Proverbs from William Shakespeare
Found 1703 related proverbs across 44 works. Click on any proverb below to view the full analysis and original text.
The Taming of the Shrew
76 related proverbs.
- I.i They that are BOUND must obey
- I.i His CAKE is dough
- I.i There is small CHOICE in rotten apples
- I.i To put FINGER in the eye
- I.i To comb one's HEAD with a three-legged stool
- I.i LOMBARDY is the garden of the world (Italy)
- I.i Happy MAN happy dole (be his dole)
- I.i No MAN holds you
- I.i He that hops best (runs fastest) gets the RING
- I.i Good WITS jump¹
- I.i WOO, wed, and bed (wear) her
- I.ii BUGBEARS (Bugs) to scare babes
- I.ii To break the ICE
- I.ii He is ONE-AND-THIRTY
- I.ii No sooner SAID than done (So said so done)
- I.ii First THRIVE and then wive
- I.ii What WIND blew (brought) you hither?
- I.ii To play the WOODCOCK
- I.ii Few WORDS among friends are best
- II.i To be in (out of) one's BOOKS
- II.i To outface with a CARD of ten
- II.i Thou dost not bear my CHARGES that thou shouldst command me
- II.i To DANCE barefoot
- II.i As loving (tame, patient) as a DOVE (pigeon)
- II.i To thrust one's FOOT under another man's table
- II.i As patient as GRISSEL
- II.i He is wise enough that can KEEP himself warm
- II.i LONG LOOKED FOR comes at last
- II.i Old MAIDS lead apes in hell
- II.i Young MEN may die, old men must die
- II.i Backare,¹ quoth MORTIMER to his sow
- II.i To SPEAK as one finds
- II.i The STING is in the tail
- II.i WILL he nill he
- II.i A little WIND kindles, much puts out the fire
- II.i WOMEN are wasps if angered
- II.i It is a WORLD¹ to see
- III.ii Be jogging while your BOOTS are green
- III.ii Here is the DOOR and there is the way
- III.ii Marry in HASTE and repent at leisure
- III.ii SILK and satin (Fine clothes) make not a gentleman
- III.ii With as good a WILL as ever I came from school
- IV.i AGE (Winter) and wedlock tame both man and beast
- IV.i Let them that be acold blow at the COAL
- IV.i Cold COMFORT
- IV.i He that sends a FOOL expects one
- IV.i To kill with KINDNESS
- IV.i A little POT is soon hot
- IV.i Thereby hangs a TALE
- IV.i In TIME all haggard hawks will stoop to lure
- IV.ii As like as an APPLE is to an oyster (nut)
- IV.ii As weary as a DOG
- IV.ii To take one NAPPING
- IV.ii To take one NAPPING
- IV.ii So you TOLD me
- IV.iii Pluck up your HEART
- IV.iii To lie in one's THROAT
- IV.iv COME (Hap) what come (hap) may
- IV.iv For ever and a DAY
- IV.iv Small (Little) PITCHERS have wide ears
- IV.v As changeful (inconstant) as the MOON
- V.i His CAKE is dough
- V.i Better LATE than never
- V.i Ask the MOTHER if the child be like his father
- V.ii He that is giddy thinks the WORLD turns round
- Ind.i BEGGARS should be no choosers
- Ind.i He came in with the CONQUEROR
- Ind.i He will not yield (budge) an INCH
- Ind.i To weep (It may serve) with an ONION
- Ind.i I will VEASE¹ thee
- Ind.ii MELANCHOLY is the pathway to madness
- Ind.ii As swift as a ROE (deer)
- Ind.ii SEEING is believing
- Ind.ii All his WARDROBE is on his back
- Ind.ii Let the WORLD wag (slide, pass)
- Ind.ii You shall never be (labor) YOUNGER
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
75 related proverbs.
- I.i He that is BORN to be hanged (drowned) shall never be drowned (hanged)
- I.i To give one the BOOTS
- I.i The CANKER soonest eats the fairest rose (flowers)
- I.i He loves laced MUTTON
- I.i To play at NODDY
- I.i He who still keeps home knows NOTHING
- I.i A SHEEP often strays if the shepherd is away
- I.i Over SHOES over boots
- I.i As hard (stiff, strong, tough) as STEEL
- I.i The finest WITS are soonest subject to love
- I.ii BECAUSE is woman's reason
- I.ii FIRE that's closest kept burns most of all
- I.ii Whom we love best to them we can say LEAST
- I.ii A hungry MAN an angry man
- I.ii To have a MONTH's mind to a person (thing)
- I.ii To kiss the ROD
- I.ii Although I WINK I am not blind
- I.ii A WOMAN says nay (no) and means aye
- I.iii To LAUGH and cry at once (like rain in sunshine)
- II.i The BELLY that is full may well fast
- II.i LOVE is blind
- II.i A MAN cannot live on air like a chameleon
- II.i A MAN (thing) in print
- II.i As plain as the NOSE on a man's face
- II.i It may RHYME but it accords not
- II.ii What cannot be CURED must be endured
- II.ii Whom we love best to them we can say LEAST
- II.iii As white as a LILY
- II.iii TIME and tide (The tide) tarries (stays for) no man
- II.iii As small¹ as a WAND
- II.iv The CHAMELEON can change to all colors save white
- II.iv One FIRE (heat) drives out another
- II.iv LOVE is blind
- II.iv LOVE is never without jealousy
- II.iv A MAN cannot live on air like a chameleon
- II.iv One NAIL drives out another
- II.iv To swallow (digest) a bitter PILL
- II.iv No sooner SAID than done (So said so done)
- II.v As whole as a FISH
- II.vi To change the BAD for the better
- II.vi I am NEAREST to myself
- II.vi An unlawful OATH is better broken than kept
- II.vii To force FIRE from snow
- II.vii A true LOVER's-KNOT
- II.vii An honest MAN's word is as good as his bond
- II.vii Not worth a PIN
- II.vii The STREAM (current, tide) stopped swells the higher
- III.i BLESSING of your heart, you brew good ale
- III.i BUSH natural, more hair than wit
- III.i The GREATER embraces (includes, hides) the less
- III.i As black as INK
- III.i As white as MILK
- III.i Ask the MOTHER if the child be like his father
- III.i NOTHING is impossible (hard, difficult) to a willing heart (mind)
- III.i SCORN at first makes afterlove the more
- III.i One may point (look) at a STAR but not pull (reach) at it
- III.i To have a sweet (wanton) TOOTH
- III.I The WORLD goes (runs) on wheels
- III.ii TIME and thought tame the strongest grief
- IV.i Make a VIRTUE of necessity
- IV.ii KINDNESS (Love, Kind) will creep where it cannot go
- IV.ii I am SAD because I cannot be glad
- IV.ii The SPANIEL, that fawns when he is beaten, will never forsake his master
- IV.iv To be old DOG at it
- IV.iv As sure as you LIVE
- IV.iv To stay a PISSING-WHILE
- IV.iv Give not the WOLF (fox) the wether (sheep) to keep (Make not the wolf your shepherd)
- V.i LOVERS ever run before the clock
- V.ii Follow LOVE (pleasure, glory) and it will flee, flee love (pleasure, glory) and it will follow thee
- V.ii A black MAN is a pearl (jewel) in a fair woman's eye
- V.iv BLUSHING (Bashfulness) is virtue's color (is a sign of grace)
- V.iv He is his right HAND
- V.iv When LOVE puts in friendship is gone
- V.iv Once a USE and ever a custom
- V.iv The WOUND that bleeds inwardly is most dangerous
Henry VI, Part 2
75 related proverbs.
- I.i BEAUTY is a blessing
- I.i Have an EYE (Look) to the main chance
- I.i PRIDE goes before and shame (ambition) comes after
- I.i To rule the ROAST (roost)
- I.ii They that cannot GO before must come behind
- I.ii A crafty KNAVE needs no broker
- I.ii No WORD but mum
- I.iii To dance ATTENDANCE
- I.iii The ten COMMANDMENTS
- I.iii Most MASTER wears no breech
- I.iii NOTHING is well said or done in a passion (in anger)
- I.iv Ready (Waiting) at an INCH
- I.iv The SOONER the better
- II.i He that never CLIMBED never fell
- II.i As clear as the DAY
- II.i HERCULES himself cannot deal with two
- II.i As black as JET
- II.i A blind MAN can (should) judge no colors
- II.i To make PEACE with a sword in his hand
- II.i Blessed are the PEACEMAKERS
- II.i He that touches PITCH shall be defiled
- II.ii As red as BLOOD
- II.ii PHYSICIAN, heal thyself
- II.iii A FIG for him (it)
- II.iv No DAY so clear but has dark clouds
- II.iv A WONDER lasts but nine days
- III.i To nip in the BUD (blossom)
- III.i CROCODILE TEARS
- III.i To deceive the DECEIVER is no deceit
- III.i As innocent (harmless) as a DOVE
- III.i Add FUEL to the fire
- III.i As chaste as a LAMB
- III.i Give LOSERS leave to speak (talk)
- III.i Give LOSERS leave to speak (talk)
- III.i NOW or never
- III.i To be one's PRIEST
- III.i Ill PUTTING (Put not) a naked sword in a mad-man's hand
- III.i SNAKE in the grass
- III.i One SOWS, another reaps
- III.i One may point (look) at a STAR but not pull (reach) at it
- III.i It is an easy THING to find a staff to beat a dog
- III.i To nourish a VIPER (snake) in one's bosom
- III.i WATER runs smoothest where it is deepest
- III.i Give not the WOLF (fox) the wether (sheep) to keep (Make not the wolf your shepherd)
- III.i A WOLF in a lamb's (sheep's) skin
- III.i A green WOUND is soon healed
- III.ii As deaf as an ADDER
- III.ii The BASILISK's eye is fatal
- III.ii COME (Hap) what come (hap) may
- III.ii Take COUNSEL of your pillow
- III.ii A HEART as hard as a stone (flint, marble)
- III.ii INNOCENCE bears its defense with it
- III.ii As sure as you LIVE
- III.ii The croaking RAVEN bodes misfortune (death)
- III.ii There cannot lightly come a WORSE except the devil come himself
- III.iii To SPEAK (Not to speak) as one thinks
- IV.i He will creep into your BOSOM
- IV.ii Everyone must walk (labor) in his own CALLING (vocation)
- IV.ii His THREAD is spun
- IV.iv INNOCENCE is bold
- IV.vii A new BROOM (besom) sweeps clean
- IV.vii KINGS have long arms (ears, hands)
- IV.viii They laid their HEADS together
- IV.viii Every MAN for himself (for one)
- IV.x As dead (deaf, dumb) as a DOORNAIL
- IV.x To digest IRON (To have a stomach), like an ostrich
- IV.x No MAN has a lease of his life
- V.i A MAN may cause his own dog to bite him
- V.i An unlawful OATH is better broken than kept
- V.i The SPEAR of Achilles could both wound and heal
- V.i To make fair WEATHER
- V.ii The END crowns (tries) all
- V.ii Put not FIRE to tow (flax)
- V.ii To add OIL to (pour oil on) the fire
- VI.i They laid their HEADS together
Henry VI, Part 3
67 related proverbs.
- I.ii For a KINGDOM any law may be broken
- I.iv Set a BEGGAR on horseback and he will ride a gallop (run his horse out of breath)
- I.iv DESPAIR (Love) makes cowards courageous (desperate)
- I.iv Small (Little) RAIN lays (allays) great winds
- I.iv After THUNDER (wind) comes rain
- II.i BIRDS of a feather will flock (fly) together
- II.i As swift as LIGHTNING
- II.i As hard (stiff, strong, tough) as STEEL
- II.i Many (Little) STROKES fell great oaks
- II.i As pliable as WAX
- II.ii Happy is the CHILD whose father goes to the devil
- II.ii Only the EAGLE can gaze at the sun
- II.ii Evil-gotten (Ill-gotten) GOODS never prove well (prosper, endure)
- II.ii Full as a TOAD of poison
- II.ii Tread on a WORM and it will turn
- II.v After THUNDER (wind) comes rain
- II.v It is an ill (evil) WIND that blows no man good (to good)
- II.vi Fresh AIR is ill for the diseased or wounded man
- II.vi His CANDLE burns within the socket
- II.vi MEASURE for measure
- III.i ADVERSITY makes men wise
- III.i CONTENT (A mind content) is a kingdom (crown)
- III.i Constant DROPPING will wear the stone
- III.ii The BASILISK's eye is fatal
- III.ii The CHAMELEON can change to all colors save white
- III.ii Constant DROPPING will wear the stone
- III.ii To laugh (smile) in one's FACE and cut one's throat
- III.ii As red (bright) as FIRE
- III.ii It is sooner (easier, better) SAID than done
- III.ii To lick into SHAPE
- III.ii As many SHAPES as Proteus
- III.ii A WONDER lasts but nine days
- III.iii BIRDS of a feather will flock (fly) together
- III.iii To be at DEATH's door
- III.iii FORGIVE and forget
- III.iii TIME cures every disease
- III.iii To be TONGUE-TIED
- III.iii To wear the WILLOW
- IV.i HALF-WARNED (Forewarned) is half-armed (fore-armed)
- IV.i Marry in HASTE and repent at leisure
- IV.i Though he said LITTLE he thought the more
- IV.i To wear the WILLOW
- IV.iii The CASE is altered, quoth Plowden
- IV.iv He that once DECEIVES is ever suspected
- IV.vi There is a SALVE for every sore
- IV.vii When the FOX has got in his head (nose) he will soon make the body follow
- IV.vii To stumble at the THRESHOLD
- IV.viii Make HAY while the sun shines
- IV.viii Of a little SPARK a great fire
- V.i The more DANGER the more honor
- V.i It is good to strike while the IRON is hot
- V.i An unlawful OATH is better broken than kept
- V.ii All MEN must die
- V.iii All CLOUDS bring not rain (storms)
- V.iv What cannot be CURED must be endured
- V.iv Add FUEL to the fire
- V.iv One must not bemoan (wail) a MISCHIEF but find out a remedy for it
- V.iv To cast WATER into the sea (Thames)
- V.v She wears the BREECHES
- V.v He that has no CHILDREN knows not what love is
- V.v It early pricks (It pricks betimes) that will be a THORN
- V.vi BIRDS once snared (limed) fear all bushes
- V.vi It will be a black (bloody) DAY to somebody
- V.vi Who is in FAULT (guilty) suspects everybody
- V.vi The croaking RAVEN bodes misfortune (death)
- V.vi The THIEF does fear each bush an officer
- V.vii Many kiss (love) the CHILD for the nurse's sake
Henry VI, Part 1
34 related proverbs.
- I.i He would fain fly (flee) but he wants FEATHERS
- I.i He is JACK-OUT-OF-OFFICE
- I.i His THREAD is spun
- I.ii Halcyon DAYS
- I.ii HUNGER breaks down (pierces) stone walls
- I.ii To look like (As wet as) a drowned MOUSE (rat)
- I.iii The COAST is (is not) clear
- I.iii A Winchester GOOSE
- I.iii A WOLF in a lamb's (sheep's) skin
- I.v The DEVIL and his dam
- II.i Good WATCH prevents misfortune
- II.ii An unbidden GUEST is welcome when gone
- II.iv As wise as a DAW
- II.iv No ROSE without a thorn (prickle)
- II.iv No ROSE without a thorn (prickle)
- II.iv To be TONGUE-TIED
- II.iv The TRUTH shows best being naked
- II.v Gray HAIRS are death's blossoms
- II.v There is OIL (no oil) left in the lamp
- III.ii DELAY breeds danger (is dangerous)
- III.ii As sure as you LIVE
- III.ii After THUNDER (wind) comes rain
- III.ii Not WORDS but deeds
- III.iii CARE is no cure
- III.iii Past CURE past care
- IV.ii His GLASS is run
- IV.iv To be BOUGHT and sold
- IV.vi Venture not ALL in one bottom
- V.iii A Cooling CARD
- V.iii I am not the FIRST and shall not be the last
- V.iii To SPEAK (Not to speak) as one thinks
- V.iv ALL covet all lose
- V.iv It is a dear COLLOP¹ that is taken (cut) out of the flesh
- V.v LOVE cannot be compelled (forced)
Titus Andronicus
62 related proverbs.
- I.i ASK and have
- I.i The CHANCE of war is uncertain
- I.i As sure as DEATH
- I.i He is gone to his long (last) HOME
- I.i Let every MAN have his own
- I.i No MAN is happy before his death
- I.i It is in their MERCY that kings come closest to gods
- I.i As sharp as a RAZOR
- I.i The TONGUE is not steel yet it cuts
- I.i Only VIRTUE (True fame) never dies
- I.i VIRTUE is the true nobility
- I.ii To make one tell another TALE
- II.i MEN must do as they may (can), not as they would
- II.i A SNATCH and away
- II.i It is safe TAKING a shive¹ of a cut loaf
- II.i Much WATER goes by the mill that the miller knows not of
- II.i All WOMEN may be won
- II.iii Constant DROPPING will wear the stone
- II.iii An EAGLE does not hatch a dove
- II.iii He sucked EVIL from the dug
- II.iii To set the best (better) FOOT (leg) forward (before)
- II.iii The LION spares the suppliant
- II.iii MURDER will out
- II.iii The croaking RAVEN bodes misfortune (death)
- II.iv FIRE that's closest kept burns most of all
- II.iv GRIEF pent up will break the heart
- II.iv He trembles (quakes, shakes) like an aspen LEAF
- II.iv As white as a LILY
- II.iv To be PLANET-STRUCK
- III.i CARE will kill a cat
- III.i As the stricken DEER withdraws himself to die
- III.i Give LOSERS leave to speak (talk)
- III.i As hard as a STONE (flint, rock)
- III.i To cast WATER into the sea (Thames)
- III.i As pliable as WAX
- III.ii As tawny (black) as a MOOR¹
- IV.i INJURIES are written in brass
- IV.ii At a BAY
- IV.ii BLACK will take no other hue
- IV.ii As black as a COAL
- IV.ii Above GOD there is no lord, above black there is no color, and above salt there is no savor
- IV.ii The MOTHER's side is the surer side
- IV.ii Whited SEPULCHERS (Women are whited sepulchers)
- IV.ii He is put to his SHIFTS
- IV.ii As swift as a SWALLOW
- IV.ii THINGS done cannot be undone
- IV.ii THREE (Two) may keep counsel if two (one) be away
- IV.iii He casts beyond the MOON
- IV.iii He is STEEL (metal) to the back
- IV.iv The EAGLE does not catch flies
- IV.iv He touches him to the QUICK
- V.i He has a sure CARD
- V.i COME (Hap) what come (hap) may
- V.i To blush like a black DOG
- V.i A black MAN is a pearl (jewel) in a fair woman's eye
- V.i He is like the MASTER BEE that leads forth the swarm
- V.ii Cast no DIRT into the well that has given you water
- V.ii As black as JET
- V.iii It is good to have COMPANY in trouble (misery)
- V.iii MEASURE for measure
- V.iii He dwells far from NEIGHBORS (has ill neighbors) that is fain to praise himself
- V.iii Two SUNS cannot shine in one sphere
Richard III
88 related proverbs.
- I.i I will not go (run) before my MARE to market
- I.i PATIENCE perforce
- I.ii The BASILISK's eye is fatal
- I.ii The DEVIL sometimes speaks the truth
- I.ii The sore EYE infects the sound
- I.ii One FIRE (heat) drives out another
- I.ii Those that GOD loves do not live long (The good die young)
- I.ii Set GOOD against evil (Do good for evil)
- I.ii As cold as a KEY
- I.ii The LOVER is not where he lives but where he loves
- I.ii ONE and none is all ONE (ONE is as good as none, ONE is none)
- I.ii To lie in one's THROAT
- I.ii Full as a TOAD of poison
- I.ii He has spit his VENOM
- I.ii All WOMEN may be won
- I.iii To bear a BRAIN
- I.iii Some complain to prevent COMPLAINT
- I.iii Full of COURTESY full of craft
- I.iii CURSES return upon the heads of those that CURSE
- I.iii Set GOOD against evil (Do good for evil)
- I.iii JACK would be a gentleman
- I.iii He weeps MILLSTONES
- I.iii The higher STANDING (up) the lower (greater) fall
- I.iii The greatest TALKERS are the least (not the greatest) doers
- I.iv A KING (prince) loves the treason but hates the traitor
- I.iv How came you hither? On my LEGS
- I.iv He weeps MILLSTONES
- I.iv MURDER will out
- I.iv When PLAY (game, jest) is best it is time to leave
- I.iv As seasonable (welcome) as SNOW in summer (harvest)
- I.v When PLAY (game, jest) is best it is time to leave
- II.i The nearer in KIN the less in kindness
- II.i THOUGHT is free
- II.ii To lament the DEAD avails not and to the living it is hurtful
- II.ii He sucked EVIL from the dug
- II.ii Foolish FEAR doubles danger
- II.ii A FRIEND is one's second self
- II.iii Seldom comes the BETTER
- II.iii A MAN's mind often gives him warning of evil to come
- II.iii WOE to the land (kingdom) whose king is a child
- II.iii It is good to fear the WORST
- II.iv Small (Little) PITCHERS have wide ears
- II.iv SWITCH and spur
- II.iv THREE (Two) may keep counsel if two (one) be away
- II.iv An ill WEED grows apace (fast, well)
- II.v As gentle (quiet, meek, mild) as a LAMB
- III.i Sharp FROSTS bite forward springs
- III.i A GIFT is valued by the mind of the giver
- III.i Too soon wise to LIVE long
- III.i From TOP (head) to toe (heel)
- III.i An ill WEED grows apace (fast, well)
- III.i He is but a WORD and a blow
- III.iv A white-livered FELLOW
- III.IV To get (have) the upper HAND
- III.iv IF's and and's
- III.iv To stumble at the THRESHOLD
- III.v To have an EAGLE's eye
- III.v To be TWO (twain)
- III.v To be angry at (laugh at, be afraid of) the WAGGING of a straw
- III.v WELL, WELL is a word of malice
- III.vi Who so blind as he that will not SEE?
- III.vii MAIDS say nay and take it
- III.vii SILENCE is (gives) consent
- III.vii No WORD but mum
- IV.i The COCKATRICE slays by sight only
- IV.i Little THINGS are pretty
- IV.ii CRIMES (Mischiefs) are made secure by greater crimes (mischiefs)
- IV.iii ABRAHAM's bosom
- IV.iii As slow as a SNAIL
- IV.iv Call me COUSIN but cozen me not
- IV.iv To dine with DUKE HUMPHREY¹
- IV.iv It is impossible to avoid (undo) FATE (destiny)
- IV.iv MAN is but a bubble
- IV.iv A MAN is nothing but worms' meat
- IV.iv MEASURE for measure
- IV.iv To slip one's NECK out of the collar
- IV.iv Harp no more on that STRING
- IV.iv THINGS done cannot be undone
- IV.iv The THORN comes forth with his point forwards
- V.ii CONSCIENCE is a thousand witnesses
- V.iii To be BOUGHT and sold
- V.iii CONSCIENCE is a thousand witnesses
- V.iii It will be a black (bloody) DAY to somebody
- V.iii A MAN's mind often gives him warning of evil to come
- V.iii MEN must do as they may (can), not as they would
- V.iii To be over SHOES
- V.iii A red SKY in the evening is a sign of a fair day
- VII.iii To dance ATTENDANCE
Venus and Adonis
37 related proverbs.
- 35 As red (bright) as FIRE
- 199 As hard (stiff, strong, tough) as STEEL
- 200 Constant DROPPING will wear the stone
- 201 To be born of WOMAN
- 203 If your MOTHER had not lost her virginity you would not have been born
- 220 No MAN ought to be judge in his own cause
- 302 To be angry at (laugh at, be afraid of) the WAGGING of a straw
- 329 GRIEF pent up will break the heart
- 331 FIRE that's closest kept burns most of all
- 331 The STREAM (current, tide) stopped swells the higher
- 363 As white as IVORY
- 413 He can laugh and cry both with a BREATH
- 453 A red MORNING foretells a stormy day
- 457 Small (Little) RAIN lays (allays) great winds
- 525 KNOW thyself
- 527 Soon RIPE soon rotten
- 567 NOTHING is impossible (hard, difficult) to a willing heart (mind)
- 569 Faint HEART ne'er won fair lady
- 574 No ROSE without a thorn (prickle)
- 580 The LOVER is not where he lives but where he loves
- 707 The POOR have few friends
- 720 Dark NIGHT is Cupid's day
- 724 The PREY entices the thief
- 755 A CANDLE (torch) lights others and consumes itself
- 768 MONEY begets money
- 772 It is hard (folly, in vain) to strive against the STREAM
- 773 OPPORTUNITY (Night, Midnight) is woredom's bawd
- 799 After RAIN (showers) comes fair weather (the sun)
- 887 At an ill PASSAGE honor thy companion
- 909 The more HASTE the less (worse) speed
- 987 A WOMAN either loves or hates to extremes
- 1021 LOVE is full of fear (trouble)
- 1032 STARS are not seen by sunshine (at midday)
- 1053 As white as a LILY
- 1137 LOVE is never without jealousy
- 1137 LOVE is sweet in the beginning but sour in the ending
- 1158 DESPAIR (Love) makes cowards courageous (desperate)
Love’s Labour’s Lost
138 related proverbs.
- I.i The BETTER the worse
- I.i He that drinks well sleeps well and he that sleeps well thinks no HARM
- I.i To take one with the MANNER
- I.i New out of the MINT
- I.i Fat PAUNCHES make lean pates
- I.i It may RHYME but it accords not
- I.i TIME devours (consumes, wears out) all things
- I.i Only VIRTUE (True fame) never dies
- I.ii The BELLY that is full may well fast
- I.ii To PLAY fast and loose
- I.ii It may RHYME but it accords not
- I.ii As strong as SAMPSON
- I.ii So you TOLD me
- I.ii Little THINGS are pretty
- I.ii Fair WEATHER after you
- II A WOMAN is the weaker vessel
- II.i A good FACE needs no paint
- II.i To be able to do HARM and not to do it is noble
- II.i The more HASTE the less (worse) speed
- II.i To leave (lie) in the MIRE
- II.i Ask the MOTHER if the child be like his father
- II.i An unlawful OATH is better broken than kept
- II.i He PRAISES who wishes to sell
- II.i To bid one WELCOME to the fields
- II.i WELCOME when you go
- II.i To be wedded to one's WILL
- III.i To sell one a BARGAIN
- III.i As many EYES as Argus
- III.i That is FLAT
- III.i A MAN (thing) in print
- III.i A MAN must not shape an answer before that he know the question (errand)
- III.i As dark (black) as PITCH
- III.i To PLAY fast and loose
- III.i A WOMAN, like a German clock, is still¹ repairing (never goes true)
- IV.i Wide at the BOW HAND
- IV.i He that will play at BOWLS must expect to meet with rubs
- IV.i I CAME, saw, and overcame
- IV.i FAIR is not fair but that which pleases
- IV.i For one's HAND to be in
- IV.i For one's HAND to be in
- IV.i The LION spares the suppliant
- IV.i Let him mend his MANNERS, it will be his own another day
- IV.i That (If) ONE will not another will
- IV.i To cleave the PIN
- IV.i To shoot nigh the PRICK
- IV.i TRUTH is truth
- IV.ii To run against the BIAS
- IV.ii COLEWORTS (Cabbage) twice sodden
- IV.ii To fear no COLORS¹
- IV.ii In the coldest FLINT there is hot fire
- IV.ii Cast not PEARLS before swine
- IV.ii VENICE, he that does not see thee does not esteem thee
- IV.ii There is no WEATHER ill when the wind is still
- IV.ii Few WORDS show men wise
- IV.iii As free as the AIR (wind)
- IV.iii As mad as AJAX, who killed sheep
- IV.iii To change the BAD for the better
- IV.iii As straight (tall) as a CEDAR
- IV.iii It is good to have COMPANY in trouble (misery)
- IV.iii It is good to have COMPANY in trouble (misery)
- IV.iii The DEVIL can transform himself into an angel of light
- IV.iii Only the EAGLE can gaze at the sun
- IV.iii As black as EBONY
- IV.iii He finds FAULT with others and does worse himself (He that will blame another must be blameless himself)
- IV.iii FEAR has a quick ear
- IV.iii I am not the FIRST and shall not be the last
- IV.iii FOUR make up a mess
- IV.iii As black (dark) as HELL
- IV.iii To MAKE or mar
- IV.iii The MOON is not seen where the sun shines
- IV.iii You can see a MOTE in another man's eye but cannot see a beam in your own
- IV.iii To take one NAPPING
- IV.iii To take one NAPPING
- IV.iii Not to care a PIN
- IV.iii He that touches PITCH shall be defiled
- IV.iii He PRAISES who wishes to sell
- IV.iii More SACKS to the mill
- IV.iii To get the SUN of one
- IV.iii He that sows THISTLES shall reap thorns (prickles)
- IV.iii As swift as THOUGHT
- IV.iii To lie in one's THROAT
- IV.iii Without WOMEN we men cannot be
- IV.iii WOO, wed, and bed (wear) her
- IV.iii WORDS are but wind
- IV.iii I hate no one but love all the WORLD
- IV.iii YOUTH and age will never agree
- V.i ENOUGH is as good as a feast
- V.i To have it at his FINGERS' ends
- V.i To break PRISCIAN's head
- V.ii ALL shall be well and Jack shall have Jill
- V.ii As dear as the APPLE of my eye
- V.ii As near as BARK to tree
- V.ii To nip in the BUD (blossom)
- V.ii The CHANCE of war is uncertain
- V.ii CHILDREN pick up words as pigeons peas and utter them again as God shall please
- V.ii COME (Hap) what come (hap) may
- V.ii COME (Hap) what come (hap) may
- V.ii To be put out of COUNTENANCE
- V.ii To be put out of COUNTENANCE
- V.ii Past CURE past care
- V.ii He is out at first DASH
- V.ii One may see DAY at a little hole
- V.ii I will not die in your DEBT (your debtor)
- V.ii I will not die in your DEBT (your debtor)
- V.ii To rub (scratch) the ELBOW
- V.ii He has a brazen FACE (a face of brass)
- V.ii He pins his FAITH on another man's sleeve
- V.ii He is either a GOD or a painter, for he makes faces
- V.ii To split HAIRS
- V.ii A merry HEART lives long
- V.ii As black as INK
- V.ii I KNOW (wot) what I know (wot)
- V.ii To have (know) the LENGTH of one's foot
- V.ii The LOVER is not where he lives but where he loves
- V.ii A good honest MAN nowadays is but a better word for a fool
- V.ii He is (is not) a MAN of God's making
- V.ii An honest MAN and a good bowler
- V.ii The MAN in the moon
- V.ii No MAN can play the fool so well as the wise man
- V.ii As changeful (inconstant) as the MOON
- V.ii He strives for the MOONSHINE in the water
- V.ii I will take you a PEG (buttonhole, hole) lower
- V.ii A POX on these true jests
- V.ii As sharp as a RAZOR
- V.ii REPORT has a blister on her tongue
- V.ii As swift as a ROE (deer)
- V.ii As bright (white) as SILVER
- V.ii To take in SNUFF
- V.ii To slay (cut one's throat) with a leaden SWORD
- V.ii As swift as THOUGHT
- V.ii She smiles on everyone to show her fine TEETH
- V.ii As naked as TRUTH
- V.ii TRUTH's tale is simple (Truth is plain)
- V.ii A well-favored VISOR will hide her ill-favored face
- V.ii He is in by the WEEK
- V.ii As white as WHALE's-BONE
- V.ii As swift as the WIND
- [Title] You lose your LABOR
The Comedy of Errors
53 related proverbs.
- I.i The REVEALING of griefs is a renewing of sorrow
- I.ii The BELLY is the truest clock
- I.ii As lost as a DROP of water in the sea
- I.ii To ring NOON on one's head
- I.ii My STOMACH (belly) has struck twelve (rung noon)
- II.i ALL commend patience but none can endure to suffer
- II.i Let him be begged for a FOOL
- II.i He is HORN-MAD
- II.i IRON (Gold) with often handling is worn to nothing
- II.i As hard as a STONE (flint, rock)
- II.ii To BEAT (pinch) one black and blue
- II.ii BUSH natural, more hair than wit
- II.ii As lost as a DROP of water in the sea
- II.ii To put FINGER in the eye
- II.ii Leave JESTING while it pleases lest it turn to earnest
- II.ii The properer (honester) MAN the worse luck
- II.ii He touches him to the QUICK
- II.ii Neither RHYME nor reason
- II.ii As slow as a SNAIL
- II.ii Take TIME (occasion) by the forelock, for she is bald behind
- II.ii Take TIME (occasion) by the forelock, for she is bald behind
- II.ii There is a TIME for all things (Everything has its time)
- II.ii To cast (hit) in the TEETH
- II.ii The VINE embraces the elm
- II.ii There is never a WHY but there is a wherefore
- II.ii He has more WIT in his head than you in both your shoulders
- III.i As wild as a BUCK
- III.i To be BOUGHT and sold
- III.i I have a CROW to pluck with you
- III.i ENVY never dies
- III.i When the FROG has hair thou wilt be good
- III.i GOOD WILL and welcome is your best cheer
- III.i I KNOW (wot) what I know (wot)
- III.i There is SOMETHING (somewhat) in the wind
- III.i To set up one's STAFF
- III.i When? Can you TELL?
- III.i I had THOUGHT to have asked you
- III.i WELCOME is the best cheer
- III.i There is never a WHY but there is a wherefore
- III.i WORDS are but wind
- III.ii Fair FACE foul heart
- III.ii A moist HAND argues an amorous nature (fruitfulness)
- III.ii To be over SHOES
- III.ii It is an ill THING to be wicked (wretched) but a worse to be known so (to boast of it)
- IV.i He runs himself out of BREATH
- IV.i Some complain to prevent COMPLAINT
- IV.i TIME and tide (The tide) tarries (stays for) no man
- IV.ii The LAPWING cries most when farthest from her nest
- IV.iii The DEVIL can transform himself into an angel of light
- IV.iii As proud as a PEACOCK
- IV.iii Give SOMETHING of thine own to the devil and turn him away
- IV.iii He must have a long SPOON that will eat with the devil
- IV.iv Remember (Mark) the END
The Rape of Lucrece
51 related proverbs.
- 29 Where BEAUTY is there needs no other plea
- 87 INNOCENCE is bold
- 88 BIRDS once snared (limed) fear all bushes
- 98 MUCH would have more
- 181 In the coldest FLINT there is hot fire
- 258 As red (ruddy) as a ROSE
- 268 Where BEAUTY is there needs no other plea
- 272 DESPAIR (Love) makes cowards courageous (desperate)
- 407 As white as IVORY
- 492 No ROSE without a thorn (prickle)
- 527 SINS are not known till they be acted
- 528 The END justifies the means
- 540 The COCKATRICE slays by sight only
- 554 As a CAT plays with a mouse
- 560 Constant DROPPING will wear the stone
- 577 Cast no DIRT into the well that has given you water
- 588 Constant DROPPING will wear the stone
- 600 THINGS are not as they seem
- 612 He finds FAULT with others and does worse himself (He that will blame another must be blameless himself)
- 615 Like KING (prince) like people
- 638 To appeal from PHILIP drunk to Philip sober
- 645 The STREAM (current, tide) stopped swells the higher
- 649 All RIVERS (waters) run into the sea
- 663 The GREATER embraces (includes, hides) the less
- 699 What is sweet in the MOUTH is oft sour (bitter) in the maw (stomach)
- 731 Though the WOUND be healed yet the scar remains
- 746 What is done by NIGHT appears by day
- 788 Small (Little) RAIN lays (allays) great winds
- 790 It is good to have COMPANY in trouble (misery)
- 791 Good COMPANY makes short miles
- 876 OPPORTUNITY (Night, Midnight) is woredom's bawd
- 894 NOTHING violent can be permanent
- 939 Constant DROPPING will wear the stone
- 939 Old MEN are twice children (bairns)
- 939 TIME brings the truth to light
- 971 He thinks every BUSH a bugbear (bear)
- 978 A HEART as hard as a stone (flint, marble)
- 1021 Not worth a STRAW (rush)
- 1118 The STREAM (current, tide) stopped swells the higher
- 1135 To sit (sing) like a NIGHTINGALE, with a thorn against one's breast
- 1216 As swift as THOUGHT
- 1329 Shallow WATERS make the greatest sound
- 1337 A desperate DISEASE must have a desperate cure
- 1342 Who is in FAULT (guilty) suspects everybody
- 1530 A fair FACE must have good conditions
- 1581 I am not the FIRST and shall not be the last
- 1611 Like a SWAN, he sings before his death
- 1687 PARDON makes offenders
- 1730 As still as a STONE
- 1774 As cold as a KEY
- 1821 The greater GRIEF (sorrow) drives out the less
Richard II
81 related proverbs.
- I.i I will not die in your DEBT (your debtor)
- I.i FORGIVE and forget
- I.i A LEOPARD (panther) cannot change his spots
- I.i To lie in one's THROAT
- I.ii VENGEANCE belongs only to God
- I.iii The EYE is the window of the heart (mind)
- I.iii INJURIES slighted become none at all
- I.iii INJURIES slighted become none at all
- I.iii A wise (valiant) MAN makes every country his own
- I.iii What is sweet in the MOUTH is oft sour (bitter) in the maw (stomach)
- I.iii There is OIL (no oil) left in the lamp
- I.iii The SUN shines upon all alike
- I.iii Good that the TEETH guard the tongue
- I.iii TRUTH loves (fears no) trial
- I.iii Make a VIRTUE of necessity
- I.iv You burn DAYLIGHT
- I.iv Saving your REVERENCE
- I.v You are IPSE (he, the man)
- II.i Better in HEALTH than in good conditions
- II.i As gentle (quiet, meek, mild) as a LAMB
- II.i LIFE is a pilgrimage
- II.i Dying MEN speak true (prophesy)
- II.i NOTHING violent can be permanent
- II.i Soon RIPE soon rotten
- II.i Untimeous¹ SPURRING spills² the steed
- II.i TAKE it as you will (list, please)
- II.i The WAY to be safe is never to be secure¹ (He that is secure is not safe)
- II.ii To set ALL at six and seven
- II.ii MISCHIEFS, like waves, never come alone
- II.ii To drink the OCEAN dry
- II.ii As difficult as to number the SANDS in the sea
- II.iii To be one's own CARVER
- II.iii Good COMPANY makes short miles
- II.iii Past CURE past care
- II.iii Never do EVIL (ill) that good may come of it
- II.iii As red (bright) as FIRE
- II.iii WELL, WELL is a word of malice
- II.iv He has a CONSCIENCE like a cheverel's¹ skin
- II.iv Good GOOSE, bite not
- II.IV To lend a helping HAND
- III.ii Help thyself and GOD will help thee
- III.ii The greatest HATE proceeds from the greatest love
- III.ii To LAUGH and cry at once (like rain in sunshine)
- III.ii All MEN must die
- III.ii One must not bemoan (wail) a MISCHIEF but find out a remedy for it
- III.ii SNAKE in the grass
- III.ii As hard (stiff, strong, tough) as STEEL
- III.ii To nourish a VIPER (snake) in one's bosom
- III.ii It is too late to call again YESTERDAY
- III.iii They that are BOUND must obey
- III.iii Constant DROPPING will wear the stone
- III.iii To have an EAGLE's eye
- III.iii To be hanged on a fair GALLOWS (with a silken halter)
- III.iii HEAVEN (God) is above all
- III.iii As swift as LIGHTNING
- III.iii A red MORNING foretells a stormy day
- III.iii WELL, WELL is a word of malice
- III.iv To run against the BIAS
- III.iv He that will play at BOWLS must expect to meet with rubs
- III.iv MISFORTUNE (Evil) never (seldom) comes alone
- III.v The REMEMBRANCE of past sorrow (dangers) is joyful
- III.v SORROW is dry
- IV.i ABRAHAM's bosom
- IV.i Like two BUCKETS of a well, if one go up the other must go down
- IV.i CROWNS have cares
- IV.i As false as GOD is true
- IV.i KINGS have long arms (ears, hands)
- IV.i As sure as you LIVE
- IV.i The RISING of one man is the falling of another
- IV.i As sharp as a THORN
- V.i EARLY up and never the nearer
- V.i A HEART as hard as a stone (flint, marble)
- V.i To kiss the ROD
- V.iii He that asks faintly begs a DENIAL
- V.iii He is now become a new MAN
- V.iii SHORT and sweet
- V.iii To nourish a VIPER (snake) in one's bosom
- V.v As hard as for a CAMEL to pass through a needle's eye
- V.v I am not the FIRST and shall not be the last
- V.v PRIDE will have a fall
- V.vi A KING (prince) loves the treason but hates the traitor
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
53 related proverbs.
- I.i Soft WAX will take any impression
- I.i To know the WORST is good
- I.ii Hold or cut CODPIECE POINT
- I.ii As loving (tame, patient) as a DOVE (pigeon)
- I.ii As gentle (quiet, meek, mild) as a LAMB
- I.ii As swift as LIGHTNING
- I.ii Every MOTHER's son (child)
- I.ii As good as one shall see in a SUMMER's day
- II.i Set your HEART at rest
- II.i ROBIN GOODFELLOW
- II.i The SPANIEL, that fawns when he is beaten, will never forsake his master
- II.i As true (trusty, sure) as STEEL
- II.ii Too much HONEY cloys the stomach
- II.ii Let REASON rule all your actions
- III.i An ASSHEAD of your own
- III.i Every MOTHER's son (child)
- III.i Do not set your WIT against a fool's (a child)
- III.i He has lost himself in a WOOD
- III.ii ALL is well and the man has his mare again
- III.ii ALL shall be well and Jack shall have Jill
- III.ii As swift as an ARROW
- III.ii To stick like BURS
- III.ii CHEEK by jowl
- III.ii Let every MAN have his own
- III.ii As tall as a MAYPOLE
- III.ii To be over SHOES
- III.ii SLEEP is the image of death
- III.ii When SORROW is asleep wake it not
- III.ii When SORROW is asleep wake it not
- III.ii To SPEAK (Not to speak) as one thinks
- III.ii As swift as the WIND
- IV.i FEELING has no fellow
- IV.i On SAINT VALENTINE's DAY¹ all the birds in couples do join
- IV.i The VINE embraces the elm
- IV.ii The LONG (short) and the short (long) of it
- V.i He thinks every BUSH a bugbear (bear)
- V.i The DOG (wolf) barks in vain at the moon
- V.i He may go hang himself in his own GARTERS
- V.i He wears the HORNS
- V.i Whom we love best to them we can say LEAST
- V.i As green as a LEEK
- V.i The MAN in the moon
- V.i As white as MILK
- V.i He that lives with the MUSES shall die in the straw (Learning ever dies in beggary)
- V.i The three SISTERS
- V.i To take in SNUFF
- V.i It is no more STRANGE than true
- V.i TAKE it as you will (list, please)
- V.i To be TONGUE-TIED
- V.i TRUTH will come to light (break out)
- V.i To take the WILL for the deed
- V.i Great WITS (Poets) to madness sure are near allied
- VI WALLS (Hedges), have ears (eyes)
Romeo and Juliet
98 related proverbs.
- I.i He will carry (bear) no COALS
- I.i After a COLLAR comes a halter
- I.i LOVE is a sweet torment
- I.i To slip one's NECK out of the collar
- I.i TAKE it as you will (list, please)
- I.i To bite his Thumbs
- I.i The WEAKEST goes to the wall
- I.i A WOMAN is the weaker vessel
- I.i The WORTH of a thing is best known by the want
- I.ii The greater GRIEF (sorrow) drives out the less
- I.ii MARRYING is marring
- I.iii A DOG (man) of wax
- I.iii He sucked EVIL from the dug
- I.iii To GO (stand) a high-lone¹
- I.iii Those that GOD loves do not live long (The good die young)
- I.iv He that worst may must hold the CANDLE
- I.iv Draw DUN¹ out of the mire
- I.iv DUN is the mouse
- I.iv A MAN's mind often gives him warning of evil to come
- I.iv A well-favored VISOR will hide her ill-favored face
- I.iv As wavering (changeable, fickle, inconstant) as the WIND
- I.v BLACK best sets forth white
- I.v He sets COCK on the hoop
- I.v My dancing DAYS are done
- I.v Let the longer LIVER take all
- I.v PATIENCE perforce
- II.ii Let not the COBBLER (shoemaker) go beyond his last
- II.ii JOVE laughs at lovers' perjuries
- II.ii As swift as LIGHTNING
- II.ii LOVE is the loadstone of love
- II.ii As changeful (inconstant) as the MOON
- II.ii It is tedious PARTING with a thing we love
- II.ii As sweet as a ROSE
- II.ii To set forth the SUN with a candle (lantern, taper)
- II.iii The EARTH produces all things and receives all again
- II.iii The EARTH that yields food yields also poison
- II.iii The more HASTE the less (worse) speed
- II.iii To stagger like a drunken MAN
- II.iii NOTHING so good but it (The best things, Everything) may be abused
- II.iii There is NOTHING but is good for something
- II.iii READ not before you learn to spell
- II.iv As pale (white) as a CLOUT
- II.iv For FAULT (want) of a better
- II.iv To bring one into a FOOL's paradise
- II.iv It goes against the HAIR
- II.iv Sweet MEAT must have sour sauce
- II.iv To cleave the PIN
- II.iv R is the dog's letter
- II.iv As true (trusty, sure) as STEEL
- II.iv A well-favored VISOR will hide her ill-favored face
- II.iv To run the WILD-GOOSE CHASE
- II.v Marry come up, my dirty COUSIN
- II.v As heavy as LEAD
- II.v As wan (pale) as LEAD
- II.v Take (Mingle) the SWEET with the sour
- II.vi Such BEGINNING such end
- II.vi Too much HONEY cloys the stomach
- II.vi LOVE me little love me long
- II.vi NOTHING violent can be permanent
- II.Prol. A desperate DISEASE must have a desperate cure
- III.i ALL lies and bleeds (lies a bleeding)
- III.i As broad as a BARN DOOR
- III.i Like a CAT, to have nine lives
- III.i As full of KNAVERY (As full) as an egg is full of meat
- III.i As swift as LIGHTNING
- III.i A MAN is nothing but worms' meat
- III.ii As pale as ASHES
- III.ii BLACK best sets forth white
- III.ii The COCKATRICE slays by sight only
- III.ii It is good to have COMPANY in trouble (misery)
- III.ii Fair FACE foul heart
- III.ii There is no FAITH in man
- III.ii LOVE is blind
- III.ii REPORT has a blister on her tongue
- III.ii More SHOW than substance
- III.ii SNAKE in the grass
- III.iii All MEN must die
- III.iii Discreet WOMEN have neither eyes nor ears
- III.iv All MEN must die
- III.v To be married rather to one's GRAVE
- III.v To chop LOGIC
- III.v The WOOING was a day after the wedding
- IV.i A desperate DISEASE must have a desperate cure
- IV.i What MUST (shall, will) be must (shall, will) be
- IV.i He that PRAISES publicly will slander privately
- IV.ii He is an ill COOK that cannot lick his own fingers
- IV.ii A LIGHTENING (lightning) before death
- IV.iv CAT after kind, good mouse hunt
- IV.v The fairest FLOWERS (freshest colors) soonest fade
- IV.v He is well since he is in HEAVEN
- IV.v To put up one's PIPES
- IV.v SILVER has a silver sound
- V.i He is well since he is in HEAVEN
- V.i A LIGHTENING (lightning) before death
- V.i MESSENGERS should neither be headed nor hanged
- V.iii Wink at small FAULTS
- V.iii A LIGHTENING (lightning) before death
- I,II,III A NURSE's tongue is privileged to talk
Henry IV, Part 1
115 related proverbs.
- I.i NOTHING is well said or done in a passion (in anger)
- I.ii Lincolnshire BAGPIPES
- I.ii Everyone must walk (labor) in his own CALLING (vocation)
- I.ii As melancholy as a gibbed CAT
- I.ii When the CAT's away the mice will play
- I.ii COME (Hap) what come (hap) may
- I.ii Every DAY is not holiday (Sunday)
- I.ii Give the DEVIL his due
- I.ii Give everyone his DUE
- I.ii He that is at a low EBB at Newgate¹ may soon be afloat at Tyburn
- I.ii Soon GOTTEN soon spent
- I.ii HARE is melancholy meat
- I.ii As sweet as HONEY
- I.ii As changeful (inconstant) as the MOON
- I.ii As melancholy as MOORDITCH¹
- I.ii SUITS hang half a year in Westminster Hall, at Tyburn half an hour's hanging ends all
- I.ii The great THIEVES hang the little ones
- I.iii He will creep into your BOSOM
- I.iii The CHANCE of war is uncertain
- I.iii That is FLAT
- I.iii As smooth as OIL
- I.iii SINK or swim
- I.iii To take in SNUFF
- II.i At HAND, quoth pickpurse
- II.i SAINT NICHOLAS's clerks
- II.i When? Can you TELL?
- II.i I know a TRICK worth two of that
- II.ii Fat DROPS fall from fat flesh
- II.ii He may go hang himself in his own GARTERS
- II.ii Every MAN as his business lies
- II.ii Happy MAN happy dole (be his dole)
- II.ii He frets like gummed TAFFETY (grogram, velvet)
- II.ii The THIEF does fear each bush an officer
- II.ii THIEVES are never rogues among themselves
- II.ii To be utterly UNDONE
- II.iii DANGER and delight grow both upon one stalk (stock)
- II.iii What MUST (shall, will) be must (shall, will) be
- II.iii A WOMAN conceals what she knows not
- II.iv As plentiful (cheap) as BLACKBERRIES
- II.iv To roar like a BULL
- II.iv As fat as BUTTER
- II.iv To melt like BUTTER before the sun
- II.iv The more CAMOMILE is trodden down the more it spreads
- II.iv After a COLLAR comes a halter
- II.iv As merry as a CRICKET
- II.iv Then call me CUT
- II.iv The DEVIL rides on a fiddlestick
- 2.iv Play off your DUST
- II.iv A fair FACE must have good conditions
- II.iv There is no FAITH in man
- II.iv It is worth the HEARING
- II.iv As lean (lank) as a shotten HERRING
- II.iv You licked not your LiPS since you lied last
- II.iv To take one with the MANNER
- II.iv Ask the MOTHER if the child be like his father
- II.iv He shows a fair PAIR of heels
- II.iv He that touches PITCH shall be defiled
- II.iv Saving your REVERENCE
- II.iv Ecce SIGNUM
- II.iv The TREE (fruit) is known by the fruit (tree)
- II.iv TRUTH is truth
- II.iv The TRUTH, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth
- III.i To split HAIRS
- III.i As fierce (valiant) as a LION
- III.i As sure as you LIVE
- III.i SMOKE, rain, and a very curst wife make a man weary of house and life
- III.i Speak the TRUTH and shame the devil
- III.ii ABRAHAM's bosom
- III.ii The BAVIN¹ burns bright but it is but a blaze
- III.ii DEATH pays all debts
- III.ii A MAID oft seen, a gown oft worn, are dis-esteemed and held in scorn
- III.ii Every SURFEIT foreruns a fast
- III.iii I wish it were in your BELLY for me
- III.iii Live within COMPASS
- III.iii Some complain to prevent COMPLAINT
- III.iii You take your EASE in your inn
- III.iii Where no FAULT is there needs no pardon
- III.iii As red (bright) as FIRE
- III.iii Neither FISH nor flesh nor good red herring
- III.iii FLESH is frail
- III.iii With unwashed HANDS
- III.iii To pocket up an INJURY (wrong)
- III.iii One KNOWS not where to have you
- III.iii Your LOVE is a million
- III.iii To pick a QUARREL
- III.iii They have neither TRUTH nor honesty in them
- III.iii UNGIRT unblessed
- III.iii Is the WIND in that door (corner)?
- IV.i As lecherous as a GOAT
- IV.i All THINGS are turned topsy-turvy (upside down)
- IV.i Let the WORLD wag (slide, pass)
- IV.ii That CAT is out of kind that sweet milk (cream) will not lap (lick, steal)
- IV.ii It is better COMING to the beginning of a feast than the end of a fray
- IV.ii That is FLAT
- IV.ii As swift as THOUGHT
- IV.iv It is good to fear the WORST
- V.i To rub (scratch) the ELBOW
- V.i I owe GOD a death
- V.i A red MORNING foretells a stormy day
- V.i He does not desire to die before his TIME
- V.ii In young MEN to err is less shame
- V.ii SUSPICION has double eyes
- V.iii To make ALL sure
- V.iii As heavy as LEAD
- V.iii All WOMEN may be won
- V.iv To make ALL sure
- V.iv It is no CHILD's play
- V.iv DISCRETION is the better part of valor
- V.iv As many HEADS as Hydra
- V.iv A MAN is nothing but worms' meat
- V.iv Dying MEN speak true (prophesy)
- V.iv To pay SCOT AND LOT
- V.iv SEEING is believing
- V.iv Two SUNS cannot shine in one sphere
- V.vii To take the TALE (word) out of one's mouth
The Merchant of Venice
89 related proverbs.
- I.i Venture not ALL in one bottom
- I.i Shoot one ARROW after another
- I.i All DOGS bark not (No dogs shall bark) at him
- I.i FOOLS are wise as long as silent
- I.i To pluck the GRASS to know where the wind sits
- I.i Like JANUS, two-faced
- I.i KNOW thyself
- I.i I am SAD because I cannot be glad
- I.i This WORLD is a stage and every man plays his part
- I.ii He is (is not) a MAN of God's making
- I.ii Dying MEN speak true (prophesy)
- I.ii Standing POOLS gather filth
- I.ii PRACTICE what you preach
- I.ii To fight with one's own SHADOW
- I.ii VIRTUE is found in the middle (mean)
- I.ii If the WORST come to the worst
- I.ii It is good to fear the WORST
- I.iii Sodom APPLES outwardly fair, ashes at the core
- I.iii I know him as well as the BEGGAR knows his dish¹
- I.iii The DEVIL can cite Scripture for his purpose
- I.iii Fair FACE foul heart
- I.iii Old FRIENDS and old wine are best
- I.iii To have one on the HIP
- I.iii Invite not a JEW either to pig or pork
- I.iii If the LION's skin cannot the fox's shall
- I.iii All Men are mortal
- I.iii May we not do with our OWN what we list?
- I.iii An USURER is one that puts his money to the unnatural act of generation, and the scrivener is his bawd
- II.i FORTUNE (Justice) is blind
- II.i As tawny (black) as a MOOR¹
- II.i As savage as a SHE-BEAR when she is robbed of her whelps
- II.ii They are not (are) CATER-COUSINS
- II.ii It is a wise CHILD (father) that knows his own father (child)
- II.ii My own FLESH and blood
- II.ii The GRACE of God is gear enough
- II.ii The LONG (short) and the short (long) of it
- II.ii A MAN's gift makes room for him
- II.ii MURDER will out
- II.ii What MUST (shall, will) be must (shall, will) be
- II.ii Saving your REVERENCE
- II.ii Saving your REVERENCE
- II.ii To be so lean that one's RIBS may be counted
- II.ii Though I SAY it that should not say it
- II.ii The three SISTERS
- II.ii To keep a good TONGUE in one's head
- II.ii TRUTH will come to light (break out)
- II.ii In the TWINKLING of an eye
- II.v Fast (Sure) BIND fast (sure) find
- II.v To be worth a JEW's eye
- II.v As slow as a SNAIL
- II.vi As free as the AIR (wind)
- II.vi LOVE is blind
- II.vi LOVERS ever run before the clock
- II.vii ALL is not gold that glisters (glitters)
- II.vii Farewell FROST
- II.vii Whited SEPULCHERS (Women are whited sepulchers)
- II.ix The FLY (moth) that plays too long in the candle singes its wings at last
- II.ix No MAN ought to be judge in his own cause
- II.ix WEDDING and hanging go by destiny
- III.i My own FLESH and blood
- III.i As white as IVORY
- III.i There cannot lightly come a WORSE except the devil come himself
- III.ii CONFESS and be hanged
- III.ii None can guess the JEWEL by the casket (cabinet)
- III.ii LOVE comes by looking (in at the eyes)
- III.ii LOVE me little love me long
- III.ii As white as MILK
- III.ii What is MINE is yours and what is yours is mine (your own)
- III.ii Like a SWAN, he sings before his death
- III.iii Dear bought and far fetched are DAINTIES for ladies
- III.iv A MAN's praise in his own mouth does stink
- III.iv Yours to command in the WAY of honesty
- III.v Between SCYLLA and Charybdis
- IV.i The END justifies the means
- IV.i A HEART as hard as a stone (flint, marble)
- IV.i To have one on the HIP
- IV.i You set an old MAN's head on a young man's shoulders
- IV.i He shall find MERCY that merciful is
- IV.i It is in their MERCY that kings come closest to gods
- IV.i Some cannot abide to see a PIG's head gaping
- IV.i To eat one's WORDS
- V.i To look BABIES in another's eyes
- V.i A BIRD is known by its note and a man by his talk
- V.i As many EYES as Argus
- V.i To sing like a LARK
- V.i All RIVERS (waters) run into the sea
- V.i Any small SPARK shines in the dark
- V.i To set forth the SUN with a candle (lantern, taper)
- V.i A good WIFE makes a good husband
King John
57 related proverbs.
- I.i Never less ALONE than when alone (He is never alone who is accompanied with noble thoughts)
- I.i BLOOD will have blood
- I.i Who bulls the COW must keep the calf
- I.i HAVE is have
- I.i HONORS change manners
- I.i He may his PART on Good Friday eat and fast never the worse for ought he shall get
- I.i At an ill PASSAGE honor thy companion
- I.i I would I might never STIR else
- I.i To have a sweet (wanton) TOOTH
- I.i TRUTH is truth
- I.i To come in at the WINDOW (o'er the hatch)
- II.i BLOOD will have blood
- II.i Great COURAGE is in greatest dangers tried
- II.i So HARES may pull dead lions by the beard
- II.i He wears a whole LORDSHIP on his back
- II.i Like SAINT GEORGE, who is ever on horseback yet never rides
- II.i A great (Hercules') SHOE will not fit a little (a child's) foot
- II.i The STREAM (current, tide) stopped swells the higher
- II.i UNITY (Union) is the strongest building (bulwark) of cities
- III.i An ASS in a lion's skin
- III.i An ill (bad) BEGINNING has an ill (bad) ending
- III.i One DECEIT (falsehood) drives out another
- III.i No FAITH with heretics
- III.i One FIRE (heat) drives out another
- III.i To pocket up an INJURY (wrong)
- III.i Tell a LIE and find the truth
- III.i An unlawful OATH is better broken than kept
- III.i To PLAY fast and loose
- III.i Take TIME (occasion) by the forelock, for she is bald behind
- III.i He holds a WOLF by the ears
- III.ii As white as the driven SNOW
- III.iii To curse with BELL, book, and candle
- III.iv He that has no CHILDREN knows not what love is
- III.iv He is a FOOL that forgets himself
- IV.i As merry as the DAY is long
- IV.i As gentle (quiet, meek, mild) as a LAMB
- IV.i A MAN may cause his own dog to bite him
- IV.i What MUST (shall, will) be must (shall, will) be
- IV.i As still as a STONE
- IV.ii As many COLORS as there are in the rainbow
- IV.ii To EXCUSE is to accuse
- IV.ii As red (bright) as FIRE
- IV.ii To set the best (better) FOOT (leg) forward (before)
- IV.ii To set forth the SUN with a candle (lantern, taper)
- IV.ii As swift as THOUGHT
- IV.ii It is good to fear the WORST
- IV.iii Give LOSERS leave to speak (talk)
- IV.iii To know the WORST is good
- V.ii There spoke an ANGEL
- V.ii SORE upon sore is not a salve
- V.ii A little WIND kindles, much puts out the fire
- V.iv To be BOUGHT and sold
- V.iv Dying MEN speak true (prophesy)
- V.iv To melt like WAX
- V.vii Cold COMFORT
- V.vii Now he has ELBOWROOM enough to turn him in
- V.vii Like a SWAN, he sings before his death
The Merry Wives of Windsor
101 related proverbs.
- I.i Fresh AIR is ill for the diseased or wounded man
- I.i He would bind BEARS
- I.i As thin as Banbury¹ CHEESE
- I.i One seldom loses by DEALING with honest men
- I.i Drink and be FRIENDS
- I.i A LOUSE is a man's (beggar's) companion
- I.i Marry first and LOVE will come after
- I.i MARRYING is marring
- I.i To be MEAT and drink to one
- I.i A better PENNY
- I.i Would I were young for your SAKE
- I.i To make one tell another TALE
- I.i Better be UNMANNERLY than troublesome
- I.i To be frightened (scared) out of one's WITS (five wits and seven senses)
- I.i Few WORDS show men wise
- I.ii CONFESSION of a fault pardons it
- I.ii Too much FAMILIARITY breeds contempt
- I.iii Small BIRDS must have meat
- I.iii His old BRASS (cloak) will buy you a new pan (kirtle)
- I.iii A FIG for him (it)
- I.iii An old SERVINGMAN a young beggar
- I.iii The SUN is never the worse for shining on a dunghill
- I.iv ALL shall be well and Jack shall have Jill
- I.iv For FAULT (want) of a better
- I.iv To put one's FINGER in the fire
- I.iv A FOOL's head of your own
- I.iv From HENCE to (Between this and) --[some distant place]
- I.iv It is neither HERE nor there
- I.iv He is HORN-MAD
- I.iv The KING's English
- I.iv Give LOSERS leave to speak (talk)
- I.iv As honest a MAN as ever broke bread
- I.iv Every MAN has (No man is without) his faults
- I.iv I will neither MEDDLE nor make
- I.iv He has not a STONE (bone) to cast (throw) at a dog
- I.iv Thereby hangs a TALE
- II.i You burn DAYLIGHT
- II.i The LONG (short) and the short (long) of it
- II.i LOVE is without reason
- II.i To be frightened (scared) out of one's WITS (five wits and seven senses)
- II.ii Take ALL and pay all
- II.ii As innocent (clear) as a newborn BABE (child, chrisom-child)
- II.ii GOD's blessing on your heart for it
- II.ii He fries (stews) in his own GREASE
- II.ii Who builds upon another's GROUND loses both mortar and stones
- II.ii Better be two HOURS before time than three behind it
- II.ii He that speaks ILL of another let him first think of himself
- II.ii The LONG (short) and the short (long) of it
- II.ii LOVE (Woman, Honor), like a shadow (crocodile, death), flies one following and pursues one fleeing
- II.ii As good a MAID as her mother
- II.ii The MAYOR OF NORTHAMPTON opens oysters with his dagger
- II.ii If MONEY go before all ways lie open
- II.ii To be in a QUANDARY
- II.iii It goes against the HAIR
- II.iii He is HEART of oak
- II.iii As dead as a HERRING
- II.iii He is wise that is ware (wary) in TIME
- III.i Keep FLAX from fire and youth from gaming
- III.i He has his saying WORD and his denaying word
- III.ii As idle as one may HANG together
- III.iii A JACK-A-LENT
- III.iv Come CUT and longtail
- III.iv To go through FIRE and water
- III.iv Every MAN is either a fool or a physician to himself
- III.iv Happy MAN happy dole (be his dole)
- III.iv To make a SHAFT (bolt) or a bolt (shaft) of it
- III.v To melt like BUTTER before the sun
- III.v CUCKOLDS come by destiny
- III.v To go through FIRE and water
- III.v FLESH is frail
- III.v He fries (stews) in his own GREASE
- III.v To pick a HOLE in a man's coat
- III.v He is HORN-MAD
- III.v He is of the same (a strange) KIDNEY
- IV.ii He is out of his ELEMENT
- IV.ii Within a HAIR's breadth
- IV.ii The still SOW eats up all the draff
- IV.ii Speak the TRUTH and shame the devil
- IV.ii YOUTH in a basket
- IV.iv Run not from one EXTREME to another
- IV.v To BEAT (pinch) one black and blue
- IV.v As many COLORS as there are in the rainbow
- IV.v Call me COUSIN but cozen me not
- IV.v The DEVIL and his dam
- IV.v Fat DROPS fall from fat flesh
- IV.v Bought WIT is best
- V.i LIFE is a shuttle
- V.i There is LUCK in odd numbers
- V.ii The DEVIL is known by his claws (cloven feet, horns)
- V.v What cannot be CURED must be endured
- V.v To thrust out (in) by the HEAD and shoulders
- V.v A JACK-A-LENT
- V.v As poor (bare) as JOB
- V.v MARRIAGE is destiny
- V.v MUMBUDGET
- V.v Neither RHYME nor reason
- V.v SHAME take (Evil to) him that shame (evil) thinks
- 5.v He has gotten the START of him
- V.v I would I might never STIR else
- V.v He has pissed his TALLOW
- V.v THINGS done cannot be undone
Henry IV, Part 2
87 related proverbs.
- I.i The CHANCE of war is uncertain
- I.i As heavy as LEAD
- I.i A MULTITUDE of people is a beast of many heads
- I.i NOTHING is well said or done in a passion (in anger)
- I.ii His CANDLE burns within the socket
- I.ii Who so deaf as he that will not HEAR?
- I.ii As patient as JOB
- I.ii As poor (bare) as JOB
- I.ii He is purse-sick and lacks a PHYSICIAN
- I.ii To mourn in SACK and claret
- I.ii To rip up (rub) old SORES
- I.ii To lie in one's THROAT
- I.ii It is evil (ill, not good) WAKING of a sleeping dog
- I.ii To look to one's WATER
- I.ii It is better to WEAR out than rust out
- I.ii Who goes to WESTMINSTER¹ for a wife, to Paul's² for a man, and to Smithfield³ for a horse may meet with a whore, a knave, and a jade
- I.iii The DOG returns to his vomit
- I.iii LOOK ere (before) you leap
- I.iii A MAN cannot live on air like a chameleon
- II.i To eat one out of HOUSE and home
- II.i Whose MARE is dead?
- II.i Like (Such a) MASTER like (such a) man (ser-vant)
- II.ii BLUSHING (Bashfulness) is virtue's color (is a sign of grace)
- II.ii He feeds like a BOAR in a frank¹
- II.ii The town BULL is as much a bachelor as he
- II.ii The END crowns (tries) all
- II.ii For FAULT (want) of a better
- II.ii Better in HEALTH than in good conditions
- II.ii As common as the HIGHWAY
- II.ii He is a tall MAN of his hands
- ii.ii Old MEN are covetous by nature
- II.ii She is MEAT for your master
- II.ii To lie in one's THROAT
- II.iv To die like a DOG
- II.iv Remember (Mark) the END
- II.iv If FORTUNE me torments yet hope does me content
- II.iv GOD's blessing on your heart for it
- II.iv A good HEART conquers ill fortune (overcomes all)
- II.iv Hold HOOK and line
- II.iv He trembles (quakes, shakes) like an aspen LEAF
- II.iv To ride (shoe) the wild MARE
- II.iv He looks as if he lived on Tewkesbury MUSTARD¹
- II.iv As red (ruddy) as a ROSE
- II.iv The three SISTERS
- II.iv A WOMAN is the weaker vessel
- III.i CROWNS have cares
- III.i He that once DECEIVES is ever suspected
- III.ii To roar like a BULL
- III.ii DEATH pays all debts
- III.ii The great FISH eat the small
- III.ii I owe GOD a death
- III.ii A MAN can die but once
- III.ii All MEN must die
- III.ii Ask the MOTHER if the child be like his father
- III.ii NIGHTWORK
- IV.i A broken BONE (leg) is the stronger when it is well set
- IV.i As fixed (firm) as a ROCK
- IV.i It is a bad SACK (case) that will abide no clouting
- IV.ii As many HEADS as Hydra
- IV.ii A LIGHTENING (lightning) before death
- IV.iii I CAME, saw, and overcame
- IV.iii It is more your GOODNESS than my desert
- IV.iii As swift as THOUGHT
- IV.iii Good WINE makes good blood
- IV.iv The rich MAN walks to get a stomach to his meat, the poor man to get meat for his stomach.
- IV.iv WEEDS come forth on the fattest soil if it is untilled
- IV.v We soon BELIEVE what we desire
- IV.v WIN it and wear it
- V.i Better is a FRIEND in court than (A friend in court is worth) a penny in purse
- V.i Keep not ill MEN company lest you increase the number
- V.ii He is well since he is in HEAVEN
- V.iii To set ALL a going if it were a mile to the bottom
- V.iii As dead (deaf, dumb) as a DOORNAIL
- V.iii It is merry in HALL when beards wag all
- V.iii A merry HEART lives long
- V.iii You are IPSE (he, the man)
- V.iii What they want in MEAT let them take in drink
- V.iii It is an ill (evil) WIND that blows no man good (to good)
- V.iii What WIND blew (brought) you hither?
- V.iv It will be a black (bloody) DAY to somebody
- V.iv MIGHT overcomes right
- V.iv Of SUFFERANCE comes ease
- V.v ALL in all and all in every part
- V.v I heard a BIRD sing (A little bird said so)
- V.v To fear no COLORS¹
- V.v If FORTUNE me torments yet hope does me content
- V.v An honest MAN is as good as his word
Much Ado About Nothing
90 related proverbs.
- I.i To be in (out of) one's BOOKS
- I.i He is HORN-MAD
- I.i He is wise enough that can KEEP himself warm
- I.i You set an old MAN's head on a young man's shoulders
- I.i All Men are mortal
- I.i Ask the MOTHER if the child be like his father
- I.i In TIME the ox (bull) will bear the yoke
- I.i TIME tries all things
- I.i A good TRENCHERMAN
- I.i He that seeks TROUBLE never misses it
- I.i It is a great VICTORY that comes without blood
- I.i Good WINE makes good blood
- I.i To be born of WOMAN
- I.ii Take TIME (occasion) by the forelock, for she is bald behind
- I.iii When the HUSBAND is sad (merry) the wife will be merry (sad)
- II.i As merry as the DAY is long
- II.i He finds FAULT with others and does worse himself (He that will blame another must be blameless himself)
- II.i GOD sends a curst (shrewd) cow short horns
- II.i Marry in HASTE and repent at leisure
- II.i Whom we love best to them we can say LEAST
- II.i When LOVE puts in friendship is gone
- II.i Old MAIDS lead apes in hell
- II.i There is a MEASURE (mean) in all things
- II.i To stop one's MOUTH
- II.i A well-favored VISOR will hide her ill-favored face
- II.i Yours to command in the WAY of honesty
- II.i To wear the WILLOW
- II.iii CONSTANCY has one foot on land and another on sea
- II.iii The FISH follow the hook (bait)
- II.iii The croaking RAVEN bodes misfortune (death)
- II.iii All good SINGERS have colds
- II.iii Is the WIND in that door (corner)?
- III.i When your EAR tingles (burns) people are talking about you
- III.i FIRE that's closest kept burns most of all
- III.i The FISH follow the hook (bait)
- III.i To say his PRAYERS backward
- III.i He turns like a VANE on the housetop (with the wind)
- III.ii ALL commend patience but none can endure to suffer
- III.ii As sound as a BELL
- III.ii From the CROWN of the head to the sole of the foot
- III.ii What the HEART thinks the tongue speaks
- III.ii I SMELL him out
- III.ii One WOLF (bear) will not eat (bite, prey upon) another
- III.iii You might be a CONSTABLE for your wit
- III.iii The COUNSEL thou wouldst have another keep first keep thyself
- III.iii My ELBOW itches, I must change my bedfellow
- III.iii To get is the GIFT of fortune, to keep is the gift of wisdom
- III.iii I will neither MEDDLE nor make
- III.iii He that touches PITCH shall be defiled
- III.iv You are such ANOTHER
- III.iv Heigh-ho for a HUSBAND
- III.iv There were no ill LANGUAGE if it were not ill taken
- III.iv A MAN's mind often gives him warning of evil to come
- III.iv MARRIAGE is honorable
- III.iv Saving your REVERENCE
- III.iv To turn TURK
- III.v COMPARISONS are odious
- III.v He that is wise in his own CONCEIT is a fool
- III.v As rich as CROESUS (a king)
- III.v GOD is a good man
- III.v As honest a MAN as ever broke bread
- III.v If TWO ride upon a horse one must sit behind
- III.v When WINE (ale) is in wit is out
- III.v It is a WORLD¹ to see
- IV.i BLUSHING (Bashfulness) is virtue's color (is a sign of grace)
- IV.i A desperate DISEASE must have a desperate cure
- IV.i FAIR without but foul within
- IV.i All the WATER in the sea cannot wash out this stain
- IV.i The WORTH of a thing is best known by the want
- IV.ii He that is wise in his own CONCEIT is a fool
- IV.ii To be MORE than he can answer
- V.i ALL commend patience but none can endure to suffer
- V.i To have it in BLACK and white
- V.i If you be angry you may turn the BUCKLE of your girdle behind you
- V.i CARE will kill a cat
- V.i To lament the DEAD avails not and to the living it is hurtful
- V.i Pluck up your HEART
- V.i To pour WATER into a sieve
- V.i WIN it and wear it
- V.i He holds a WOLF by the ears
- V.i A WOMAN either loves or hates to extremes
- V.ii A CARPET KNIGHT
- V.ii To keep a foul COIL¹
- V.ii He dwells far from NEIGHBORS (has ill neighbors) that is fain to praise himself
- V.ii To sound one's own TRUMPET
- V.ii WORDS are but wind
- V.iv As sure as you LIVE
- V.iv MARRIAGE is honorable
- V.iv SOFT AND FAIR goes far
- [Title] Much ADO about nothing
Henry V
76 related proverbs.
- I.i The old ADAM
- I.i As free as the AIR (wind)
- I.i To cut the GORDIAN KNOT
- I.i As many HEADS as Hydra
- I.ii More AFRAID than hurt
- I.ii He that will FRANCE (Scotland) win must with Scotland (France) first begin
- I.ii You dance in a NET and think nobody sees you
- I.ii As clear as the SUN
- I.ii Many WAYS meet in one town (city)
- II.i You look as if you would make the CROW a pudding
- II.i KITES of Cressid's kind
- II.i Base is the SLAVE that pays (is commanded)
- II.i THINGS must be as they may
- II.i THINGS must be as they may
- II.i To be born of WOMAN
- II.ii Wink at small FAULTS
- II.ii A MAN may cause his own dog to bite him
- II.iii As innocent (clear) as a newborn BABE (child, chrisom-child)
- II.iii BRAG is a good dog but Holdfast is a better
- II.iii PROMISES, like piecrust, are made to be broken
- II.iii As cold as a STONE (whetstone)
- II.iv Cowardly DOGS bark much
- II.Prol. A little BODY does often harbor a great soul
- III.ii He will carry (bear) no COALS
- III.ii To pocket up an INJURY (wrong)
- III.ii The LONG (short) and the short (long) of it
- III.ii Few WORDS are best
- III.iii Sell not the BEAR's skin before you have caught him
- III.iii PITCH and pay
- III.iii There is no WAY but one
- III.vi One ENGLISHMAN can beat three Frenchmen
- III.vi A FIG for him (it)
- III.vi FORTUNE (Justice) is blind
- III.vi FORTUNE (Justice) is blind
- III.vi FORTUNE is fickle
- III.vi FORTUNE's wheel is ever turning
- III.vi To pick a HOLE in a man's coat
- III.vi As good as one shall see in a SUMMER's day
- III.vi His THREAD is spun
- III.vii Go to BED with the lamb and rise with the lark
- III.vii Give the DEVIL his due
- III.vii The DOG returns to his vomit
- III.vii The DOG to his vomit and the swine (sow) to his (her) mire
- III.vii Give everyone his DUE
- III.vii There is FALSEHOOD (flattery) in fellowship
- III.vii A FOOL's bolt is soon shot
- III.vii A good HORSE cannot be of a bad color
- III.vii ILL WILL (Evil will) never speaks (said) well
- III.vii It is a bold (wily) MOUSE that breeds (nestles) in the cat's ear
- III.vii Do not triumph before the VICTORY
- III.Prol. As swift as THOUGHT
- IV.i He that has an ill NEIGHBOR has oftentimes an ill morning
- IV.i There is NOTHING so bad in which there is not something of good
- IV.iii The more DANGER the more honor
- IV.iii He is least worthy of HONOR that seeks it
- IV.iv To pare one's (the devil's) NAILS
- IV.iv Empty VESSELS sound most
- IV.vii To be in one's CUPS
- IV.vii As good a MAN as ever trod on shoe (neat's) leather (as ever went on legs)
- IV.vii As good a MAN as ever trod on shoe (neat's) leather (as ever went on legs)
- IV.vii MONMOUTH CAPS
- IV.vii All the WATER in the sea cannot wash out this stain
- IV.viii An honest MAN is as good as his word
- IV.viii As good as one shall see in a SUMMER's day
- IV.viii To lie in one's THROAT
- IV.Prol. The SUN shines upon all alike
- V.i NOTHING more certain than death and nothing more uncertain than the time of its coming
- V.i He swells like a TURKEY COCK
- V.i The WHY and the wherefore
- V.ii The BASILISK's eye is fatal
- V.ii LOVE is blind
- V.ii What is MINE is yours and what is yours is mine (your own)
- V.ii By PEACE plenty
- V.ii Neither RHYME nor reason
- V.Prol. As swift as THOUGHT
- VI.i That which a MAN causes to be done he does himself
As You Like It
100 related proverbs.
- I.i To MAKE or mar
- I.ii The BEST is behind
- I.ii No MAN ever lost his credit (honor) but he that had it not
- I.ii Shunning the SMOKE he fell into the fire
- I.ii To lay it on with a TROWEL
- I.ii Do not triumph before the VICTORY
- I.ii A WHETSTONE cannot itself cut but yet it makes tools cut
- I.ii WIT, whither wilt thou?
- I.iii To stick like BURS
- I.iii GRIEF is lessened when imparted to others
- I.iii As innocent as TRUTH (silence, grace)
- I.iii He has not a WORD to cast at a dog
- II.i ADVERSITY makes men wise
- II.i CUSTOM makes all things easy
- II.i As the stricken DEER withdraws himself to die
- II.i POVERTY parts fellowship (good company, friends)
- II.i Full as a TOAD of poison
- II.ii BEAUTY and chastity (honesty) seldom meet
- II.iii I will not die in your DEBT (your debtor)
- II.iv All Men are mortal
- II.iv There is MORE in it than you are ware of
- II.iv A WOMAN is the weaker vessel
- II.v All good SINGERS have colds
- II.vi To keep (hold) one at ARM's end
- II.vii BENEFITS are soon forgotten
- II.vii As dry as a BISCUIT
- II.vii He finds FAULT with others and does worse himself (He that will blame another must be blameless himself)
- II.vii GOD sends fortune to fools
- II.vii Who is nettled at a JEST seems to be touched in earnest
- II.vii Old MEN are twice children (bairns)
- II.vii May we not do with our OWN what we list?
- II.vii As slow as a SNAIL
- II.vii Thereby hangs a TALE
- II.vii This WORLD is a stage and every man plays his part
- III.ii CAT (Kit) after kind
- III.ii To rhyme to DEATH, as they do rats in Ireland
- III.ii FOOLS will be meddling
- III.ii As softly as FOOT can fall
- III.ii FRIENDS (Men) may meet but mountains never (never greet)
- III.ii What the HEART thinks the tongue speaks
- III.ii A HORSE of another (that) color
- III.ii LIFE is a pilgrimage
- III.ii LIFE is a span
- III.ii He is (is not) a MAN of God's making
- III.ii MEDLARS¹ are never good till they be rotten
- III.ii Sweet is the NUT but bitter (hard) is the shell
- III.ii To ask what it is O'CLOCK
- III.ii They that are whole need not a PHYSICIAN, but they that are sick
- III.ii Neither RHYME nor reason
- III.ii No ROSE without a thorn (prickle)
- III.ii A WONDER lasts but nine days
- III.iii Be as be may is no BANNING (Be as be may)
- III.iii BEAUTY and chastity (honesty) seldom meet
- III.iii He knows no END of his good (goods)
- III.iii You are IPSE (he, the man)
- III.iii Put not thy MEAT in an unclean dish
- III.iii Sweet OLIVER
- III.iii In TIME the ox (bull) will bear the yoke
- III.iv A red BEARD and a black head, catch him with a good trick and take him dead
- III.iv To give one a JUDAS KISS
- III.iv Lovers' vows are not to be trusted
- III.v FORBEARANCE (Omittance, Sufferance) is no quittance (acquittance)
- III.v KNOW thyself
- III.v Love not at the first LOOK (Love at first sight)
- III.v As the MARKET goes wives must sell
- IV.i It is a foul BIRD that defiles his own nest
- IV.i Some complain to prevent COMPLAINT
- IV.i For ever and a DAY
- IV.i When the HUSBAND is sad (merry) the wife will be merry (sad)
- IV.i To laugh like a HYENA
- IV.i MAIDENS should be meek till they be married
- IV.i Like a SNAIL, he keeps his house on his back (head)
- IV.i The more common a good THING is the better
- IV.i As swift as THOUGHT
- IV.i TIME tries all things
- IV.i WIT, whither wilt thou?
- IV.i A WOMAN's answer is never to seek
- IV.ii He wears the HORNS
- IV.iii Bear (Take, Suffer) this, bear (take, suffer) ALL
- IV.iii To be able to do HARM and not to do it is noble
- IV.iii MESSENGERS should neither be headed nor hanged
- IV.iii As rare as the PHOENIX
- V.i HAVE is have
- V.i You are IPSE (he, the man)
- V.i The wise MAN knows himself to be a fool, the fool thinks he is wise
- V.ii I CAME, saw, and overcame
- V.ii The DOG (wolf) barks in vain at the moon
- V.ii To be MEAT and drink to one
- V.iii BEAUTY does fade like a flower
- V.iii All good SINGERS have colds
- V.iii Take TIME when time comes (while time serves)
- V.iv Ye are my BIRD for as black as ye are
- V.iv A FOOL's bolt is soon shot
- V.iv Every MAN likes his own thing best
- V.iv A MAN (thing) in print
- V.iv MARRIAGES are made in heaven
- V.iv SEEING is believing
- V.iv To make one a STALKING-HORSE
- V.iv To eat one's WORDS
- Epil.I Good WINE needs no bush (ivy bush, sign)
Julius Caesar
45 related proverbs.
- I.i Without AWL (all) the cobbler's nobody
- I.i As good a MAN as ever trod on shoe (neat's) leather (as ever went on legs)
- I.ii A COWARD changes color
- I.ii The EYE sees not itself but by reflection
- I.ii EYES as red as a ferret's
- I.ii Fat FOLKS are faithful (good-natured)
- I.ii It is GREEK to me
- I.ii An envious MAN grows lean
- 1.ii He has gotten the START of him
- I.ii TAG, rag, and bobtail (Tag and rag)
- I.iii CHILDREN (Drunkards) and fools cannot lie (Children and fools speak truth)
- I.iii The croaking RAVEN bodes misfortune (death)
- II.i Fair FACE foul heart
- II.i To laugh (smile) in one's FACE and cut one's throat
- II.i My better HALF
- II.i A KING (prince) loves the treason but hates the traitor
- II.i To turn one's back on the LADDER (cut down the stairs) by which one rose
- II.i In young MEN to err is less shame
- II.ii ALL that is alike is not the same
- II.ii A COWARD dies many deaths, a brave man but one
- II.ii It is impossible to avoid (undo) FATE (destiny)
- III.i One FIRE (heat) drives out another
- III.i To be FLESH and blood as others are
- III.i LAST but not least
- III.i NOTHING more certain than death and nothing more uncertain than the time of its coming
- III.i As flattering (fawning) as a SPANIEL
- III.i Fair WORDS (promises) make fools fain
- III.ii Seldom comes the BETTER
- III.ii Lend me your EARS awhile
- III.ii As red (bright) as FIRE
- III.ii Ten good TURNS lie dead and one ill deed report abroad does spread
- IV.i The ASS though laden with gold still eats thistles
- IV.i He may go shake his EARS
- IV.i To laugh (smile) in one's FACE and cut one's throat
- IV.ii Full of COURTESY full of craft
- IV.ii THINGS done cannot be undone
- IV.iii To be AFLOAT
- IV.iii The DOG (wolf) barks in vain at the moon
- IV.iii In the coldest FLINT there is hot fire
- IV.iii Drink and be FRIENDS
- IV.iii All MEN must die
- IV.iii To cast (hit) in the TEETH
- V.i Every DAY the night comes
- V.i It is good to fear the WORST
- V.iii As swift as THOUGHT
The Passionate Pilgrim
14 related proverbs.
- 7.1 As loving (tame, patient) as a DOVE (pigeon)
- 7.3 As brittle as GLASS
- 7.3 As clear (bright) as GLASS
- 7.4 As pliable as WAX
- 9.1 As white as MILK
- 12.1 YOUTH and age will never agree
- 13.10 A WOMAN and a glass are ever in danger
- 18.1 It is hard (ill) HALTING before a cripple
- 18.29 He that fights with silver ARMS is sure to overcome
- 18.41 A WOMAN says nay (no) and means aye
- 20.7 To sit (sing) like a NIGHTINGALE, with a thorn against one's breast
- 20.35 The RICH have many friends
- 20.51 A FRIEND in need is a friend in deed (indeed)
- 20.55 GRIEF is lessened when imparted to others
Hamlet
138 related proverbs.
- I.i As loving (tame, patient) as a DOVE (pigeon)
- I.i He is a MOTE in their eyes
- I.i To heap OSSA upon Pelion
- I.i To be PLANET-STRUCK
- I.i As mad as the troubled SEA
- I.ii APPETITE comes with eating
- I.ii Past CURE past care
- I.ii To lament the DEAD avails not and to the living it is hurtful
- I.ii DEATH is common to all
- I.ii To cry (look up) with one EYE and laugh (down) with the other
- I.ii A FRIEND is one's second self
- I.ii The nearer in KIN the less in kindness
- I.ii MURDER will out
- I.ii From TOP (head) to toe (heel)
- I.ii From TOP (head) to toe (heel)
- I.ii Yours to command in the WAY of honesty
- I.ii WEEDS come forth on the fattest soil if it is untilled
- I.ii A WOMAN's mind (A woman) is always mutable
- I.iii APPAREL makes (Clothes make) the man
- I.iii To be one's own CARVER
- I.iii COMELY not gaudy
- I.iii ENVY (Calumny) shoots at the fairest mark (flowers, virtue)
- I.iii One ought to make the EXPENSE according to the income (means)
- I.iii Who lends to a FRIEND loses double
- I.iii Have but few FRIENDS though much acquaintance
- I.iii Keep well thy FRIENDS when thou hast gotten them
- I.iii Out of GUNSHOT
- I.iii Give not your right HAND to every man
- I.iii A MAN should hear all parts ere he judge any
- I.iii Hear MUCH but speak little
- I.iii After NIGHT comes the day
- I.iii SAYING is one thing and doing another
- I.iii A SPRINGE¹ to catch a woodcock²
- I.iii First THINK and then speak
- I.iii TRY (Try your friend) before you trust
- I.iii He tells me my WAY and does not know it himself
- I.iv One ill CONDITION mars all the good
- I.iv A bad CUSTOM is like a good cake (A bad custom is), better broken than kept
- I.iv Not worth a PIN
- I.iv One ill WEED (turd) mars a whole pot of pottage (porridge)
- I.iv The WHY and the wherefore
- I.v To laugh (smile) in one's FACE and cut one's throat
- I.v Lay thy FINGERS on thy lips
- I.v To be out of JOINT
- I.v Every MAN as his business lies
- I.v As swift as THOUGHT
- I.v There is WITCHCRAFT in fair words
- I.v WOMEN are tempted by gifts
- I.vii They that THINK none ill are soonest beguiled (They that do no harm suspect none)
- II.i As pale (white) as a CLOUT
- II.i Tell a LIE and find the truth
- II.i NOTHING violent can be permanent
- II.ii Fresh AIR is ill for the diseased or wounded man
- II.ii BREVITY is the soul of wit
- II.ii The DEVIL can transform himself into an angel of light
- II.ii DOVES (Pigeons) have no gall
- II.ii He never DREAMED of it
- II.ii To swallow (gape for) a GUDGEON
- II.ii He knows not a HAWK from a handsaw
- II.ii JOHN-A-DREAMS (John-a-nods)
- II.ii A MAN (One) among a thousand
- II.ii A MAN is weal or woe as he thinks himself so
- II.ii Old MEN are twice children (bairns)
- II.ii MURDER will out
- II.ii He touches him to the QUICK
- II.ii To harp upon one (the same) STRING
- II.ii TRUTH (Plain dealing) has no need of rhetoric (figures)
- III.i AGE should be housed
- III.i BEAUTY and chastity (honesty) seldom meet
- III.i A guilty CONSCIENCE is a self-accuser (feels continual fear)
- III.i Better the HARM I know than that I know not
- III.i As chaste as ICE (snow)
- III.i Like KING (prince) like people
- III.i MISCHIEFS, like waves, never come alone
- III.i To get (have) one's QUIETUS
- III.i There is the RUB
- III.ii The BETTER the worse
- III.ii As the stricken DEER withdraws himself to die
- III.ii While the GRASS grows the horse (steed) starves
- III.ii Touch (Rub) a galled HORSE on the back and he will wince (kick)
- III.ii As a MAN must take a wife, for better or for worse
- III.ii A blind MAN may sometimes catch (hit, shoot) a hare (crow, the mark)
- III.ii He is (is not) a MAN of God's making
- III.ii A MAN cannot live on air like a chameleon
- III.ii With PROSPERITY be thou not lifted up and with adversity be not cast down
- III.ii Too much PROTESTING makes the truth suspected
- III.ii The croaking RAVEN bodes misfortune (death)
- III.ii As white as the driven SNOW
- III.ii In TIME of prosperity friends will be plenty, in time of adversity not one among twenty
- III.ii To turn TURK
- III.ii A WOMAN either loves or hates to extremes
- III.ii While the WORD is in your mouth it is your own, when it is once spoken it is another's
- III.iii The more the BIRD caught in lime strives the faster he sticks
- III.iii As black (dark) as HELL
- III.iii As fresh as MAY
- III.iv CUSTOM (Use) is another (a second) nature
- III.iv CUSTOM makes sin no sin
- III.iv CUSTOM makes sin no sin
- III.iv A good CUSTOM must root out that which an ill has brought in
- III.iv The FOWLER is caught (taken) in his own net (snare)
- III.iv He fries (stews) in his own GREASE
- III.iv I smell a RAT
- III.iv The TONGUE is not steel yet it cuts
- III.iv Search not too curiously lest you find TROUBLE
- III.iv To beat one at his own WEAPON
- III.iv The WORST is behind
- IV.i I smell a RAT
- IV.ii The COUNSEL thou wouldst have another keep first keep thyself
- IV.ii It is NUTS to him
- IV.iii DEATH is the grand leveler
- IV.iii A desperate DISEASE must have a desperate cure
- IV.iv He that casts all DOUBTS shall never be resolved
- IV.iv He lives unsafely that looks too near on THINGS
- IV.v In HUGGERMUGGER
- IV.v As white as the driven SNOW
- IV.v As white as the driven SNOW
- IV.vi One good TURN asks (requires, deserves) another
- IV.vii CUSTOM makes sin no sin
- IV.vii MISFORTUNE (Evil) never (seldom) comes alone
- IV.vii He that will not when he may, when he would he shall have NAY (shall not when he will)
- IV.vii TIME wears away love (fancies)
- V.i Old AGE comes stealing on
- V.i The dull ASS's trot lasts not long
- V.i What are you good for? to stop BOTTLES?
- V.i To beat (cudgel) one's BRAINS
- V.i CUSTOM makes all things easy
- V.i Every DOG has his day
- V.i WILL he nill he
- V.ii DISPRAISE by evil men is praise
- V.ii The FOWLER is caught (taken) in his own net (snare)
- V.ii KNOW thyself
- V.ii Like a LAPWING that runs away with the shell on its head
- V.ii A MAN's mind often gives him warning of evil to come
- V.ii He dwells far from NEIGHBORS (has ill neighbors) that is fain to praise himself
- V.ii PEARLS are restorative
- V.v COME (Hap) what come (hap) may
- V.v As fresh as FLOWERS in May
- V.v MISFORTUNE (Evil) never (seldom) comes alone
Twelfth Night
108 related proverbs.
- I.i The SEA refuses no river (is never full)
- I.ii The FACE is the index of the heart (mind)
- I.ii Little FOLKS are fond of talking about what great folks do
- I.iii Like BLOOD, like good, and like age make the happiest marriage
- I.iii CARE will kill a cat
- I.iii Compare only with thy COMPEERS
- I.iii Some complain to prevent COMPLAINT
- I.iii To have it at his FINGERS' ends
- I.iii You have not a FOOL in hand
- I.iii FOOLS have wit enough to come in out of the rain
- I.iii He may go hang himself in his own GARTERS
- I.iii There is LIFE in it
- I.iii He is a tall MAN of his hands
- I.iii Like a PARISH TOP
- I.iii THOUGHT is free
- I.iv Never less ALONE than when alone (He is never alone who is accompanied with noble thoughts)
- I.v BEAUTY does fade like a flower
- I.v To fear no COLORS¹
- I.v He that is wise in his own CONCEIT is a fool
- I.v Give the DEVIL his due
- I.v Here is the DOOR and there is the way
- I.v Better be half HANGED than ill wed
- I.v A HEART as hard as a stone (flint, marble)
- I.v He is well since he is in HEAVEN
- I.v The HOOD (habit, cowl) makes not the monk
- I.v LOVE comes by looking (in at the eyes)
- I.v The LOVER is not where he lives but where he loves
- I.v The wise MAN knows himself to be a fool, the fool thinks he is wise
- I.v MARRIAGE is destiny
- I.v His MOTHER's milk is not out of his nose
- I.v What MUST (shall, will) be must (shall, will) be
- I.v Good RIDING at two anchors men have told, for if the one fail the other may hold
- I.v Good RIDING at two anchors men have told, for if the one fail the other may hold
- I.v The VINE brings forth three grapes: the first of pleasure, the second of drunkenness, the third of sorrow
- I.v He has no more WIT than a stone
- II.i COME (Hap) what come (hap) may
- II.ii You are IPSE (he, the man)
- II.ii TIME reveals (discloses) all things
- II.iii Early to BED and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise
- II.iii Without CERES and Bacchus Venus grows cold
- II.iii Then call me CUT
- II.iii To be old DOG at it
- II.iii He may go shake his EARS
- II.iii A HORSE of another (that) color
- II.iii TAKE it as you will (list, please)
- II.iv He that is EVERYWHERE is nowhere
- II.iv GRIEF pent up will break the heart
- II.iv There is no PLEASURE without pain
- II.iv The SEA refuses no river (is never full)
- II.v To BEAT (pinch) one black and blue
- II.v The DOG who hunts foulest hits at most faults
- II.v As rank as a FOX
- II.v To wear yellow STOCKINGS and cross garters
- II.v To catch one like a TROUT with tickling
- II.v He swells like a TURKEY COCK
- III.i COMPLIMENTING is lying
- III.i Here is the DOOR and there is the way
- III.i The LAMB is more in dread of the wolf than of the lion
- III.i LOVE cannot be hid
- III.i No MAN can play the fool so well as the wise man
- III.i A wise MAN may sometimes (He is not wise who cannot) play the fool
- III.i MURDER will out
- III.i He cares for NOTHING
- III.i Put two PENNIES (halfpennies) in a purse and they will draw together
- III.i PITY is akin to love
- III.i POOR and proud, fie, fie
- III.i The SUN shines upon all alike
- III.ii Make not thy FRIEND too cheap to thee nor thyself too dear to him
- III.ii New out of the MINT
- III.ii POLICY goes beyond strength
- III.iii One good TURN asks (requires, deserves) another
- III.iv The COCKATRICE slays by sight only
- III.iv He is handsome that handsome DOES
- III.iv He is out of his ELEMENT
- III.iv As fearful as a HARE
- III.iv HOB nob (Hab nab, Hab or nab)
- III.iv INGRATITUDE comprehends (is the worst of) all faults (vices)
- III.iv An honest MAN is as good as his word
- III.iv It is midsummer MOON with you
- III.iv To lie in one's THROAT
- III.iv As sharp (keen) as VINEGAR
- IV.i I would not be in your COAT (skin) for anything
- IV.i A London COCKNEY
- IV.i The LOVER is not where he lives but where he loves
- IV.i A MERRY GREEK
- IV.i As plain as the NOSE on a man's face
- IV.i To go another WAY to work
- IV.ii You will not believe he is bald (dead) till you see his BRAIN
- IV.ii To have a CLOAK for all waters (I am for any weather)
- IV.ii As black as EBONY
- IV.ii As black (dark) as HELL
- IV.ii To pare one's (the devil's) NAILS
- IV.ii In a TRICE
- IV.iii Happy is the BRIDE the sun shines on and the corpse the rain rains on
- IV.iii SEEING is believing
- IV.iii As true as TOUCH
- V.i ALL is not gospel that comes out of his mouth
- V.i He turns to his old BIAS again
- V.i An ENEMY (Adversity) makes a man to know himself whereas a friend (prosperity) flattens a man and deceives him
- V.i To be FLESH and blood as others are
- V.i GOD send me a friend that may tell me my faults; if not, an enemy, and to be sure he will
- V.i A HEART as hard as a stone (flint, marble)
- V.i You are IPSE (he, the man)
- V.i No MAN ought to be judge in his own cause
- V.i Two NEGATIVES make an affirmative
- V.i To hold one at STAFF's (stave's) end
- V.i Give a THING and take again and you shall ride in hell's wain
- V.i The third TIME pays for all
The Phoenix and the Turtle
1 related proverb.
Troilus and Cressida
78 related proverbs.
- I.i BECAUSE is woman's reason
- I.i He has his LABOR for his pains
- I.i A LIGHTENING (lightning) before death
- I.i I will neither MEDDLE nor make
- I.i I will neither MEDDLE nor make
- I.i The MENDS¹ is in his own hands
- I.ii You are such ANOTHER
- I.ii A PER SE
- I.ii As many EYES as Argus
- I.ii It goes against the HAIR
- I.ii HEAVEN (God) is above all
- I.ii I will LAY it on, take it off who will
- I.ii A MAN is a man
- I.ii Either MEND or end
- I.ii A MERRY GREEK
- I.iii Great COURAGE is in greatest dangers tried
- I.iii Two CURS shall tame (bite) each other
- I.iii Lay thy FINGERS on thy lips
- I.iii HIT or miss
- I.iii MIGHT overcomes right
- I.iii A knotty PIECE of timber must have sharp wedges
- I.iii In a calm SEA every man may be a pilot
- I.iii STEP after step the ladder is ascended
- I.iii The SUN shines upon all alike
- II.i To be BOUGHT and sold
- II.i Do not set your WIT against a fool's (a child)
- II.i He has more WIT in his head than you in both your shoulders
- II.i He has more WIT in his head than you in both your shoulders
- II.ii As deaf as an ADDER
- II.ii Give everyone his DUE
- II.ii No HONEY without gall
- II.ii He weeps MILLSTONES
- II.ii The WAY to be safe is never to be secure¹ (He that is secure is not safe)
- II.ii The WORTH of a thing is as it is esteemed (valued)
- II.iii Neither praise nor dispraise thyself, thy ACTIONS serve the turn
- II.iii Add FUEL to the fire
- II.iii The RAVEN chides blackness
- II.iii To sound one's own TRUMPET
- III.i The FALLING-OUT of lovers is a renewing of love
- III.i To hit (fit) it to a HAIR
- III.i To be TWO (twain)
- III.ii To stick like BURS
- III.ii Constant DROPPING will wear the stone
- III.ii It is impossible to LOVE and be wise
- III.ii Lovers' vows are not to be trusted
- III.ii Praise at PARTING
- III.ii As true (trusty, sure) as STEEL
- III.ii It is as true as TRUTH itself
- III.ii As true as a TURTLE to her mate
- III.ii As good (false, unstable) as ever WATER wet
- III.ii Not WORDS but deeds
- III.ii Where many WORDS are, the truth goes by
- III.ii It is good to fear the WORST
- III.iii The EYE sees not itself but by reflection
- III.iii In the coldest FLINT there is hot fire
- III.iii As good be out of the WORLD (Better be dead) as out of fashion
- IV.i He that BLAMES would buy
- IV.i He PRAISES who wishes to sell
- IV.ii As swift as THOUGHT
- IV.iv A MERRY GREEK
- IV.iv Small (Little) RAIN lays (allays) great winds
- IV.v The END crowns (tries) all
- IV.v You are IPSE (he, the man)
- IV.v TIME tries all things
- IV.v To have a sweet (wanton) TOOTH
- IV.v Few WORDS and many deeds
- V.ii An ALMOND for parrot
- V.ii The croaking RAVEN bodes misfortune (death)
- V.ii To be born of WOMAN
- V.iii Either live or die with HONOR
- V.iii The LION spares the suppliant
- V.iii WORDS are but wind
- V.iv A sleeveless (bootless) ERRAND
- V.v As slow as a SNAIL
- V.vii One WOLF (bear) will not eat (bite, prey upon) another
- V.x A Winchester GOOSE
- V.x The STING is in the tail
- Prol. The CHANCE of war is uncertain
Othello
91 related proverbs.
- I.i The BEAST with two backs
- I.i He never DREAMED of it
- I.i Every MAN cannot be a master (lord)
- I.i To line one's PURSE (coat, hand)
- I.i Who has a fair WIFE needs more than two eyes
- I.iii Such BEGINNING such end
- I.iii Make the BEST of a bad bargain (market)
- I.iii CUSTOM makes all things easy
- I.iii He that once DECEIVES is ever suspected
- I.iii He is handsome that handsome DOES
- I.iii FEAR (Suspicion) is one part of prudence
- I.iii A FIG for him (it)
- I.iii The greater GRIEF (sorrow) drives out the less
- I.iii Never GRIEVE for that you cannot help
- I.iii A good HEART conquers ill fortune (overcomes all)
- I.iii To have the LAW in one's own hand
- I.iii Put MONEY in thy purse
- I.iii To lead one by the NOSE
- I.iii SUSPICION (Accusation) is no proof
- I.iii They that THINK none ill are soonest beguiled (They that do no harm suspect none)
- II.i At the BOARD be a maid but a clown in bed
- II.i FAIR and foolish, black and proud, long and lazy, little and loud
- II.i Lay thy FINGERS on thy lips
- II.i A moist HAND argues an amorous nature (fruitfulness)
- II.i Set the HARE's head (foot) against the goose giblets
- II.i To have one on the HIP
- II.i After a STORM comes a calm (fair weather)
- II.i WOMEN are in church saints, abroad angels, at home devils
- II.iii A broken BONE (leg) is the stronger when it is well set
- II.iii To be one's own CARVER
- II.iii He that has lost his CREDIT is dead to the world
- II.iii The DEVIL can transform himself into an angel of light
- II.iii Beat the DOG before the lion
- II.iii As many HEADS as Hydra
- II.iii HEAVEN (God) is above all
- II.iii LIFE is a span
- II.iii A MAN is weal or woe as he thinks himself so
- II.iii No MAN is wise at all times
- II.iii MEN are but men
- II.iii To mince the MATTER
- II.iii To be PLANET-STRUCK
- II.iii The TRUTH, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth
- II.iii To turn TURK
- II.iii The VINE brings forth three grapes: the first of pleasure, the second of drunkenness, the third of sorrow
- III.i To put up one's PIPES
- III.i Thereby hangs a TALE
- III.i Take TIME (occasion) by the forelock, for she is bald behind
- III.iii As light as AIR (wind)
- III.iii CUCKOLDS come by destiny
- III.iii Long absent soon FORGOTTEN
- III.iii As lecherous as a GOAT
- III.iii To drink the JUICE of mandrake (mandragora)
- III.iii LIVE charily if not chastely
- III.iii He that is not sensible of his LOSS has lost nothing
- III.iii MARRIAGE is destiny
- III.iii A good NAME is better than riches (gold)
- III.iii As close as OAK
- III.iii Be what thou would SEEM to be
- III.iii THOUGHT is free
- III.iii The greatest WEALTH is contentment with a little
- III.iii To go down the WIND
- III.iv A moist HAND argues an amorous nature (fruitfulness)
- III.iv We are but MEN, not gods
- III.iv WELL, WELL is a word of malice
- IV.i CONFESS and be hanged
- IV.i CROCODILE TEARS
- IV.i He that DECEIVES (beguiles) another is oft deceived (beguiled) himself
- IV.i The DEVIL and his dam
- IV.i He LAUGHS that wins
- IV.i The croaking RAVEN bodes misfortune (death)
- IV.ii As free as the AIR (wind)
- IV.ii As false as HELL
- IV.ii Great PROMISE small performance
- IV.iii Constant DROPPING will wear the stone
- IV.iii It is neither HERE nor there
- IV.iii To wear the WILLOW
- V.i Fresh AIR is ill for the diseased or wounded man
- V.i To MAKE or mar
- V.i To make one tell another TALE
- V.ii As pale (white) as a CLOUT
- V.ii As silent as DEATH
- V.ii The DEVIL is known by his claws (cloven feet, horns)
- V.ii Those that GOD loves do not live long (The good die young)
- V.ii As many as there are HAIRS on the head
- V.ii I KNOW (wot) what I know (wot)
- V.ii In the NICK (nick of time)
- V.ii As white as the driven SNOW
- V.ii Like a SWAN, he sings before his death
- V.ii His THREAD is spun
- V.ii To lie in one's THROAT
- V.ii As good (false, unstable) as ever WATER wet
Measure for Measure
74 related proverbs.
- I.i A CANDLE (torch) lights others and consumes itself
- I.ii What is FORBIDDEN (baneful) is desired
- I.ii There went but a PAIR of shears between them
- I.ii Every SURFEIT foreruns a fast
- I.iii As thick as HAIL
- I.iii He is his right HAND
- I.iv The LAPWING cries most when farthest from her nest
- II.i To be out at ELBOWS
- II.i LIFE is a pilgrimage
- II.i PARDON makes offenders
- II.i The big PART of her body is her bum
- II.i Not worth a PIN
- II.i SAY I told you so
- II.i The great THIEVES hang the little ones
- II.ii AUTHORITY (Honor, Office) shows what a man is
- II.ii He is a CIPHER among numbers
- II.ii He that helps the EVIL hurts the good
- II.ii To be able to do HARM and not to do it is noble
- II.ii He that speaks ILL of another let him first think of himself
- II.ii He is now become a new MAN
- II.ii He shall find MERCY that merciful is
- II.ii It is in their MERCY that kings come closest to gods
- II.ii Hate not the PERSON but the vice
- II.ii Saving your REVERENCE
- II.ii The great THIEVES hang the little ones
- II.ii We were TROJANS
- II.ii The WORTH of a thing is as it is esteemed (valued)
- II.iv FLESH is frail
- II.iv All MEN must die
- II.iv I know NOTHING except that I know not
- II.iv Compelled SINS are no sins
- II.iv A WOMAN and a glass are ever in danger
- III.i A COWARD dies many deaths, a brave man but one
- III.i DEATH is the grand leveler
- III.i The END justifies the means
- III.i He is well since he is in HEAVEN
- III.i HOPE is the last thing that man has to flee unto
- III.i INNOCENCE is bold
- III.i He that follows NATURE is never out of his way
- III.i To snap (bite) off one's NOSE
- III.i The STREAM (current, tide) stopped swells the higher
- III.ii ENVY (Calumny) shoots at the fairest mark (flowers, virtue)
- III.ii I KNOW (wot) what I know (wot)
- III.ii I will go twenty MILES on your errand first
- III.ii He loves laced MUTTON
- III.ii SAY I told you so
- III.ii Be what thou would SEEM to be
- III.ii As lustful as SPARROWS
- III.ii Good that the TEETH guard the tongue
- III.v As true (honest) as the SKIN between your brows
- IV.i To bear one in HAND
- IV.ii Everything is easy after it has been DONE
- IV.ii A fair FACE must have good conditions
- IV.ii One good TURN asks (requires, deserves) another
- IV.iii To stick like BURS
- IV.vi Bitter PILLS may have wholesome effects
- V.i BLOOD will have blood
- V.i To lament the DEAD avails not and revenge vents hatred
- V.i The HOOD (habit, cowl) makes not the monk
- V.i You lose your LABOR
- V.i LIKE will to like
- V.i She is neither MAID, wife, nor widow
- V.i Every MAN has (No man is without) his faults
- V.i The healthful MAN can give good counsel to the sick
- V.i No MAN ought to be judge in his own cause
- V.i MEASURE for measure
- V.i What is MINE is yours and what is yours is mine (your own)
- V.i I will say NOTHING (nought) but mum
- V.i It is no more STRANGE than true
- V.i Harp no more on that STRING
- V.i THOUGHT is free
- V.i TRUTH is truth
- V.i Give not the WOLF (fox) the wether (sheep) to keep (Make not the wolf your shepherd)
- [Title] MEASURE for measure
All’s Well That Ends Well
65 related proverbs.
- I.i BLOOD is inherited but virtue is achieved
- I.i Have but few FRIENDS though much acquaintance
- I.i Keep well thy FRIENDS when thou hast gotten them
- I.i LIKE will to like
- I.i To keep under LOCK and key
- I.i As the MARKET goes wives must sell
- I.i If your MOTHER had not lost her virginity you would not have been born
- I.i One may point (look) at a STAR but not pull (reach) at it
- I.ii There is OIL (no oil) left in the lamp
- I.iii CHILDREN are poor men's (parents') riches
- I.iii He must needs go that the DEVIL drives
- I.iii Young FLESH and old fish are best
- I.iii HEARTS may agree though heads differ
- I.iii To water (dig, ear¹) another's LAND
- I.iii MARRIAGE is destiny
- I.iii No ROSE without a thorn (prickle)
- I.iii SERVICE is no inheritance (heritage)
- I.iii You have spun a fine (fair) THREAD
- I.iii To pour WATER into a sieve
- II.i To keep a foul COIL¹
- II.i To set (fall) together by the EARS
- II.i The FOX when he cannot reach the grapes says that they are not ripe (are sour)
- II.ii Like a BARBER's chair, fit for every buttock
- II.ii Better FED than taught
- II.ii It is good GEAR that lasts aye
- II.ii As fit as a PUDDING for a friar's mouth
- II.iii There is no DIFFERENCE of bloods in a basin
- II.iii The LONG (short) and the short (long) of it
- II.iii As good (Better) LOST as (than) found
- II.iii MAN honors the place, not the place the man
- II.iii MARRYING is marring
- II.iii To have a sweet (wanton) TOOTH
- II.iv If one dwell by (next door to) a CRIPPLE he will learn to halt
- II.iv He is well since he is in HEAVEN
- II.v To take a BUNTING for a lark
- II.v Set GOOD against evil (Do good for evil)
- II.v The TAILOR makes the man
- II.v A TRAVELER may lie with authority
- II.v UNKISSED unkind
- III.ii He that fights and runs away may live to fight another DAY
- III.ii To sell (buy) it for a SONG
- III.ii WOO, wed, and bed (wear) her
- III.v You lose your LABOR
- III.vi To love it no more than (as well as) a FISH loves water
- III.vi JACK DRUM's entertainment
- III.vi To have one in the WIND
- IV.i Every MAN (one) after his fashion
- IV.i I will SMOKE you
- IV.ii VIRTUE is a jewel of great price
- IV.iii A BIRD (egg) of the same nest
- IV.iii DISPRAISE by evil men is praise
- IV.iii TRUTH is truth
- IV.iv ALL is well that ends well
- IV.iv The END crowns (tries) all
- IV.iv No ROSE without a thorn (prickle)
- V.i ALL is well that ends well
- V.ii Here I FOUND you and here (As I found you) I leave you
- V.iii After black CLOUDS clear weather
- V.iii FORGIVE and forget
- V.iii KNOW thyself
- V.iii To add OIL to (pour oil on) the fire
- V.iii To weep (It may serve) with an ONION
- V.iii Take TIME (occasion) by the forelock, for she is bald behind
- V.iii The WORTH of a thing is best known by the want
- [Title] ALL is well that ends well
Timon of Athens
43 related proverbs.
- I.i In the coldest FLINT there is hot fire
- I.i Do not make the FOOT the head
- I.i As white as IVORY
- I.i PAINTERS (Travelers) and poets have leave to lie
- I.i PLAIN DEALING is a jewel
- I.i The STREAM (current, tide) stopped swells the higher
- I.i SWALLOWS, like false friends, fly away upon the approach of winter
- I.i VIRTUE is its own reward
- I.i The WORTH of a thing is as it is esteemed (valued)
- I.ii ANGER is short madness
- I.ii To look BABIES in another's eyes
- I.ii We are not BORN for ourselves
- I.ii CONFESS and be hanged
- I.ii Full of COURTESY full of craft
- I.ii FAIR is not fair but that which pleases
- I.ii To drink HEALTH is to drink sickness
- I.ii To leave (lie) in the MIRE
- I.ii The rising, not the setting, SUN is worshiped by most men
- I.ii Trust not a WOMAN when she weeps
- II.i To break one's BACK
- II.i If every BIRD had (should take) his own feathers he should be as rich as a new-shorn sheep (you would be naked)
- II.ii To die like a DOG
- II.ii Trencher FRIENDSHIP
- II.ii It is not given to every MAN to go to Corinth
- III.i Every MAN has (No man is without) his faults
- III.ii One good TURN asks (requires, deserves) another
- III.iii He dares not show his HEAD (himself) for debt
- III.iv He may cast his CAP after him for ever overtaking him
- III.v AGE should be housed
- III.v PARDON makes offenders
- III.vi SWALLOWS, like false friends, fly away upon the approach of winter
- IV.i It is hard (folly, in vain) to strive against the STREAM
- IV.iii To make BLACK white
- IV.iii PRAISE by evil men is dispraise
- IV.iii VIRTUE is found in the middle (mean)
- IV.iii To be born of WOMAN
- V.i He finds FAULT with others and does worse himself (He that will blame another must be blameless himself)
- V.i REPORT has a blister on her tongue
- V.i To plow the SEA
- V.i TAKE it as you will (list, please)
- V.i The TRUTH shows best being naked
- V.i Not WORDS but deeds
- V.iii LIFE is a span
King Lear
82 related proverbs.
- I.i Every KINGDOM divided soon falls
- I.i KNOW thyself
- I.i LAST but not least
- I.i Whom we love best to them we can say LEAST
- I.i NOTHING can come of nothing
- I.i TAKE it or leave it
- I.i Empty VESSELS sound most
- I.ii Old AGE is full of infirmities
- I.ii To run against the BIAS
- I.ii They that THINK none ill are soonest beguiled (They that do no harm suspect none)
- I.iii Old MEN are twice children (bairns)
- I.iv He that gives ALL before he dies provides to suffer (is a fool)
- I.iv Speak not ALL you know, do not all you can, believe not all you hear
- I.iv To set the CART before the horse
- I.iv He is a CIPHER among numbers
- I.iv FEAR (Suspicion) is one part of prudence
- I.iv FOOLS had never less wit in a year
- I.iv A HEART as hard as a stone (flint, marble)
- I.iv More KNAVE than fool
- I.iv KNOW thyself
- I.iv A LAWYER will not plead but for money (a fee)
- I.iv A LAWYER will not plead but for money (a fee)
- I.iv It is never too late to MEND (repent)
- I.iv I will say NOTHING (nought) but mum
- I.iv NOTHING can come of nothing
- I.iv He has made a ROD (staff) for his own tail (head)
- I.iv To set up his SAIL to (To sail with) every wind
- I.iv A good TALE ill told is marred in the telling
- I.iv Let WELL alone
- I.v I KNOW (wot) what I know (wot)
- I.v I SMELL him out
- I.v Like a SNAIL, he keeps his house on his back (head)
- II.ii DUN¹ is in the mire
- II.ii He has a brazen FACE (a face of brass)
- II.ii A white-livered FELLOW
- II.ii Out of GOD's blessing into the warm sun
- II.ii Give LOSERS leave to speak (talk)
- II.ii A MOUSE in time may bite in two a cable
- II.ii To add OIL to (pour oil on) the fire
- II.ii The TAILOR makes the man
- II.iv To follow one's NOSE
- III.i To take in SNUFF
- III.ii I will not set at my HEART what I should set at my heel (what you set at your heel)
- III.ii Court HOLY WATER
- III.ii Before thou marry be sure of a HOUSE wherein to tarry
- III.ii As hard as a STONE (flint, rock)
- III.ii WIND and weather, do your worst
- III.iii The RISING of one man is the falling of another
- III.iv The greater GRIEF (sorrow) drives out the less
- III.iv MELANCHOLY is the pathway to madness
- III.iv Standing POOLS gather filth
- III.vi Ye would make me go to BED at noon
- III.vi It is good to have COMPANY in trouble (misery)
- III.vi All DOGS bark not (No dogs shall bark) at him
- III.vi The FACE is the index of the heart (mind)
- III.vi Trust not a HORSE's heel nor a dog's tooth
- III.vi LOVE of lads and fire of chats¹ is soon in and soon out
- III.vi I cry you MERCY, I took you for a joint stool
- III.vi No TRUST is to be given to a woman's word (a woman)
- IV.i COME (Hap) what come (hap) may
- IV.i The WAY to be safe is never to be secure¹ (He that is secure is not safe)
- IV.ii It is an ill (poor) DOG that is not worth the whistling
- IV.ii To the FILTHY all things taste filthy
- IV.ii Not worth a WHISTLE
- IV.iii To LAUGH and cry at once (like rain in sunshine)
- IV.iv As mad as the troubled SEA
- IV.vi Handsome APPAREL makes fools pass for wise men (hides much deformity)
- IV.vi The BREAKING OPEN of letters is the basest kind of burglary
- IV.vi I wept when I was born and every DAY shows why
- IV.vi An ENEMY (Adversity) makes a man to know himself whereas a friend (prosperity) flattens a man and deceives him
- IV.vi There is LIFE in it
- IV.vi He is a MAN, every inch of him
- IV.vi MAN's extremity is God's opportunity
- IV.vi MEN (Women) may blush to hear what they were not ashamed to act (do)
- IV.vi THOUGHT is free
- IV.vi There is no WISDOM (law) below the girdle
- IV.vi This WORLD is a stage and every man plays his part
- IV.vi We weeping come into the WORLD and weeping hence we go
- IV.vii FORGIVE and forget
- V.iii I am not the FIRST and shall not be the last
- V.iii LOVE, being jealous, makes a good eye look asquint
- V.iii There is many a true WORD spoken in jest
Antony and Cleopatra
51 related proverbs.
- I.ii His old BRASS (cloak) will buy you a new pan (kirtle)
- I.ii Take COUNSEL of your pillow
- I.ii IDLENESS is the mother (nurse, root) of all evil (vice, sin)
- I.ii An INCH in a man's nose is much
- I.ii To mince the MATTER
- I.ii To weep (It may serve) with an ONION
- I.ii He that SERVES everybody is paid by nobody
- I.ii WEEDS come forth on the fattest soil if it is untilled
- I.ii If she (he) were the only WOMAN (man) in the world
- I.ii The WORTH of a thing is best known by the want
- I.iii To be sick of the SULLENS
- I.iv He will be MISSED when he is gone
- II.i The greater GRIEF (sorrow) drives out the less
- II.ii As stale as CUSTOM
- II.ii A moist HAND argues an amorous nature (fruitfulness)
- II.ii KNOW thyself
- II.ii All TRUTHS must not be told
- II.ii VARIETY takes away satiety
- II.v He is well since he is in HEAVEN
- II.v MESSENGERS should neither be headed nor hanged
- II.v One good TURN asks (requires, deserves) another
- II.v To take the WILL for the deed
- II.vi Fair FACE foul heart
- II.vii CROCODILE TEARS
- II.vii He is DISGUISED
- II.vii He that will not when he may, when he would he shall have NAY (shall not when he will)
- II.vii The WORLD goes (runs) on wheels
- III.ii The BEETLE flies over many a sweet flower and lights in a cowshard
- III.ii April SHOWERS bring May flowers
- III.iv Run not from one EXTREME to another
- III.iv From the TEETH outwards
- III.vii WELL, WELL is a word of malice
- III.xiii When GOD will punish he will first take away the understanding
- III.xiii There is LIFE in it
- III.xiii There is LIFE in it
- III.xiii MICE (Rats) quit a falling house (sinking ship)
- III.xiii To harp upon one (the same) STRING
- IV.i NOTHING is well said or done in a passion (in anger)
- IV.ii To weep (It may serve) with an ONION
- IV.iv What we DO willingly is easy
- IV.iv He is STEEL (metal) to the back
- IV.ix Fresh AIR is ill for the diseased or wounded man
- IV.xii To PLAY fast and loose
- IV.xii As flattering (fawning) as a SPANIEL
- IV.xiv He that ENDURES (Who suffers) is not overcome (overcomes)
- IV.xiv A MAN can die but once
- IV.xiv A MAN's mind often gives him warning of evil to come
- IV.xv His CANDLE burns within the socket
- IV.xv WISHERS and woulders are never good householders
- V.ii To give one a FIG
- V.ii What is MINE is yours and what is yours is mine (your own)
Macbeth
70 related proverbs.
- I.i FAIR without but foul within
- I.ii To be one's own CARVER
- I.ii No MAN loses (wins) but another wins (loses)
- I.iii The BEST is behind
- I.iii COME (Hap) what come (hap) may
- I.iii The longest DAY has an end
- I.iii The DEVIL sometimes speaks the truth
- I.iii Lay thy FINGERS on thy lips
- I.iii Aroint¹ thee, WITCH, quoth Besse Locket to her mother
- I.iv The FACE is the index of the heart (mind)
- I.iv To weep for JOY is a kind of manna
- I.iv VIRTUE is its own reward
- I.v Fair FACE foul heart
- I.v The croaking RAVEN bodes misfortune (death)
- I.v SNAKE in the grass
- I.v From TOP (head) to toe (heel)
- I.v After WORD comes weird
- I.vi He that has LOVE in his breast has spurs in his sides
- I.vii AMBITION loses many a man
- I.vii As naked as they were BORN
- I.vii The CAT would eat fish but she will not wet her feet
- I.vii Fair FACE foul heart
- I.vii The THING done has an end (is not to do)
- II.ii SLEEP is the image of death
- II.ii All the WATER in the sea cannot wash out this stain
- II.ii Fair WATER makes all clean
- II.iii What we DO willingly is easy
- II.iii Fair FACE foul heart
- II.iii The nearer in KIN the less in kindness
- II.iii SLEEP is the image of death
- II.iii To lie in one's THROAT
- III.i MEN are but men
- III.i Either MEND or end
- III.ii CRIMES (Mischiefs) are made secure by greater crimes (mischiefs)
- III.ii Past CURE past care
- III.ii Fair FACE foul heart
- III.ii What we SPENT we had, what we gave we have, what we lent we lost
- III.iii FAIR without but foul within
- III.iii To look to one's WATER
- III.iv BLOOD will have blood
- III.iv You will not believe he is bald (dead) till you see his BRAIN
- III.iv GO forward and fall, go backward and mar all
- III.iv SALT seasons all things
- III.iv As true as you STAND there
- III.iv To know the WORST is good
- III.v The WAY to be safe is never to be secure¹ (He that is secure is not safe)
- IV.i A quiet CONSCIENCE sleeps in thunder
- IV.i Without (No) PAINS no gains (profit)
- IV.i No sooner SAID than done (So said so done)
- IV.ii An ill (evil) BIRD (crow) lays an ill (evil) egg
- IV.iii He that has no CHILDREN knows not what love is
- IV.iii A desperate DISEASE must have a desperate cure
- IV.iii GRIEF pent up will break the heart
- IV.iii He is well since he is in HEAVEN
- IV.iii The MORE a man has the more he desires
- IV.iii After NIGHT comes the day
- IV.iii REPORT has a blister on her tongue
- IV.iii As white as the driven SNOW
- V.i Take COUNSEL of your pillow
- V.i THINGS done cannot be undone
- V.i One may THINK that dares not speak
- V.i If there be any WIND stirring it is most evident about the church
- V.ii When THINGS are at the worst they will mend
- V.iii A white-livered FELLOW
- V.iii As many as there are HAIRS on the head
- V.v His CANDLE burns within the socket
- V.v Great PUDDER¹ to small purpose
- V.v This WORLD is a stage and every man plays his part
- V.viii DEATH pays all debts
- V.viii To lick (kiss) the DUST (ground)
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
26 related proverbs.
- I.ii To ERR is human, to repent is divine, to persevere is diabolical
- I.ii Do EVIL and evil will come of it
- I.ii KINGS have long arms (ears, hands)
- I.ii His THREAD is spun
- I.iv Full of COURTESY full of craft
- I.iv Do not blow the FIRE (coal) thou wouldst quench
- I.iv He that lies upon the GROUND can fall no lower
- I.iv MISFORTUNE (Evil) never (seldom) comes alone
- I.Prol. A CANDLE (torch) lights others and consumes itself
- I.Prol. CUSTOM makes sin no sin
- II.i The great FISH eat the small
- II.i The PORPOISE (dolphin) plays before a storm
- II.i THINGS must be as they may
- II.ii A TORCH turned downward is extinguished by its own wax
- II.ii As the TOUCHSTONE tries gold, so gold tries men
- II.iii It is more your GOODNESS than my desert
- II.v It is more your GOODNESS than my desert
- III.i He has spit his VENOM
- IV.i Those that GOD loves do not live long (The good die young)
- IV.i Out of the NORTH all ill comes forth
- IV.iii THINGS done cannot be undone
- IV.vi Marry come up, my dirty COUSIN
- IV.vi A WOMAN and a glass are ever in danger
- IV.Prol He will say the CROW is white
- IV.Prol. As white as MILK
- V.ii First THRIVE and then wive
Coriolanus
51 related proverbs.
- I.i Cast your CAP at the moon
- I.i DOGS must eat
- I.i Like a MAN in a dropsy, the more he drinks the more he may
- I.i MEAT was made for mouths
- I.i As lean as a RAKE
- I.ii To set (fall) together by the EARS
- I.ii When the SUN is highest he casts the least shadow
- I.iii You are your FATHER's own son.
- I.iv To go to POT
- I.ix As free as the AIR (wind)
- I.ix As soft as SILK
- II.i KNOW thyself
- II.i SILENCE is the best ornament of a woman
- II.i To call a SPADE a spade
- II.ii MUCK of the world
- II.ii To be PLANET-STRUCK
- II.ii From TOP (head) to toe (heel)
- II.ii VIRTUE is its own reward
- II.iii CUSTOM makes all things easy
- II.iii It goes against the GRAIN
- II.iii A MULTITUDE of people is a beast of many heads
- II.iii To harp upon one (the same) STRING
- III.i Do not blow the FIRE (coal) thou wouldst quench
- III.i To GO clean cam¹
- III.i As many HEADS as Hydra
- III.i The HEART of a fool is in his tongue (mouth)
- III.i What the HEART thinks the tongue speaks
- III.i MEN (Men's love), not walls, make the city (prince) safe
- III.i Be what thou would SEEM to be
- III.i The STREAM (current, tide) stopped swells the higher
- III.i TAG, rag, and bobtail (Tag and rag)
- III.i He that sows THISTLES shall reap thorns (prickles)
- III.i To nourish a VIPER (snake) in one's bosom
- III.iii EXPERIENCE is the mistress of fools
- IV.i You can't eat your CAKE and have your cake (have it too)
- IV.i CALAMITY (Extremity) is the touchstone of a brave mind (unto wit)
- IV.i In a calm SEA every man may be a pilot
- IV.v IRON not used soon rusts
- IV.v Out of all SCOTCH AND NOTCH
- IV.v The SWORD is tried on the anvil
- IV.vi As many as there are HAIRS on the head
- IV.vi To make a HAND (fair hand) of a thing
- IV.vii What cannot be ALTERED must be borne not blamed
- IV.vii To be no CHANGELING
- IV.vii One FIRE (heat) drives out another
- V.i To be able to do HARM and not to do it is noble
- V.i A hungry MAN an angry man
- V.iii The CHANCE of war is uncertain
- V.iii As chaste as ICE (snow)
- V.iii REVENGE is sweet
- V.vi Make the BEST of a bad bargain (market)
Sonnets
48 related proverbs.
- 3.9 In the APRIL of one's age
- 4.7 Bad is the BEST
- 5.13 More SHOW than substance
- 7.1 The rising, not the setting, SUN is worshiped by most men
- 17.9 Old MEN and far travelers may lie by authority
- 18.5 The morning SUN never lasts a day
- 19.1 TIME devours (consumes, wears out) all things
- 19.6 TIME flees away without delay (has wings)
- 21.14 He PRAISES who wishes to sell
- 22.5 The LOVER is not where he lives but where he loves
- 24.9 One good TURN asks (requires, deserves) another
- 35.2 No ROSE without a thorn (prickle)
- 35.4 The CANKER soonest eats the fairest rose (flowers)
- 35.5 Every MAN has (No man is without) his faults
- 39.1 A FRIEND is one's second self
- 42.13 A FRIEND is one's second self
- 43.1 Although I WINK I am not blind
- 47.2 One good TURN asks (requires, deserves) another
- 59.1 There is no new THING under the sun
- 66 DESERT and reward be ever far odd (seldom keep company)
- 70.2 ENVY (Calumny) shoots at the fairest mark (flowers, virtue)
- 70.7 The CANKER soonest eats the fairest rose (flowers)
- 73 Destroy the NEST and the rooks will flee away
- 90.7 A blustering NIGHT a fair day
- 94.1 To be able to do HARM and not to do it is noble
- 94.13 The LILY is fair in show but foul in smell
- 96.9 A WOLF in a lamb's (sheep's) skin
- 98.9 As white as a LILY
- 99.8 To sit (stand) upon THORNS
- 101.6 TRUTH needs no colors
- 102.3 He PRAISES who wishes to sell
- 102.12 Too much FAMILIARITY breeds contempt
- 103.9 Let WELL alone
- 104.9 To move as does the DIAL HAND, which is not seen to move
- 116.2 A perfect LOVE does last eternally
- 119.9 The FALLING-OUT of lovers is a renewing of love
- 121.1 There is small DIFFERENCE to the eye of the world in being nought and being thought so
- 121.1 It is an ill THING to be wicked (wretched) but a worse to be known so (to boast of it)
- 122.10 As deaf as an ADDER
- 126.11 To get (have) one's QUIETUS
- 131.10 One MISFORTUNE comes on the neck of another
- 135.1 LOVE is blind
- 135.9 The SEA refuses no river (is never full)
- 136.7 ONE and none is all ONE (ONE is as good as none, ONE is none)
- 145.9 After NIGHT comes the day
- 147.9 Past CURE past care
- 147.14 As black (dark) as HELL
- 152.5 He finds FAULT with others and does worse himself (He that will blame another must be blameless himself)
Cymbeline
55 related proverbs.
- I.i To leave the MEAL and take the bran
- I.ii BEAUTY and folly are often matched together
- I.ii He dares not show his HEAD (himself) for debt
- I.iii Out of the NORTH all ill comes forth
- I.iii PENELOPE's WEB
- I.iv The WORTH of a thing is as it is esteemed (valued)
- I.vi He is the best FEATHER of our wing
- I.vi To MOCK and mow
- I.vi The PARTHIANS fight flying away
- I.vi As rare as the PHOENIX
- I.viii AFRICA is always producing something new (monsters, serpents)
- II.i May we not do with our OWN what we list?
- II.ii To have a BELLYFUL
- II.ii As pale (white) as a CLOUT
- II.ii To cut the GORDIAN KNOT
- II.ii SLEEP is the image of death
- II.iii If MONEY go before all ways lie open
- II.iii To line one's PURSE (coat, hand)
- II.iii SILENCE is (gives) consent
- II.iii TIME wears away love (fancies)
- II.iv The BASILISK's eye is fatal
- II.v As chaste as ICE (snow)
- III.i I CAME, saw, and overcame
- III.i To have LEAD on one's heels
- III.i He LIVES long that lives well
- III.ii AFFLICTIONS are sent us by God for our good
- III.ii As black as INK
- III.iii He that never CLIMBED never fell
- III.iii He must stoop that has a low DOOR
- III.iv The SUN shines upon all alike
- III.v He has his LABOR for his pains
- III.vi AFFLICTIONS are sent us by God for our good
- IV.i He will be MISSED when he is gone
- IV.i Saving your REVERENCE
- IV.ii ALL are of the same dust
- IV.ii ALL are of the same dust
- IV.ii To go from BAD to worse
- IV.ii DEATH is the grand leveler
- IV.ii The greater GRIEF (sorrow) drives out the less
- IV.ii LOVE is without reason
- IV.ii The TAILOR makes the man
- IV.v SILK and satin (Fine clothes) make not a gentleman
- IV.vii One NAIL drives out another
- V.i APPEARANCES are deceitful
- V.i Yours to command in the WAY of honesty
- V.iii To forget a WRONG is best revenge (remedy)
- V.iv DEATH pays all debts
- V.iv Every DOOR may be shut but death's door
- V.iv In a TRICE
- V.v The CHANCE of war is uncertain
- V.v To bear one in HAND
- V.v To be able to do HARM and not to do it is noble
- V.v LOVE of lads and fire of chats¹ is soon in and soon out
- V.v Dying MEN speak true (prophesy)
- V.v SAINT LUKE was a saint and a physician and yet he died
The Winter’s Tale
49 related proverbs.
- I.ii The BASILISK's eye is fatal
- I.ii It is a dear COLLOP¹ that is taken (cut) out of the flesh
- I.ii It is good to have COMPANY in trouble (misery)
- I.ii The CUCKOLD is the last that knows of it
- I.ii As like as one EGG is to another
- I.ii To take EGGS for money
- I.ii His GLASS is run
- I.ii Better in HEALTH than in good conditions
- I.ii Happy MAN happy dole (be his dole)
- I.ii NOTHING can come of nothing
- I.ii As good (false, unstable) as ever WATER wet
- II.i AFFLICTIONS are sent us by God for our good
- II.i ENVY (Calumny) shoots at the fairest mark (flowers, virtue)
- II.ii REPORT has a blister on her tongue
- II.iii They are so LIKE that they are the worse for it
- II.iii Either MEND or end
- III.ii Fresh AIR is ill for the diseased or wounded man
- III.ii A clear CONSCIENCE laughs at (fears not) false accusations
- III.ii Never GRIEVE for that you cannot help
- III.ii Not to care (give) a STRAW (rush)
- III.iii The better DAY the better deed
- III.iii MEN will talk on it when we be dead, do what we can
- IV.i TIME tries all things
- IV.iii As long lives a merry MAN as a sad
- IV.iii To set one's TEETH on edge
- IV.iv As many COLORS as there are in the rainbow
- IV.iv As black as a CROW
- IV.iv CUSTOM makes sin no sin
- IV.iv My own FLESH and blood
- IV.iv You lose your LABOR
- IV.iv To lead one by the NOSE
- IV.iv PROSPERITY gets friends but adversity tries them
- IV.iv As sweet as a ROSE
- IV.iv As white as the driven SNOW
- IV.iv As white as the driven SNOW
- IV.iv The SUN shines upon all alike
- IV.iv To sit (stand) upon THORNS
- IV.iv As swift as THOUGHT
- IV.iv From TOP (head) to toe (heel)
- IV.iv You may WHISTLE (go whistle) for it
- V.i To lick (kiss) the DUST (ground)
- V.i He is well since he is in HEAVEN
- V.i The REVEALING of griefs is a renewing of sorrow
- V.ii To cry (look up) with one EYE and laugh (down) with the other
- V.ii He is a tall MAN of his hands
- V.ii SILK and satin (Fine clothes) make not a gentleman
- V.ii He is ready to leap out of his SKIN for joy
- V.iii SLEEP is the image of death
- V.iii As true as a TURTLE to her mate
A Lover’s Complaint
2 related proverbs.
The Tempest
60 related proverbs.
- I.i He that is BORN to be hanged (drowned) shall never be drowned (hanged)
- I.i He that is BORN to be hanged (drowned) shall never be drowned (hanged)
- I.i I am NEAREST to myself
- I.ii As free as the AIR (wind)
- I.ii Many a good COW has an ill (evil) calf
- I.ii Do not make the FOOT the head
- I.ii HELL is broke loose
- I.ii Love not at the first LOOK (Love at first sight)
- I.ii Ask the MOTHER if the child be like his father
- I.ii MICE (Rats) quit a falling house (sinking ship)
- I.ii Take TIME when time comes lest time steal away
- I.ii TRUST is the mother of deceit
- II.i That CAT is out of kind that sweet milk (cream) will not lap (lick, steal)
- II.i To pocket up an INJURY (wrong)
- II.i He LAUGHS that wins
- II.i To rip up (rub) old SORES
- II.i To live by the SWEAT of one's brows
- II.ii ALE (Liquor) that would make a cat speak
- II.ii To kiss the CUP
- II.ii To swim like a FISH (duck)
- II.ii You MAKE me scratch (claw) where it does not itch.
- II.ii As good a MAN as ever trod on shoe (neat's) leather (as ever went on legs)
- II.ii As good a MAN as ever trod on shoe (neat's) leather (as ever went on legs)
- II.ii The MAN in the moon
- II.ii The MAN in the moon
- II.ii Like (Such a) MASTER like (such a) man (ser-vant)
- II.ii He must have a long SPOON that will eat with the devil
- II.ii As true as TOUCH
- 2.ii Do not put TRICKS upon travelers
- III.i Never less ALONE than when alone (He is never alone who is accompanied with noble thoughts)
- III.i What we DO willingly is easy
- III.ii DEATH pays all debts
- III.ii I will say NOTHING (nought) but mum
- III.ii He may ill RUN that cannot go¹
- III.ii To beat one like a STOCKFISH¹
- III.ii TAKE it as you will (list, please)
- III.ii THOUGHT is free
- III.ii To keep a good TONGUE in one's head
- III.ii To keep a good TONGUE in one's head
- III.iii The BEST is behind
- III.iii GOD stays long but strikes at last
- III.iii To MOCK and mow
- III.iii Praise at PARTING
- III.iii A TRAVELER may lie with authority
- IV.i He has struck the BALL under the line
- IV.i From the CROWN of the head to the sole of the foot
- IV.i His FINGERS are lime twigs
- IV.i To play the JACK with one
- IV.i To work by LINE and level (measure)
- IV.i To MOCK and mow
- IV.i NATURE passes nurture
- IV.i He PRAISES who wishes to sell
- IV.i As swift as THOUGHT
- V.i To be able to do HARM and not to do it is noble
- V.i Every MAN for himself (for one)
- V.i A MUSHROOM grows in a night
- V.i To be in a sad (sweet) PICKLE
- V.i He touches him to the QUICK
- V.i In a TRICE
- Epil.15 PRAYERS like petards break open heaven gate
Henry VIII
29 related proverbs.
- I.i To break one's BACK
- I.i To make BLACK white
- I.i As surly as a BUTCHER's dog
- I.i To have a FINGER (hand) in the pie (matter)
- I.i KINGS have long arms (ears, hands)
- I.i He wears a whole LORDSHIP on his back
- I.i As hard as a STONE (flint, rock)
- I.i It is evil (ill, not good) WAKING of a sleeping dog
- I.iii He has a COLT's tooth in his head
- II.i It may be a SLANDER but it is no lie
- II.ii KNOW thyself
- II.iii He has a CONSCIENCE like a cheverel's¹ skin
- II.iv Like DOGS, if one barks all bark
- III.i HEAVEN (God) is above all
- III.i The HOOD (habit, cowl) makes not the monk
- III.i TRUTH seeks no corners
- III.ii After DEATH the doctor (physic)
- III.ii It is better to DO well than to say well
- III.ii LIFE is a span
- III.ii He is now become a new MAN
- IV.ii INJURIES are written in brass
- V.i It is good to strike while the IRON is hot
- V.ii To dance ATTENDANCE
- V.iii FLESH is frail
- V.iii MEN are not angels
- V.iii As flattering (fawning) as a SPANIEL
- V.iii The STONE you throw will fall on your own head
- V.iv MEN are but men
- VIII.V To make a HAND (fair hand) of a thing
The Two Noble Kinsmen
39 related proverbs.
- I.i The croaking RAVEN bodes misfortune (death)
- I.ii To go (swim) with the STREAM
- I.iii STORE is no sore
- I.iv Fresh AIR is ill for the diseased or wounded man
- I.iv GOD stays long but strikes at last
- I.v DEATH has a thousand doors to let out life
- I.v Many WAYS meet in one town (city)
- II.ii Only the EAGLE can gaze at the sun
- II.ii LAUGH and lie down
- II.iii COME (Hap) what come (hap) may
- II.iii To stand to one's TACKLING
- II.iii As swift as the WIND
- II.iv To keep a foul COIL¹
- II.vi To follow one like his SHADOW
- III.iii HUNGER is the best sauce
- III.iii Thereby hangs a TALE
- III.iii Good WINE makes good blood
- III.iv To sit (sing) like a NIGHTINGALE, with a thorn against one's breast
- III.iv To sleep like a TOP
- III.v The FAT (All the fat) is in the fire
- III.v As mad as a March HARE
- III.v He has pissed on a NETTLE
- III.v In the NICK (nick of time)
- III.v To be tossed from PILLAR (post) to post (pillar, pillory)
- III.v To wash a TILE (wall of loam)
- III.v A TINKER stops one hole and makes two (three)
- III.v You may WHISTLE (go whistle) for it
- III.v Who has a WOMAN has an eel by the tail
- III.vi COME (Hap) what come (hap) may
- IV.i As close as COCKLES
- IV.i For one's HAND to be in
- IV.iii One DECEIT (falsehood) drives out another
- V.i As heavy as LEAD
- V.i As white as the driven SNOW
- V.ii Come CUT and longtail
- V.ii To be whipped like a TOP
- V.ii Yours to command in the WAY of honesty
- V.iii FIRE cannot be hidden in flax (straw)
- V.iv As hot as FIRE