Proverbs from John Dryden

Found 113 related proverbs. Click on any proverb below to view the full analysis and original text.

• A32 As deaf as an ADDER
• A153 ALL is well and the man has his mare again
• A317 To keep (hold) one at ARM's end
• B247 BEGGARS should be no choosers
• B400 To kill two BIRDS with one stone
• B562 The BOW of Ulysses
• B563 He outshot him in his own BOW
• B599 His BRAINS are addle
• C222 The CHAMELEON can change to all colors save white
• C271 I would eat more CHEESE if I had it
• C353 Like a CHIP in a pottage (porridge) pot, does neither good nor harm
• C497 COCKLE and corn grow in the same field
• C520 To fear no COLORS¹
• C593 He is no CONJURER
• C644 A Cooling CARD
• C647 It is but a COPY¹ of his countenance
• C667 The CORRUPTION of one is the generation of another
• C877 The CUCKOLD is the last that knows of it
• D205 The DESCENT to hell is easy
• D267 The DEVIL take the hindmost
• D322 To be a rough DIAMOND
• D362 He is DISGUISED
• D591 Morning DREAMS are true
• E2 An EAGLE does not hatch a dove
• E59 As nimble as an EEL in a sandbag
• E235 Have an EYE (Look) to the main chance
• F145 No FEAST to¹ a miser's
• F319 Neither FISH nor flesh nor good red herring
• F334 It is good FISHING in troubled waters
• F363 FLESH is frail
• F517 A FOOL's handsel is lucky
• F604 FORTUNE (Justice) is blind
• G223 GOD speed the plow
• G257 When GOD will punish he will first take away the understanding
• G404 It goes against the GRAIN
• G480 As sure (right, true) as a GUN
• G482 Out of GUNSHOT
• H174 To hang one's HARP on the willow
• H278 As many HEADS as Hydra
• H331 To have one's HEART at (in) one's mouth
• H536 HOMER nods sometimes
• I99 He has many (other) IRONS in the fire
• J19 JACK-OF-ALL-TRADES (John-of-all-trades)
• J37 Like JANUS, two-faced
• J82 JOVE laughs at lovers' perjuries
• K13 Who shall keep the KEEPERS?
• K64 A KING (prince) loves the treason but hates the traitor
• K166 He got a KNOCK in the cradle
• L20 What do you LACK?
• L134 As heavy as LEAD
• L254 LIFE is sweet
• L340 By LITTLE and little
• L407 To keep under LOCK and key
• L508 LOVE is lawless
• L515 LOVE is the reward of love
• L558 It is impossible to LOVE and be wise
• M45 MAIDENS should be seen and not heard
• M68 As honest a MAN as ever broke bread
• M83 Brave MAN at arms but weak to Balthasar
• M202 It is not given to every MAN to go to Corinth
• M459 An honest MAN's word is his master
• M511 Dead MEN tell no tales
• M755 To mince the MATTER
• M794 Fair MEANS prevail more than foul
• M839 Sweet MEAT must have sour sauce
• M842 To be MEAT and drink to one
• M1040 He for my MONEY
• M1089 No MONEY no Swiss
• M1106 The merry MONTH of May
• M1117 It is midsummer MOON with you
• M1246 As like him as if he had been spit out of his MOUTH
• M1298 MUCK of the world
• N130 You dance in a NET and think nobody sees you
• N148 Ill NEWS has wings (comes apace)
• N285 NOTHING can come of nothing
• N361 To have a NUT to crack
• O15 The OFFENDER never pardons
• O42 Better ONE die (perish, suffer) than all
• O74 To speak like an ORACLE
• P37 The straighter (higher) grows the PALM the heavier the weight it bears
• P98 To know it as well as one knows his PATERNOSTER
• P189 A better PENNY
• P322 As plain as a PIKESTAFF (packstaff)
• P326 To swallow (digest) a bitter PILL
• P381 PLAIN DEALING is a jewel
• P387 He that is born under a threepenny (three-halfpenny) PLANET will never be worth a groat¹
• P646 Be it better, be it worse, do after him that bears the PURSE
• S219 SELF-PRESERVATION is nature's first law
• S228 A SERPENT must eat another serpent before he can become a dragon
• S355 Let another's SHIPWRECK be your seamark
• S601 SOFT AND FAIR goes far
• S621 There is SOMETHING (somewhat) in the wind
• S891 To mark with a white STONE
• S988 To set forth the SUN with a candle (lantern, taper)
• S1000 To drink SUPERNACULUM
• S1045 To have one's full SWING
• T73 To catch a TARTAR
• T165 All THINGS are turned topsy-turvy (upside down)
• T170 All THINGS in their being are good for something
• T177 All worldly THINGS are transitory
• T203 THINGS past cannot be recalled
• T244 THOUGHT is free
• T476 A TRAVELER may lie with authority
• W419 Is the WIND in that door (corner)?
• W498 To clip one's WINGS
• W577 Good WITS have short (bad) memories
• W579 Great WITS (Poets) to madness sure are near allied
• W588 There is WITCHCRAFT in fair words
• W621 The WOLVES saw him first
• W674 A WOMAN's mind (A woman) is always mutable
• W827 Two WORDS to a bargain
• W879 Let the WORLD wag (slide, pass)
• Y31 It is too late to call again YESTERDAY