Make the best of a bad job
Here 'job' does not refer to working, but to a state of affairs. To make the best of a bad job is to accept one's present position with the... Read more →
Make the best of a bad bargain
Here 'bargain' does not refer to something bought cheaply, but to an agreement made between two parties. When one party realizes too late that... Read more →
Make hay while the sun shines
Do not wait until tomorrow, for a rain may ruin the harvest. By extension this means that we should always take advantage of favorable... Read more →
Necessity is the mother of invention
Here 'mother' means something that gives rise to something else. If we do not really need a thing, the lack of it does not trouble us, but when... Read more →
The nearer the church, the farther from God
This proverb springs from the idea that true religion cannot be satisfactorily organized into a church. It suggests that those most closely... Read more →
Once bitten, twice shy
If we have had an unpleasant experience, we are very anxious to avoid a repetition. 'Mr Saunders,' said the schoolmistress, 'we are talking... Read more →
An old poacher makes the best gamekeeper
A poacher illegally kills and steals animals on someone else's land, and a gamekeeper's job is to stop this from happening. He knows all the... Read more →
Per ardua ad astra
It is the Latin for Through hardship to the stars. This is one of those proverbs that have remained more common in their original form than in... Read more →
The pen is mightier than the sword
The written word is more to be feared than the physical force. 'Tyranny has not enemy as formidable as the pen,' wrote William Cobbett , and... Read more →
The receiver is as bad as the thief
If a man buys or otherwise acquires anything that he knows has been stolen, he is as guilty as the person who stole it. In the same way, if one... Read more →