shooting hits the mark, 165
Oil is best at the beginning, honey at the end, and wine in the
middle, 306
Old as is the boat it may cross the ferry once, 242
Old birds are hard to pluck, 134
Old birds are not caught with cats, 336
Old birds are not caught with chaff, 370
Old birds are not caught with new nets, 115
Old churches have dark windows, 133
Old crows are hard to catch, 133
Old foxes are hard to catch, 336
Old friends and new reckonings, 63
Old friends and old ways ought not to be disdained, 389
Old love and old brands kindle at all seasons, 63
Old love does not rust, 134
Old oxen have stiff horns, 352, 370
Old oxen tread hard, 134
Old people see best in the distance, 134
Old pigs have hard snouts, 134, 370
Old reckonings breed new disputes, 7, 67, 194
Old signs do not deceive, 370
Old thanks are not for new gifts, 68
Old trees are not to be bent, 133
Old wounds easily bleed, 134
On a fool’s beard all learn to shave, 193, 284
On a fool’s beard the barber learns to shave, 1, 69
On a hot day muffle yourself the more, 217
On a long journey even a straw is heavy, 104
On a small pretence the wolf devours the sheep, 119, 336
On dry land even brackish water is good, 222
On poor people’s beards the young barber learns his trade, 134
Once a thief always a thief, 181, 309
Once in people’s mouths, ’tis hard to get out of them, 144
Once is no custom, 61, 314
Once resolved, the trouble is over, 121
Once upon a time, no time (or Some day, no day), 144
One always returns to one’s first love, 43
One always knocks oneself in the sore place, 43
One ass among monkeys is grinned at by all, 260
One ass nicknames another “Long-ears,” 142
One bad eye spoils the other, 142
One barber shaves another, 60
One basket of grapes does not make a vintage, 130
One beats the bush and another catches the bird, 138, 304
One bee is better than a thousand (or a handful of) flies, 142, 232
One beggar likes not that another has two wallets, 353
One bell serves a parish, 129
One bird in the dish is better than a hundred in the air, 145 (_See_
a bird)
One bird in the hand is worth two flying (or on the roof), 281, 316,
343 (_See_ A bird)
One bite brings another, 351
One blind man leads another into the ditch, 60
One briar does not make a hedge, 130
One can speak and seven can sing, 142
One candle for St. Michael, and another for his devil, 61
One cannot be and have been, 42
One cannot be at the oven and the mill at the same time (One cannot
be in two places at once), 42
One cannot blow and swallow at the same time, 258
One cannot drink and whistle at the same time, 114 (_See_ No one)
One cannot (no man can) keep peace longer than his neighbour will let
him, 160
One cannot please everybody and one’s father, 42
One cannot ring the bells and walk in the procession, 42
One cannot wash a blackamoor white, 143
One can’t enter Paradise in spite of the saints, 114
One can’t hinder the wind from blowing, 42
One can’t shoe a running horse, 332
One catches the hare and another eats it, 138
One crow does not make a winter, 143, 313
One day is as good as two for him who does everything in its place, 62
One daughter helps to marry the other, 129
One deceit brings on another, 61
One devil does not make hell, 130
One devil drives out another, 130
One devil knows another, 130
One does it for love, another for honour, a third for money, 304
One does not always hit what one aims at, 59
One dog growls to see another go into the kitchen, 137
One door never shuts but another opens, 109, 114
One enemy is too many (or too much), and a hundred friends are too
few (or not enough), 98, 130, 142, 364
One eye of the master sees more than four eyes of his servants, 121
One eye on the frying-pan and the other on the cat, 260
One flea does not hinder sleep, 129
One flower does not make a garland, 61, 130, 142
One fool always finds a greater to admire him, 63
One fool is enough in a house, 74
One fool makes a hundred (or many), 260, 280, 313, 364
One fool may ask more questions than seven wise men can answer, 144,
366
One fool praises another, 144
One foot is better than two stilts, 39
One God, one wife, but many friends, 313
One good morsel and a hundred vexations, 130
One good turn deserves another, 1, 142, 304
One good word quenches more heat than a bucket of water, 121
One grain does not fill the granary, but it helps its companion, 280
One grievance borne, another follows, 260
One grows used to love and to fire, 3
One hair of a maiden’s head pulls harder than ten yoke of oxen, 365
One hair of a woman draws more than a bell-rope, 143
One half the world knows not how the other half lives, 29
One half the world laughs at the other, 30, 143
One hand full of money is stronger than two hands full of truth, 364
One hand must wash the other, or both will be dirty, 372
One hand washes the other, 143
One hand washes the other, and both the face, 129, 228, 260, 280, 304
One has always strength enough to bear the misfortunes of one’s
friends, 41
One has only to die to be praised, 159
One hour’s sleep before midnight is better than two (or three) after
it, 16, 143
One hunts the hare, and another eats it, 353
One is never so rich as when one removes (from one house to another),
43
One is never soiled but by filth, 43
One kisses the child for the mother’s sake, and the mother for the
child’s sake, 159
One kisses the nurse for the sake of the child, 171
One knavery is met by another, 260
One knife keeps another in its sheath, 130
One knife whets another, 130, 144
One knows not for whom he gathers, 43
One learns by failing, 41
One lie draws ten after it, 129
One link broken, the whole chain is broken, 136
One living pope is better than ten dead, 97
One log does not burn long by itself, 142
One lost, two found, 316
One love drives out another, 260
One man is another’s devil, 144
One man is born to the money, and another to the purse, 364
One man is not bad because another is good, 364
One man knocks in the nail, and another hangs his hat on it, 138
One man, no man, 62
One man often talks another off his bench, and seats himself upon it,
364
One mangy sheep spoils a whole flock, 365