Proverbs from Edmund Spenser

Found 130 related proverbs. Click on any proverb below to view the full analysis and original text.

• A56 AFRICA is always producing something new (monsters, serpents)
• A146 ALL is not gold that glisters (glitters)
• B27 To go from BAD to worse
• B65 Be as be may is no BANNING (Be as be may)
• B92 BARNABY BRIGHT, the longest day and the shortest night
• B175 BEAUTY without goodness is worth nothing (is like wine that has taken wind)
• B256 Every BEGINNING is hard
• B275 He bears away the BELL
• B316 Bad is the BEST
• B328 We must hope for the BEST and fear the worst
• B435 BLACK best sets forth white
• B740 One beats the BUSH and another catches the bird
• C202 Remove the CAUSE and the effect will cease
• C233 There is CHANGE of all things
• C380 The nearer the CHURCH the farther from God
• C414 The highest CLIMBERS have the greatest falls (The higher he climbs the greater his fall)
• C486 Every COCK is proud on his own dunghill
• C495 The COCKATRICE slays by sight only
• C552 He is not fit to COMMAND (govern) others that cannot command (govern) himself.
• C875 As clear as CRYSTAL
• C896 To chew the CUD upon a thing
• C908 To drink of the same CUP
• C922 What cannot be CURED must be endured
• D10 DAINTY makes dearth
• D133 After DEATH the doctor (physic)
• D143 DEATH is the grand leveler
• D162 To be at DEATH's door
• D179 He that DECEIVES (beguiles) another is oft deceived (beguiled) himself
• D192 DEFEND me and spend me
• D542 Silly DOGS are more angry with the stone than with the hand that had flung it
• D582 Every DRAM of delight has a pound of pain
• D618 Constant DROPPING will wear the stone
• E3 Only the EAGLE can gaze at the sun
• F80 To lick the FAT from one's beard (lips)
• F97 You are your FATHER's own son.
• F133 FEAR gives wings
• F247 As hot as FIRE
• F316 It is a silly FISH that is caught twice with the same bait (The fish once caught bewares the hook)
• F408 How can the FOAL amble when the horse and mare trot?
• F584 FORBEARANCE (Omittance, Sufferance) is no quittance (acquittance)
• F601 FORTUNE favors the bold (hardy, valiant)
• F686 Better a new FRIEND than an old foe
• F784 Out of (To leap like the flounder out of) the FRYING PAN (pan) into the fire
• G135 As clear (bright) as GLASS
• G136 As smooth as GLASS
• G151 The farther we GO the farther behind
• G301 Evil-gotten (Ill-gotten) GOODS never prove well (prosper, endure)
• G302 GOODS are theirs that enjoy them
• G321 To know one's (one's own) GOOD
• G447 GRIEF is lessened when imparted to others
• H87 One HAND washes another and both (both wash) the face
• H90 The same HAND that gave must heal the wound
• H281 TWO HEADS (wits) are better than one
• H302 Faint HEART ne'er won fair lady
• H330 To eat one's HEART out
• H397 As black (dark) as HELL
• H411 HELP never comes too late
• I73 As black as INK
• I96 The more you beat IRON (the stone of Sicilia) the harder it grows
• I109 As white as IVORY
• K16 Neither in KENT nor Christendome
• L33 As chaste as a LAMB
• L70 To sing like a LARK
• L73 As lithe as LASS of Kent
• L82 LAST but not least
• L242 Milesian LIES
• L316 The LION spares the suppliant
• L367 Though he said LITTLE he thought the more
• L495 LOVE and lordship like no fellowship
• L582 There is LUCK in odd numbers
• M64 As a MAN lives so shall he die, as a tree falls so shall it lie
• M209 Let every MAN have his own
• M254 A MAN is weal or woe as he thinks himself so
• M257 A MAN may buy gold too dear
• M333 No MAN is happy before his death
• M338 No MAN loves his fetters though made of gold
• M923 With MIGHT and main
• M1030 To MOCK and mow
• M1106 The merry MONTH of May
• M1111 As changeful (inconstant) as the MOON
• M1298 MUCK of the world
• N174 NIGHT is the mother of counsels
• N360 Sweet is the NUT but bitter (hard) is the shell
• P49 A PARAGON of price (A peerless paragon)
• P111 PATIENCE perforce
• P135 Not worth a PEA (two peas)
• P189 A better PENNY
• P333 Not to care a PIN
• P427 PLENTY makes poor
• R73 The REMEMBRANCE of past sorrow (dangers) is joyful
• R89 The REVEALING of griefs is a renewing of sorrow
• R176 As fresh as a ROSE
• S15 Better to lose the SADDLE than the horse
• S91 As difficult as to number the SANDS in the sea
• S205 We SEE sleeping that which we wish for waking
• S214 Be what thou would SEEM to be
• S277 SHAME take (Evil to) him that shame (evil) thinks
• S328 As the SHEPHERD is such is the flock (sheep)
• S654 SORROW comes unsent for
• S664 Small SORROWS (griefs) speak, great ones are silent
• S692 Thick SOWN and (but) thin comes up
• S929 The STREAM (current, tide) stopped swells the higher
• T101 To run through THICK AND THIN
• T177 All worldly THINGS are transitory
• T187 It is better to lose some THINGS than all
• T201 THINGS hardly attained are long retained (highly deemed)
• T221 They that THINK none ill are soonest beguiled (They that do no harm suspect none)
• T311 Take TIME (occasion) by the forelock, for she is bald behind
• T332 TIME lost (past) we cannot win (recall)
• T371 TODAY for me tomorrow for thee
• T431 To set one's TEETH on edge
• T436 From TOP (head) to toe (heel)
• T446 As true as TOUCH
• T624 As true as a TURTLE to her mate
• U10 UNGIRT unblessed
• U14 UNKNOWN (Uncouth) unkissed
• V50 Do not triumph before the VICTORY
• V68 To nourish a VIPER (snake) in one's bosom
• V81 VIRTUE is its own reward
• V84 VIRTUE is the only ground for friendship to be built upon
• W266 WELLAND¹ shall drown all Holland² with his excrement
• W279 As white as WHALE's-BONE
• W401 WILL he nill he
• W461 Good WINE makes good blood
• W546 Bought WIT is dear
• W614 A WOLF in a lamb's (sheep's) skin
• W637 To be born of WOMAN
• W822 Soft (Fair, Gentle) WORDS pacify (appease) wrath
• W833 WORDS are but wind
• W889 We weeping come into the WORLD and weeping hence we go