Proverbs starting with "O"

Displaying 120 proverbs. Click on any proverb below to view the full analysis and original text.

• O1 As close as OAK
• O2 To cut down an OAK and set up a strawberry (thistle)
• O3 OAKS may fall when reeds stand the storm
• O4 He will have an OAR in every man's boat
• O5 It is not good to have an OAR in every man's boat
• O6 To sow his wild OATS
• O7 An unlawful OATH is better broken than kept
• O8 He that takes away the OCCASION takes away the offense
• O9 To drink the OCEAN dry
• O9a To ask what it is O'CLOCK
• O10 To know what it is O'CLOCK
• O11 Good OCTOBER, a good blast to blow the hog acorn and mast
• O12 ODDS will beat anybody
• O13 Bad ODORS attract the vulture (beetle), perfumes repel him
• O14 None is OFFENDED but by himself
• O15 The OFFENDER never pardons
• O16 He never loved well that will hate for a little OFFENSE
• O17 It is good to take (Never refuse) a good OFFER
• O18 Put not all your OFFERING in one stock¹
• O19 Be good in your OFFICE
• O20 He has a good OFFICE, he must needs thrive
• O21 He that has an OFFICE let him wait on it
• O22 A new OFFICE, like a new garment, straight at first putting on
• O23 OFFICES may well be given but not discretion
• O24 The OFFSPRING of those that are very young or very old lasts not
• O25 As smooth as OIL
• O26 He that measures OIL shall anoint his fingers
• O27 OIL of angels¹
• O28 OIL of whip
• O29 There is OIL (no oil) left in the lamp
• O30 To add OIL to (pour oil on) the fire
• O31 To burn the midnight OIL
• O32 To pour (cast) OIL into the fire is not the way to quench it
• O33 In the OLD of the moon a cloudy morning bodes a fair afternoon
• O34 He that would be OLD long (well old) must be old betimes (Old young and old long)
• O35 OLD and tough, young and tender
• O36 OLD young, young old
• O37 OLDER and wiser
• O38 The OLDER the worse
• O39 Call me not an OLIVE till you see me ripe and gathered
• O40 Sweet OLIVER
• O41 ONCE out and always out
• O42 Better ONE die (perish, suffer) than all
• O43 By ONE and one the spindles are made
• O44 He that chastens ONE chastens twenty
• O45 He that chastises ONE amends many
• O46 I will give you ONE and lend you another
• O47 I will give you ONE and lend you another
• O48 If ONE, two, or three tell you you are an ass, put on a tail (bridle)
• O49 It is better to be spoken of ill by ONE before all than by all before one
• O50 It is good to save ONE
• O51 ONE and all
• O52 ONE and none is all ONE (ONE is as good as none, ONE is none)
• O53 ONE, but that one is a lion
• O54 ONE is no number
• O55 ONE is not smelled where all stink
• O56 ONE is too few, three too many
• O57 ONE of the four and twenty qualities of a knave is to stay long at his errand
• O58 ONE, two, three, four are just half a score
• O59 Still he fishes that catches ONE
• O60 That is a loud ONE
• O61 That ONE is bad makes hundreds sad
• O62 That (If) ONE will not another will
• O63 There would be no great ONES if there were no little ones
• O64 He is ONE-AND-THIRTY
• O65 As spruce as an ONION
• O66 Not worth an ONION (a leek)
• O67 To weep (It may serve) with an ONION
• O68 OPINION sways the world
• O69 Our own OPINION is never wrong
• O70 OPPORTUNITY (Night, Midnight) is woredom's bawd
• O71 OPPORTUNITY makes the thief
• O72 OPPRESSION causes rebellion
• O73 OPPRESSION makes the wise man mad
• O74 To speak like an ORACLE
• O75 His ORCHARD is his shambles
• O76 It's easy to rob an ORCHARD when none keep it
• O77 An ORDER is to be observed in all things
• O78 You breed of the four and twenty ORDERS of knaves, you tell your errand ere you go
• O79 Evening ORTS¹ (oats) are good morning fodder
• O80 Make not ORTS¹ of good hay
• O81 To heap OSSA upon Pelion
• O82 OSSING comes to bossing
• O83 The foolish OSTRICH (woodcock) buries his head in the sand and thinks he is not seen
• O84 More cruel than the OSTRICH
• O85 An OUNCE of fortune (good fortune) is worth a pound of forecast (wit)
• O86 An OUNCE of mirth is better than (is worth) a pound of sorrow
• O87 An OUNCE of mother wit (discretion, wit) is worth a pOUND of clergy (learning, wit, folly)
• O88 An OUNCE of state requires a pound of gold
• O88a No OUT is good but out of prison
• O89 Be not too hasty to OUTBID another
• O90 To quake like an OVEN
• O91 All OVERS¹ are ill but OVER the water (ferry)
• O92 As blind as an OWL (bat)
• O93 The OWL flies
• O94 An OWL is the king of the night
• O95 To fly with the OWL
• O96 To look (whoop) like an OWL in an ivy bush
• O97 You bring OWLS to Athens
• O98 To walk by OWL-LIGHT
• O99 May we not do with our OWN what we list?
• O100 OWN is own
• O101 OWN is own at the reckoning's end
• O102 As much dungs one OX as a thousand flies
• O103 The black OX never trod on his foot
• O104 If the OX fall whet your knife
• O105 An old OX makes a straight furrow
• O106 The OX is never woe till he to the harrow go
• O107 An OX is taken by the horns and a man by the tongue (word)
• O108 The OX when he is weary treads surest
• O109 To plow (till) with an OX and an ass together
• O110 To swallow an OX and be choked with the tail
• O111 Where shall the OX go but he must labor?
• O112 You must plow with such OXEN as you have
• O113 Muzzle not the OXEN's mouth
• O114 To gape like an OYSTER for the tide
• O115 To give a stopping (choking) OYSTER
• O116 Undone as you would undo an OYSTER
• O117 OYSTERS are not good in the month that has not an R in it
• O118 OYSTERS are ungodly meat, uncharitable meat, and unprofitable (cruel) meat