Books and other Resources about French Proverbs

>Most cultural proverbs provide a window into the history, achievements, and challenges that have transpired in a society over time.  This is most certainly true of the French culture with its rich traditions and long history.  Many contemporary figures of speech are derived from French proverbs and their common sense wisdom.

Famous French Proverbs

Penny wise is often pound foolish

Every bird thinks his nest the finest

The work shows the workman

Grass doesn’t grow on a busy street

With a young hunter, one needs an old dog

Friend of many, friend of none

After the love, the repentance

A friend in need is a friend indeed

On a lengthy journey even a small burden weighs greatly

Desperate diseases call for desperate remedies

It’s not enough to run well, unless you set out in due time

He does the crime who profits by it

It is a great sign of mediocrity to praise everything moderately

Each one is a craftsman of his own fortune

What is promised is due

As you make your bed you lie

In the small boxes, the good ointments

It’s good to have more than one anchor on the ship.

In small field good corn grows

Reason lies between the bridle and the spur

It is never too late to mend

It is good to have friends everywhere

Make hay when the sun shines

Lay something by for a rainy day

We must swear to nothing

One should not judge the tree by the bark

Do not judge of the contents by the label

Do not risk all your fortune on one chance

He has a fine horse that never stumbles

Better he envied than pitied

It is better to lose a witty remark that a friend

There are more purchasers than experts

The purse opens the mouth

Youth is the time to study wisdom, old age the time to practise it

It is not the robe that makes the monk

Adversity makes wise

The lark in hand is better than the goose that flies

Love and poverty do bad housework together

The year that is gone is always the best

An oak is not felled at one chop

Money is the nerve of war

The money is round to roll

Art is to hide art. Art consists in concealing art

Honey is sweet, but bees sting

Now the ale is drawn, it must he drunk

Miserly, greedy natures make a great need of everything.

Fair words butter no parsnips

Fools make feasts and wise men eat them

Men who have little business are great talkers

Great thoughts come from the heart

First come, first served

Experience is the teacher of fools

The money hammer opens the iron door

Better an egg in peace than an ox in war

Where the goat is tied, there it must browse

Where the wolf finds a lamb, there he seeks another one

One learns while failing

No man can flay a stone

One cannot have both the butter and the money for the butter

Those who live in a glass house should not throw stones

When a fool goes to Rome, the same fool returns from there

Who eats chicken, chicken comes to him

He who looks after his wife and his house has enough to do

Who was born a cat pursues the mice

Birds of a feather flock together

He who would drown his dog first calls him mad

Receiving without giving turns the friendship

Without gold, honour is only a malady

He who seeks for too much will often find too much

All is well that ends well

All truths are not to he spoken at all times

A witticism proves nothing

A man forewarned is worth two

Forewarned, forearmed

Every little bit helps

A stitch in time saves nine

A good deed is not without reward

To be cured of your longing you need only get what you wished for

Better buy than borrow

A good lawyer, a bad neighbour

The end of passion is the beginning of repentance

Appearances are deceiving

Who spits against the wind, spits in his own face

Who is angry must be pleased again

Stretch your arm no further than your sleeve

Fortune helps him that’s willing to help himself

One bee makes no swarm

Beggars must be no choosers

As you sow, so shall you reap

One turn serves another

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

Birds of a feather flock together

Don’t bark if you can’t bite

He that goes a-borrowing goes a-sorrowing

Boys will be boys

Charity begins at home

A ragged colt may make a good horse

All is not lost that is delayed

In too much discourse, truth ist lost

What can’t be cured, must be endured

Who never climbed, never fell

Every flow has its ebb

Save a thief from the gallows and he will cut your throat

What is good for the goose is good for the gander

Fresh fish and new-come guests smell when they are three days old