List of German Proverbs Sayings

Friendship is a plant we must often water.

The bites of priests and wolves are hard to heal.

Everybody's companion is nobody's friend.

Nothing weights lighter than a promise.

Whom fortune favours, the world favours.

Politeness is what warmth is to wax.

Every fool is different.

Nothing so bad as not to be good for something.

He who wants to do a good jump must sometimes take a step back.

Never speak of a rope in the house of one who was hanged.

Who accepts from another sells his freedom.

Jealousy is a pain that seeks what caused it.

Tell me with whom you travel, and I'll tell you who you are.

In times of emergency the devil eats flies.

A loaded wagon creaks; an empty one rattles.

To live long, eat like a cat, drink like a dog.

With one foot in the grave.

In wine there is wisdom. In beer there is strength. In water there is bacteria.

The more laws the less justice.

Instead of complaining that the rosebush is full of thorns, be happy that the thorn bush has roses.

German Sayings in English

Birds of a feather flock together.

Never give advice unless asked.

Not every one may pluck roses.

When the guest is in most favour, he will do well to quit.

Marry in haste and repent at leisure.

Charity gives itself rich, covetousness hoards itself poor.

Not every ball hits.

A bold onset is half the battle.

He that asketh faintly beggeth a denial.

Not all people who have yawned together must get married.

When shepherds quarrel, the wolf has a winning game.

Nobody so wise but has a little folly to spare.

If the eye does not want to see, neither light nor glasses will help.

He sticks his nose in everything.

Nobles and dogs leave the door open.

Beauty is the eye's food but the soul's sorrow.

When I rest, I rust.

When all men say you are an ass, it is high time to bray.

He laughs best who laughs last.

No villain like the conscientious villain.

Whatever is to be a nettle, burns early.

A bad beginning may make a good ending.

No tree so small but it can cast a shade.

What you give, is written in sand; what you take, with an iron hand.

He is a fool and ever shall, Who writes his name upon a wall.

No song, no supper.

What soberness conceals, drunkenness reveals.

Cheating is more honourable than stealing.

No pride like that of an enriched beggar.

What little Jack does not learn, big John will never.

A bolt does not always fall when it thunders.

No penny, no paternoster.

What is not taken by the Church is taken by the Exchequer.

He is a bad shot who cannot find an excuse.

No one sees his own faults.

What goes down usually comes up.

No one knows better where the shoe pinches that he who wears it.

What comes seldom, comes sharp.

He goes about it like a cat round hot milk.

No one is unhappier than the one who believes in happiness.

Were there no fools, there would be no wise men.

An uneducated person is like an unpolished mirror.

No one is happier than he who believes in his happiness.

Weeping bride, laughing wife, laughing bride, weeping wife.

Happy is the one who forgets that which cannot be changed.

We do not walk on our legs, but on our will.

A happy man does not hear the clock strike.

No one can guard against treachery.

A bad cause requires many words.

We cannot all be Pope of Rome.

No one can complain of the sea who twice suffers shipwreck.

Hat in hand goes through the land.

Water is the strongest drink; it drives mills.

No one betrays himself by silence.

Cheese is gold in the morning, silver at noon, and lead at night.

War is pleasant to those who have not tried it.

No moon, no man.

Handsome apples are sometimes sour.

Wake not a sleeping dog.

No man's master, no master's man.

Virtue subdues power.

A thief seldom grows rich by thieving.

Vice often rides triumphantly in the coach of virtue.

No man can do nothing and no man can do everything.

Unlaid eggs are a long time becoming chickens.

Hackney mistress, Hackney maid.

Two in distress makes sorrow the less.

No house without a mouse, no barn without corn, no rose without a thorn.

Better a good conscience without wisdom than wisdom without a good conscience.

Two cats and one mouse, two women in one house, two dogs to one bone, will not agree long.

No bed is big enough to hold three.

As a man eats, so he works.

Truth makes the tongue smart.

No ape but swears he has the handsomest children.

Green Christmas, a white Easter.

Truth ill-timed is as bad as a lie.

New songs are eagerly sung.

He that peeps into every bush will hardly get into the wood.

Truth finds no asylum.

New doctor, new churchyard.

Christians have no neighbours.

Trust well rides away with the horse.

New churches and new taverns are seldom empty.

Great things are done more through courage than through wisdom.

Too much is not enough.

Never trust to another what you should do yourself.

A burnt child dreads the fire.

Too many irons in the fire.

Never tickle the nose of a sleeping bear.

Too clever is dumb.

Great speakers are usually liars.

Today must not borrow from tomorrow.

Never seemed prison fair, or mistress foul.

A bad penny always comes back.

To remain young while growing old is the highest blessing.

He that wants to eat the kernel must crack the nut.

To get to know a friend, you must share an inheritance with him.

Never give the skin when you can pay with the wool.

To blame is easy, to do it better is difficult.

Better a patch than a hole.

To a quick ear half a word.

Never give advice unasked.

Time makes hay.

Great minds think alike.

Never fell oak at the very first stroke.

Time is anger's medicine.

Sloth is the key to poverty.

He who always thinks it is too soon, is sure to come too late.

Neutrals are soused from above, and singed from below.

Time brings everything, to those who can wait for it.

A cat has nine lives, as the onion seven skins.

Neck or nothing.

Time and place make the thief.

He who blows in the fire will get sparks in his eyes.

Thrift is a great revenue.

Necessity teaches even the lame to dance.

Buying is cheaper than asking.

Thousands drink themselves to death before one dies of thirst.

Necessity teaches all things.

He who cannot help, may hinder.

Though you seat the frog on a golden stool, he'll soon jump off again into the pool.

Necessity breaks iron.

A bad penny always turns up.

Those bosoms can be sold cheapest which are stolen ready made.

Nature requires little, fancy much.

Grain and graciousness grow on good ground.

They who eat cherries with the great, are like to have the stones and stalks flung in their face.

Nature hangs out her sign everywhere.

Confidence begets confidence.

They are not all cooks who carry long knives.

There's no eel so small but it hopes to become a whale.

He who does not bait his hook catches nothing.

Must is a hard nut.

There is no one luckier than he who thinks himself so.

A cat in gloves catches no mice.

Mules make a great fuss about their ancestors having been donkeys.

There is no good in preaching to the hungry.

He who does not want to lend loses friends; he who lends gains enemies.

Much wit is lost in a poor man's purse.

There is always a Pharaoh who does not know Joseph.

Good thongs may be cut out of other people's hides.

Much taste, much waste.

There are no bad beers; some kinds are better than others.

Better bend than break.

Mouth and heart are wide apart.

It is no child's play when an old woman dances. It is no child's play when an old woman dances.

Let your purse be your master.

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Honesty makes you rich, but she works slowly.

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German Proverbs About Love

Love's anger is fuel to love.

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Love your neighbor, but keep your fence.

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Love without return is like a question without an answer.

Love sees roses without thorns.

Love grows with obstacles.

Love can turn a cottage into a golden palace.

Love begins at home.

A fence makes love more keen.

He that marries for love has good nights, but sorry days.

Never listen to these three advisers: wine, the night, and love.

Nature and love cannot be hid.

He who forces love when none is found, remains a fool the whole year round.

Man loves but once.

The cat loves fish, but is loth to wet her feet.

Scratch a lover and find an enemy.

One cannot love and be wise.

Fortune is like women: loves youth and is fickle.

Who lends his lips to nought but blame, has in his heart no love of fame.

For love the wolf eats the sheep.

An old man loved is a winter with flowers.

All's fair in love and war.

Follow Love and it will flee, Flee love and it will follow thee.

An old coachman loves the crack of the whip.

Coffee and love are best when they are hot.

April weather, woman's love, rose-leaves, dice, and card-luck, change every moment.

Early marriage, long love.

A wall between increases love.

Choose thy love. Love thy choice.

German Proverbs About God

Man proposes, God disposes.

God gives, but man must open his hand.

God cures the sick, and the doctor gets the money.

God's mill goes slowly, but it grinds well.

God gives us milk but no jug.

God's friends, the priest's foe.

God helps the strongest.

God gives us nuts but he does not crack them for us.

God helps them that help themselves.

God will help a seaman in a storm but the pilot must still remain at the wheel.

God forgives sinners, otherwise His heaven would be empty.

God gave us hands but He doesn't build bridges with them.

God is everywhere, except where he has a delegate.

When the devil reigns today God will be master tomorrow.

The people's voice is God's voice.

When need is greatest, God is nearest.

No woman marries an old man for God's sake.

The nearer the church the farther from God.

Begin to weave and God will give the thread.

A good soldier has only three things to think about; the king, God, and nothing.

The mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small.

Man punishes the action, but God the intention.

In Blindman's land your one-eyed man's a god.

Give unto the king what is the king's, and unto God what is God's.

When God means to punish a nation, He deprives its rulers of wisdom.

He who lends to the poor get his interest from God.

Before God and the bus driver we are all equal.

When God gives hard bread he gives sharp teeth.

Where God builds a church, the devil builds a chapel.

Liberty is God's gift, liberties the devil s.

Where God gives hard bread He also gives sharp teeth.

What God haith joined together, let no man put asunder.

Places are God's; placemen are the devil's.

When God says To-day, the devil says To-morrow.

Every man for himself, and God for us all.

Where God bestows an office, he provides brains to fill it.

There is nothing for which the boors pray so much to God as that the horses of the squirearchy may not die, for otherwise they would ride the boors with spurs.

Old pottage is sooner heated than new made.

We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.

He who blows on the fire will get sparks in his eyes.

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No armour is proof against the gallows.

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A man has two ears and one mouth that he hear much and speak little.

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He who borrows sells his freedom.

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Nature draws stronger then seven oxen.

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One must glean at harvest time.

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The devil dances in an empty pocket.

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A little spark kindles a great fire.

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Nothing looks so like a man of sense as a fool who holds his tongue.

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Bear and bull catch no fox.

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Where might is the master, justice is the servant.

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Nothing is so new as what has long been forgotten.

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He that is born to be hanged will never be drowned.

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Nothing dries sooner than tears.

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Where all adulterers to wear grey coats, the cloth would be dear.

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Ambition and fleas jump high.

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Not too little, not too much.

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When two dogs fight for a bone, and the third runs off with it, there's a lawyer among the dogs.

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When the lords come out of the council-house, they are wiser than when they went in.

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Wherever there is a pretty spot, the devil plants a monastery or a lord.

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He that has lost his credit is dead to the world.

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The world likes to have night-owls, that it may have matter for wonder.

A baptised Jew is a circumcised Christian.

The wind does not always blow from the same quarter.

Mother's truth keeps constant youth.

Business before pleasure.

The unexpected always happens.

More is to be got from one teacher than from two books.

He who handle pitch besmears himself.

The sweetest grapes hang highest.

More belongs to riding than a pair of boots.

Good counsel never comes too late.

The skinnier the dog, the more fleas he has.

More afraid than hurt.

Continual cheerfulness is a sign of wisdom.

The repeated stroke will fell the oak.

He who has lost his freedom has nothing else to lose.

Monks, mice, rats, vermin, seldom sunder without harming.

The pitcher goes so often to the well, that it gets broken at last.

Between neighbours' gardens a hedge is not amiss.

Money leant to a friend must be recovered from an enemy.

The only real equality is in the cemetery.

A woman and a glass are always in danger.

The oldest trees often bear the sweetest fruit.

Misreckoning is no payment.

He who has once invited the devil into his house, will never be rid of him.

The old forget, the young don't know.

Mind your own business.

The narrower the cage, the sweeter the liberty.

A cat is a lion to mouse.

Gold may be bought too dear.

The more shepherds there are, the worse the flocks are watched.

Millers, tailors, and weavers are not hanged, or the trade would soon be extinct.

He who has victory, has right.

The more law, the less justice.

Merchant to-day, beggar to-morrow.

Between wrangling and disputing truth is lost.

Marrying in the blood is never good.

The laugh is always on the loser.

A woman, a dog, and a walnut tree, the more you beat them the better they be.

The husband's mother is the wife's devil.

Marry in haste repent at leisure.

He who is his own teacher, has a fool for his pupil.

The horse that draws best is the most whipped.

The higher the bell is hung, the shriller it sounds.

Many who build castles in the air cannot build a hut on earth.

Beware of laughing hosts and weeping priests.

The hen likes to lay in a nest where there are eggs already.

Many take by the bushel, and give with the spoon.

He who laughs last, laughs longest.

The greatest wealth is contentment with a little.

A bargain is a bargain.

The fish lead a pleasant life, they drink when they like.

Many shun the sword, and come to the gallows.

He who listens to a proposition is already half sold.

The fault of another is a good teacher.

Marriage is the opposite to a fever attack; it begins very hot and ends very cold.

Bought wisdom is best.

The fat is in the fire.

Many people preach righteousness and perform sins.

The farthest way about is the nearest way home.

He who lives on hope, dies of hunger.

The eyes believe themselves; the ears believe other people.

Many hounds are the death of the hare.

The eye is bigger than the belly.

The end of wrath is the beginning of repentance.

Count your blessings.

The egg will be more knowing than the hen.

Many go out for wool, and come home shorn.

The drunken mouth reveals the heart's secrets.

He who makes himself nothing, is nothing.

The dog that starts the hare is as good as the one that catches it.

As soon a man is born he begins to die.

The dog rages at the stone, not at him that throws it.

Many children, and little bread, is a painful pleasure.

The devil makes work for idle hands.

He who pays well may borrow again.

The devil lurks behind the cross.

Many can help one.

The devil likes to souse what is already wet.

Birds of prey do not sing.

The devil is in the details.

Many a good cow has a bad calf.

The devil finds work for idle hands to do.

He who ploughs with young oxen, makes crooked furrows.

The devil catches most souls in a golden net.

The cows that low most give the least milk.

The cow gives milk through her mouth.

A cat may look at a king.

The concealer is as bad as the thief.

The cock is king on his own dunghill.

He who prates much, lies much.

The chickens don't mourn when the poulterer dies.

Credit is better than ready money.

The cats that drive away mice are as food as those that catch them.

Make yourself an ass, and every one will lay his sack on you.

Full vessels give the least sound.

The bridge between joy and sorrow is not long. Confidence begets confidence.

Make the cap fit the head.

The biggest fools are those who are paid to be wise.

A lean agreement is better than a fat lawsuit.

He who saves in little things, can be liberal in great ones.

The best way to learn to ride is on an old bike.

Maids say nay, and take.

The best is what one has in his hand.

A young wife is an old man's post-horse to the grave.

The best is the cheapest.

Lying is the first step to the gallows.

The best friends are in one's purse.

He who shoots often, hits at last.

The best answer to anger is silence.

Luck seeks those who flee and flees those who seek it.

The belly has no conscience.

Black cows give white milk.

The beginning hot, the middle lukewarm, the end cold.

Loving and singing are not to be forced.

The beadle's cow may graze in the churchyard.

He who spares vice wrongs virtue.

The bailiff's cow and another's cow are two different cows.

The ass loaded with gold still eats thistles.

As the old cock crows so crows the young.

The ass bedecked with gold still eats thistles.

Free man, free goods.

The anvil is used to noise.

The anvil fears no blow.

He who stops half way is only half in error.

Cunning surpasses strength.

That usury is a sin some hold, but take for granted they've no gold.

That is not in the looking-glass which is seen in the looking-glass.

Tell no tales out of school.

Tell a lie, and you'll hear the truth.

A bashful dog never fattens.

Talking is easier than doing, and promising than performing.

He who tickles himself may laugh when he pleases.

Take the world as it is, not as it ought to be.

Take care of your plough, and your plough will take care of you.

Forgiven is not forgotten.

Take a horse to the knacker, and throw in bridle and saddle.

Sweet song has betrayed many.

Bolt a door with a boiled carrot.

Summer sown corn and women's advice turn out once in every seven years.

Sue a beggar and get a louse.

He who treads on eggs, must tread lightly.

Sudden trust brings sudden repentance.

Look not out for dead men's shoes.

Such as the man is, such will be his discourse.

A better seldom comes after.

Success has many fathers.

Forever is a long bargain.

Strong folks have strong maladies.

Look before you leap, For snakes among sweet flowers do creep.

Stretch yourself according to your cover-lid.

He who wants a fire must be able to bear smoke.

Street angel, house devil.

Daughters are easy to rear, but hard to marry.

Store is no sore.

Long is not for ever.

Standing pools gather filth.

Affectation is a greater injury to the face than small-pox.

Stagnant water grows stinking.

Long fasting is no economy of food.

Spend not, where you may save; spare not, where you must spend.

He who wipes the child's nose, means to kiss the mother's cheek.

Speaking comes by nature, silence by understanding.

Long borrowed is not given.

Speak little, speak truth. Spend little, pay cash.

As the twig is bent, so is the tree inclined.

Sorrow does not pay any debts.

Live and let live.

Sometimes the whole nation has to pay for the foolish deed of one man.

For rich and poor alike the womb is equally warm.

Solitude is the nurse of wisdom.

Deferred is not annulled.

So many mists in March, so many frosts in May.

Little folks are fond of talking about what great folks do.

So many men, so many minds.

He who would climb the ladder must begin at the bottom.

So long as the belly is silent all whores are virgins.

Little drops of water, little grains of sand, make the mighty ocean and the pleasant land.

So it goes in the world: one has the purse, the other has the gold.

A single stroke don't fell the oak.

Small saints too work miracles.

Little and often fills the purse.

Small profits and often, are better than large profits and seldom.

He who would make a golden door must add a nail to it daily.

Slow help is no help.

Like blood, like means, and like age, make the happiest marriage.

Sloth is the mother of poverty.

Fools refuse favours.

Slaughter no more than you can well salt.

Lightly come, lightly go.

Sin when you are drunk, pay the fine when you are sober.

A clean mouth and honest hand, will take a man through any land.

Silk and velvet put out the kitchen fire.

He whose mistress squints, says the ogles.

Sickly body, sickly mind.

Light come, light go.

Short reckonings make long friends.

Fools build houses, wise men buy them.

Shoemaker stick to your last.

Lies melt the snow.

Shake hands at the beginning and at the end.

Distance lends enchantment to the view.

Set a thief to catch a thief.

Set a beggar on horseback, and he 'll out ride the Devil.

Herod and Pilate are good friends.

Let your trouble tarry till its own day comes.

Services unrequired go unrequited.

A blind horse goes straightforward.

Self-praise stinks, friends praise hinks, the stranger's is sincere, and may last for a year.

Let your head be more than a funnel to your stomach.

Self-done, is soon done.

Five fingers hold more than two forks.

He dances well to whom fortune pipes.

Security is the first cause of misfortune.

Let the devil get into the church, and he will mount the altar.

Scratching and borrowing do well enough, but not for long.

High houses are mostly empty in the upper story.

A clear conscience is a soft pillow.

Saying and doing are two things.

Let sleeping dogs lie.

Satiety causes disgust.

Do what thou doest.

Salt and bread make the cheeks red.

Let not thy right hand know what thy left hand doeth.

Saint Martin was an easy man, he loved to drink Cerevisiam; and when he'd no Pecuniam, he left in pledge his Tunicam.

Hobby horses are more expensive than Arabian stallions.

Said in sport, meant in earnest.

As you make your bed so you must lie upon it.

Right is with the strongest.

Let him that itches scratch himself.

Riches abuse them who know not how to use them.

First look at home, then censure me.

Honey is never far away from the sting.

Rich gamblers and old trumpeters are rare.

Let every man carry his own sack to the mill.

Revenge remains not unrevenged.

After dinner stand a while, or walk nearly half a mile.

Revenge is sweet.

Learned fools exceed all fools.

Revenge in cold blood is the devil's own act and deed.

However long the sun shines upon a thistle, it will never become a rose.

Revenge converts a little right into a great wrong.

Dogs that bark much don't bite.

Rest breeds rust.

Lean liberty is better than fat slavery.

Repentance is the heart's medicine.

Hunger is the best cook, but he has nothing to eat.

Rejoiced in youth, repented in age.

A blind leader of the blind.

Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.

Lawyers are bad Christians.

Raise no more devils than you can lay.

Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is.

Quick enough, if but good enough.

Late fruit keeps well.

Quick believers need broad shoulders.

A close mouth and open eyes never did any one harm.

Put the light out, and all women are alike.

Hunger leads the wolf to the village.

Prudent pauses forward business.

Don't cry before you are hurt.

Prudent men choose frugal wives.

Kissing don't last but cooking do.

Promises may make friends, but 'tis performances that keep them.

A blind man swallows many a fly.

Hussars pray for war, and the doctor for fever.

Promises have legs. Only a gift has hands.

Keep within compass and you may be sure, That you will not suffer what others endure.

Promises are like the full moon: if they are not kept at once they diminish day by day.

Fair hair may hae foul roots.

Priests should not prate out of the confessional.

I rest, therefore I rust.

Great thieves hang little thieves.

Priests even smile pleasantly on young women.

Agree, for the law is costly.

Priests and women never forget.

Justice has a waxen nose.

Priestly knaves sweat hard at their meat, but never at work get into a heat.

Don't fly till your wings are feathered.

Presents keep friendship warm.

I will not change a cottage in possession for a kingdom in reversion.

Praising is not loving.

A penny saved is two-pence got.

Joy and sorrow are to-day and to-morrow.

Praise a fair day at night.

Eyes trust themselves, ears trust others.

Practice not your art, and it will soon depart.

Idleness has poverty for wages. Idleness has poverty for wages.

Poverty is the sixth sense.

A close mouth catcheth no flies.

Poverty craves many things, but avarice more.

Jealousy is a pain which eagerly seeks what causes pain.

Poor people's words go many to a sackful.

Everyone wipes his feet on poverty.

Politeness travels on short fares.

Jealousy is a pain seeking its cause.

Play not with a man till you hurt him, nor jest till you shame him.

Don't reckon without your host.

If a man would know what he is, let him anger his neighbours.

Pilgrims seldom come home saints.

Jack gets on by his stupidity.

Piety, prudence, wit, and civility, are the elements of true nobility.

Assertion is no proof.

People talk about something until it actually happens.

If fools were to eat no bread, corn would be cheap.

People often change and seldom for the better.

Everybody knows good counsel except him who has need of it.

Penny is penny's brother.

Never fight an enemy whilst it is possible to cheat him.

It's hard to scare a person who thinks he will benefit from dying.

Peacock, look at your legs.

A bold does not always fall when it thunders.

Pay in like coin.

If I cannot move the powers above, Acheron itself shall be appealed to.

Patience is a bitter plant but it has a sweet fruit.

Dreams are froth.

Paper is patient.

It's a sin to steal a pin.

Painted flowers are scentless.

Adam must have an Eve, to blame for his own faults.

Women only keep quiet about their age.

Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee.

If the brain sows not corn, it plants thistles.

Out of the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.

Every one thinks his own a falcon.

Out of a little grass comes a great ass.

It's a bad bridge that is narrower than the stream.

Our neighbor's children are always the worst.

At night all cats are grey.

Opportunity only knocks once.

If the servant grows rich and the master poor, they are both good for nothing.

Opportunity makes the thief.

Drive gently over the stones.

Only when the horses have escaped do men repair the stable.

It is not want but abundance that makes avarice.

Only believe in the faith of a woman as you would believe in miracles.

Every one counts for as much as he has.

One wedge drives another.

If there be a hell, Rome is built over it.

One to-day is better than ten to-morrows.

All are not free who mock their chains.

One swallow does not make a spring.

It is not enough to aim, you must hit.

One should be born either a king or a fool.

Even a hair casts its shadow.

Women are never at a loss for words.

One scabbed sheep will infect a whole flock.

If you are an anvil, be patient; if you are a hammer, strike hard.

One rotten egg spoils the whole pudding.

Advice should precede the act.

One must plough with the horses he has.

It is more painful to do nothing than something.

One must either be the hammer or the anvil.

Every man is dearest to himself.

One may buy gold too dear.

If you don't like the heat, get out of the kitchen.

One man's story is no story; hear both sides.

Dumb dogs and still water are dangerous.

The devil is never so black as he is painted.

One man knocks in the nail, and another hangs his hat on it.

It is idle to swallow the cow and choke on the tail.

One log does not burn long by itself.

Even the devil is beautiful when he is young. *

One knife whets another.

If you don't want to be hung yourself, blame the dog for stealing the sausage.

One kisses the child for the mother's sake, and the mother for the child's sake.

A flatterer has water in one hand and fire in the other.

One has only to die to be praised.

It is hard to steal where the host himself is a thief.

One half the world laughs at the other half.

Enough is better than too much.

One hair of a woman draws more than a bell-rope.

If you put out another's candle, you also will be in the dark.

One fool praises another.

Bacchus hath drowned more men than Neptune.

Make yourself a sheep and the wolf will eat you.

Young saint, old devil.

One foe is too many, and a hundred friends are too few.

It is good to sleep in a whole skin.

One enemy can harm you more than a hundred friends can do you good.

Every light is not the sun.

Young drinkers, old beggars.

Old people see best in the distance.

One does evil enough when one does nothing good.

If you want to be old, hang yourself when you are young.

One crow does not make a winter.

You have to take it as it happens, but you should try to make it happen the way you want to take it.

Advising is often better than fighting.

Gifts are according to the giver.

One catches the hare, another eats it.

You can eat and drink with your family but not count and measure.

It is easier to descend than ascend.

Eagles don't catch flies.

The nearer the bone, the sweeter the flesh.

One can speak and seven can sing.

Sweat makes good mortar.

If you would have the lamp burn, you must pour oil into it.

You are still a slave if only your limbs are free.

One marriage is never celebrated but another grows out of it.

One bee is as good as a handful of flies.

All ask if a man be rich, no one if he be good.

One beats the bush, and another catches the bird.

In America an hour is forty minutes.

Workmen are easier found than masters.

One bad apple spoils the bunch.

Eat your fish while it is still fresh and marry the girl while she is still young.

Words are good, but fowls lay eggs.

Once upon a time, no time.

Words of snow, which fell last year.

It is dear honey that must be licked off thorns.

Once bit, twice shy.

Women prefer to be beautiful rather than good.

A lot will stick to dirty hands. A lot will stick to dirty hands.

German Proverb in English

Bad money always comes back.

Once a thief, always a thief.

In bad luck, hold out; in good luck, hold in.

Old age is no protection against foolishness.

On Saint Thomas the Divine kill all turkeys, geese and swine.

Women and fishes are best in the middle.

Even the lion must defend himself against the flies.

Old wounds easily bleed.

Wine upon beer is very good cheer; beer upon wine consider with fear.

It is better to deal with a whole fool than half a fool.

Old thieves make good jailers.

All had rather it were well for themselves than for another.

To-day red, to-morrow dead.

Whose bread I eat, his song I sing.

Old pigs have hard snouts.

It is bad baking without flour and water.

No diadem can cure a headache.

Whoever cares to learn will always find a teacher.

Old oxen tread hard.

A woman and a stove may not leave the house.

Barren corn makes bitter bread.

Old crows are hard to catch.

Who would be young in age, must in youth be sage.

Drive not a second nail till the first be clinched.

In the evening one may praise the day.

Old birds are hard to pluck.

Who takes the child by the hand takes the mother by the heart.

Every herring must hang by its own gill.

Old age is a disease that you die from.

It is a poor fox that has but one hole.

One bird in the dish is better than a hundred in the air.

Who receives, should thank; who gives, should be silent.

Office without pay makes thieves.

All's well that ends well. All's well that ends well.

The acre of laziness is full of thistles.

Offend one monk, and the lappets of all cowls will flutter as far as Rome.

Who loves ugliness will not encounter beauty.

In the visible church the true Christians are invisible.

Of what use is it that the cow gives plenty of milk, if she upset the pail.

One story is good till another is told.

Early to rise and late to bed, lifts again the debtor's head.

Of big words and feathers may go to the pound.

He who likes cherries soon learns to climb.

A woman and a stove may not leave the house.

Who has tasted a sour apple, will have the more relish for a sweet one.

Intelligence is the best capital.

Nowhere are there more hiding places than in the heart.

Who demands justice, must administer justice.

The more haste, the less speed.

A country can be judged by the quality of its proverbs.

Nought is never in danger.

He has beans in his ears.

It is a bad hen that lays in neighbour's houses.

Who begins amiss ends amiss.