Proverbs starting with letter L

Love your neighbour, yet pull not down your fence

This means the same as A hedge between keeps friendship green.

Love will find a way

Love has such power that it will overcome all difficulties.

The love of money is the root of all evil

All kinds of wickedness and tribulation spring from the desire to become rich. Note that it is the love of money that is the root of all evil, not money itself. 'Money is the root of all evil 'is a... Read more →

Love me, love my dog

Dr Brewer wrote of this: 'If you love me you must put up with my faults, my little ways, or (sometimes) my friends. A rather selfish maxim!'

Love me little, love me long

Do not let your passion for a person become too strong, for it may soon burn itself out. Mild affection is more likely to be long-lived. In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Father Laurence advises... Read more →

Love laughs at locksmiths

This means much the same as Love will find a way. The source is Venus and Adonis, the long poem by Shakespeare: Were beauty under twenty locks kept fast, Yet love breaks through, and picks them all... Read more →

Love is blind

Those in love are blind to each other's faults. Modern-day research supports the view that the blindness of love is not just a figurative matter. A research study in 2004 by University College... Read more →

Lookers-on see most of the game

Those watching the game get a better impression of what is going on than those taking part in it. They have a wider view than have the individual players, and more often than not have no hesitation... Read more →

Look before you leap

Never act hastily. Consider carefully what you are going to do before you do it. It might be said that this contradicts the other proverb He who hesitates is lost, but this is not necessarily so; if... Read more →

The longest way round is the nearest way home

Shorts cuts can involve one in difficulties. It is better to follow the correct procedure in anything than to try to save time by scamping the work. For example, it may seem quicker to redecorate the... Read more →