Wisdom Proverbs

You cannot teach an old dog new tricks

You cannot easily make people change their usual habits, especially when people have been doing something for a long time. As people get older... Read more →

Don’t have too many irons in the fire

If we attempt to do to much at once, we shall not do anything properly, because He who begins many things, finishes but few. In the old days... Read more →

Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water

In achieving your aim (of pouring away the bath water), make sure you don't do something else (pouring away the baby) that more than cancels out... Read more →

Better be sure than sorry

It is better to be safe than to do anything that may place us in dangerous position. Here 'sure' is used in a old sense of 'safe', 'free from... Read more →

One foot is better than two crutches

We should be thankful for what we have, even though it is less than than we would like. The proverb means the same as Half a loaf is better than... Read more →

Respect is greater from a distance

A man who keeps himself apart from other people is more likely to be held in high esteem than one who lowers himself by mixing with every Tom,... Read more →

Knowledge is power

The greater our knowledge, the greater our influence on others. The phrase implies that with knowledge or education one's potential or... Read more →

Familiarity breeds contempt

Familiarity means 'close acquaintance'. In human relationships it may lead to undue intimacy, as when a master treats his servants with so much... Read more →

The last straw breaks the camel’s back

If you increase a camel's burden straw by straw, eventually you will load him one straw too many that his back will be broken. The phrase 'the... 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 →