50 classic English proverbs

1. Waste not, want not. Be frugal to prevent scarcity.

2. From saving comes having. Wealth comes from frugality.

3. A penny saved is a penny gained. A penny saved is a penny gained.

4. Take care of the pence and the pound will take care of themselves.

5. Frugality is an estate alone. Frugality is an estate alone.

6. He that regards not a penny, will lavish a pound. If you don’t know how to save small money, you will spend big money indiscriminately.

7. Small gains bring great wealth. Accumulate small profits and become huge wealth.

8. Many a little makes a mickle.

9. As the touchstone tries gold, so gold tries man.

10. Courage and resolution are the spirit and soul of virtue. Courage and resolution are the spirit and soul of virtue.

11. The path to glory is always rugged.

12. Nothing is difficult to the man who will try.

13. The fire is the test of gold; adversity of strong man.

14. Great hopes make great man.

15. No way is impossible to courage.

16. A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner.

17. The good seaman is known in bad weather.

18. The best hearts are always the bravest.

19. We must not lie down, and cry, God help us. It is better to ask God than to ask ourselves.

20. He that falls today may be up again tomorrow. He that falls today may be up again tomorrow.

21. Rome was not built in a day. Rome was not built in a day; perseverance will make it happen.

22. Success belongs to the persevering. Victory belongs to the persevering.

23. We must repeat a thousand and one times that perseverance is the only road to success.

24. Perseverance is failing nineteen times and succeeding the twentieth. Failure nineteen times and succeeding the twentieth time, this is called persistence.

25. Step by step the ladder is ascended. Step by step the ladder is ascended.

26. Adversity leads to prosperity. Adversity leads to prosperity.

27. Patience and application will carry us through. Patience and concentration will carry us through.

28. Fortune often rewards with interest those that have patience to wait for her. As long as you have patience to wait for her.

29. All things will come round to him who will but wait. As long as you are willing to wait, everything will come on time.

30. Constant dropping wears the stone. Constant dropping wears the stone.

31. Omelets are not made without breaking of eggs. If the eggs are not broken, the egg rolls cannot be made; if you are not willing to endure hardship, the expected effect will not be achieved.

32. The world is a ladder for some to go up and others to go down.

33. There needs a long apprenticeship to understand the mystery of the world's trade.

34. Life is sweet. Life is lovely; everyone hates life (hates death).

35. Where there is life, there is hope. Life never ends, but hope lasts.

36. Life is not all beer and skittles. Life is not all about eating, drinking and having fun.

37. Much water runs by the mill that the miller knows not of. Many things happen before our eyes, some of which we do not know.

38. Fortune knocks once at least at every man's door. Everyone has a lucky day.

39. If you are too fortunate, you will not know yourself; if you are too unfortunate, no one will know you. If you are too lucky, no one will pay attention to you; if you are too lucky, no one will pay attention to you.

40. Every man is the architect of his own fortune. Every man is the architect of his own fortune.

41. Happy is he who knows his follies in his youth. Happy is he who knows his follies in his youth.

42. Misfortunes never (seldom) come alone (single).

Misfortunes never come alone (single).

43. Misfortune is a good teacher. Misfortune is a good teacher.

44. Misfortunes come at night. Misfortunes often arise from unexpected events.

45. Misfortunes tell us what fortune is. Only after misfortune strikes us do we realize how valuable luck is.

46. Adversity makes a man wise, not rich. Adversity can make a man wise, but not rich.

47. Live and learn. Live and learn.

48. It is never too old to learn. Don’t be afraid of getting older to learn.

49. A man becomes learned by asking questions. If you want to learn more, you have to ask more;

50. There is no royal road to learning. There is no smooth road to learning.

Answer: Robin_1120 - Magic Apprentice Level 2-10 17:52

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Commenter: feifei_manman - Probation Level 1

A rolling stone has no moss. Rot. (A rolling stone gathers no moss) Every dog ??has its day. Everyone has his day when he is proud. Man proposes God disposes. Man proposes and God disposes.

Commenter: Cat's Name - Probation Level 1

thank you

Commenter: Bing Meng Feifei - Probation Level 1

More gt; gt;

Other answers*** 5

1. A man is not old as long as he is seeking something. A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams (J. Barrymore)

As long as a person still pursues, he will not grow old. No one is old until regrets replace dreams.

(Barrymore)

As long as is a frequently used conjunction with two meanings. The first means since, because, is close to since, such as As long as you've offered this sports car, I'll accept it. Since you offered me this sports car, I'll accept it. The second meaning means as long as it introduces a conditional adverbial clause. This meaning is more common than the first one, which is the usage in proverbs.

For example, I'll let her go as long as you give me ten thousand pounds. As long as you give me ten thousand pounds, I will let her go. At this time, it can often be replaced by provided that. I'll let her go provided that you give me ten thousand pounds. But obviously, provided that is more formal.

There is also a phrase in this sentence: take the place of, which means to replace. The the here must not be omitted. For example: The computer is taking the place of TV in our lives. Another example: The word "replace" could take the place of "take the place of" in the above example. Are you a little confused? In the above example, take the place of can also be replaced by replace.

2. A good education gives a man a great pull.

A good education is crucial to people. (A good education brings great benefits to people.)

The pull in this sentence has its own special usage. Pull is usually used as a verb, meaning to drag, pull, or lead; but pull here is a noun usage, and it means influence, informal special influence that gives you some advantage (favorable conditions, influence).

This sentence shows that in addition to being influenced by innateness, a person's success is also indispensable with good education.

Let's look at the following sentence:

The name of his family gives him a lot of pull in this town.

In this town, His surname has brought him many benefits.

3. Take no thought for tomorrow. Don’t worry about tomorrow.

This sentence comes from the Bible, which means that everything in the future is arranged by God, so there is no need to worry about tomorrow.

4. The course of true love never did run smooth.

This sentence comes from Shakespeare's work "A Midsummer Night Dream" (A Midsummer Night Dream). Literally translated as true love often goes through many setbacks.

Course here does not mean course, but process, process, and journey. Smooth-free from problems or difficulties, no problems, no difficulties, smooth.

Only love that has gone through hardships and hardships is true love, and it will make us know how to cherish it better.

5. Birds of a feather flock together. Birds of a feather flock together. Birds of a feather flock together.

A feather, here refers to having the same feathers. Flock, a flock of birds, the phrase a flock of can be interpreted as a group of people, a group of people.

To put it more simply, birds with the same feathers gather together. Don't think that everyone is like-minded. In fact, this sentence is usually used in a derogatory sense, meaning "we are all in the same boat." So we should pay special attention when using this proverb in the future.

6. Quality is better than quantity. Quality is better than quantity.

Quality--the degree to which something is excellent; stand of goodness quality, quality; Quantity--the fact of being measurable; amount quantity.

I think everyone knows that there is a saying in philosophy that only quantitative accumulation can make a qualitative leap. It shows that the accumulation of quantity is also very important, but while accumulating quantity, do not ignore the quality requirements.

7. A hedge between keeps friendship green.

Hedge, as a noun here, is interpreted as a hedge or obstacle, that is, something used for isolation. Here I will teach you another phrase. How to express the "two boats with one foot" that we usually say in English? That is Hedge one's bet. Hedge here is used as a verb, which means to bet on both sides to prevent losses. By extension, it means "stepping on two boats".

This sentence actually means "the friendship between gentlemen is as light as water".

Similar expressions: Good fences make good neighbors.

8. The only way to differentiate yourself from the competition is through service.

Only service can It really sets you apart from the competition.

Differentiate means to distinguish and differentiate, and is often used together with from and between. For example: I can't differentiate between rose and Chinese rose. I can't differentiate between rose and Chinese rose. This sentence can also be said as I can't differentiate rose from Chinese rose.

But the meaning of differentiated in this famous saying is different from the meaning of this example sentence. It means "to make a difference, to have a difference." characteristics that distinguish it from others." So this sentence means that under fierce competition, only high-quality and distinctive services can enable an enterprise to show its difference among many competitors and gain a place in the competition.

When participating in an interview, you might as well ask yourself "What differentiates me from other candidates for the position?"

9. Better an open enemy than a false friend. to false friends.

This sentence also implies another meaning, which is what we Chinese often say: "It is easy to hide from an open gun, but difficult to guard against a hidden arrow."

Open-actions, feelings, or intentions that are not hidden or secret; open, as an adjective here. It should be noted that when open is used as an adjective, it can only be placed in front of a noun, for example: an open secret is an open secret;

False-untrue, false, hypocritical, untrue;

Better...than is a comparative sentence pattern, which means better than....

10. Pleasant hours fly fast. Good times are the easiest to pass by.

Pleasant: pleasant, beautiful; fly: fly by, here to describe time passing quickly, and other usages like this are: Time flies. (Time flies).

This proverb tells us that happy time will pass by inadvertently, and we should cherish every beautiful moment.

11. Joys shared with others are more enjoyed. Joys shared with others are endless.

Share with: share with...***; share.

For example:

I'd like to share the pie with you. I'd like to share this pie with you.

In daily life we ??often hear such questions: Can you tell me what is a true joy?

Whenever we hear such questions, we are always speechless. , I don’t know how to answer.

Now we can give "true joy" a definition: Joys shared with others are more enjoyed.

12. Wonders will never cease. The emergence of miracles will never cease.

Wonder, something that makes you feel surprise and admiration; miracle; spectacle; wonder. To create miracles, we can say: do wonders or make wonders; for a wonder means strange and unexpected.

Cease, to stop doing something; to stop; to terminate.

The rain has ceased. The rain has ceased.

Without cease means ceaselessly.

I wonder if you have noticed that such a word often appears in English news: cease-fire, an agreement to stop fighting for a period of time, especially so that a more permanent agreement can be made. In fact, it is a ceasefire. meaning.

This proverb tells us that we should never give up our hope, because wonders will never cease.

13. Hitch your wagon to star. . /People should be ambitious.

This sentence means that people must have lofty ideals and aspire to transcend all worldly things.

Hitch, to fasten something, is interpreted here as being hooked; being tied; being trapped. Hitch...to... means to tie...to. This word also has many interpretations:

(1) a problem that delays something for a short time. Fault; obstacle. For example: The discussion ended successfully. We can express it like this: The discussion passed off without a hitch.

(2)informal to ask for a free ride from the drivers of passing cars by putting your hat out with your thumb raised. . We call free riders: hitchhiker.

Wagon, a strong vehicle with four wheels, used for carrying heavy loads and usually pulled by horse; a large open container pulled by a train, used for carrying goods. (in BrE), refers to a carriage; in British English, it refers to a (railway) wagon.

Everyone needs to pay special attention when using this proverb. Although this sentence means that people should be ambitious, it may also have a derogatory meaning, that is: so ambitious.

14. I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions. ----- Hellman

I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions. ----Herman

Conscience means the awareness of a moral or ethical aspect to one's conduct together with the urge to prefer right over wrong, conscience is the urge to do good rather than evil. The ethical or moral awareness of instinctive behavior. For example: Let your conscience be your guide. Let your conscience guide you. His conscience troubled him after he took the money. After he took the money, his conscience troubled him. What we often say is to accord with one's conscience, and to have a clear [good] conscience.

About this word, there are the following idioms:

A good conscience is a constant feast. (=A good conscience is a soft pillow.)

A clear conscience, a peace of mind.

A guilty conscience is a self-accuser. (=A guilty conscience needs no accuser.)

A guilty conscience is a self-accuser.

A quiet conscience sleeps in thunder. If you have done nothing wrong, you are not afraid of ghosts calling at the door.

get sth. off one's conscience to relieve the burden on conscience

have the conscience (to do; to say sth.) to be so shameless (to do, to say... )

in all conscience say with conscience, really, indeed, definitely

make sth. a matter of conscience treat (do) something with conscience

In addition, in spoken language, we can say My conscience! This means ah! Ai! Good guy! (To express surprise, regret, etc.).

This motto actually talks about a kind of perseverance and unyielding character.

15. Dying is as natural as living. Life and death are the laws of nature. /Life and death are destiny, wealth and honor are in heaven.

Dying, here refers to death. Be dying for/to, to have a real wish for/to (informal), (informal) I wish I could smoke it right away; I wish I could smoke it immediately. I wish I could smoke it immediately.

As natural as, as common as..., as normal. As...as means the same as..., the middle must be the original form of the adjective. For example: as big as is as big as...; as fast as is as fast as....

Living, living; alive. This word can also be interpreted as existing; current; in use. A living language.

This proverb tells us that life and death are part of the laws of nature. Death is inevitable and not terrible.

16. The great end of life is not knowledge but action. ----- Huxley

The great end of life is not knowledge but action. -----Huxley

Knowledge:

1. Understanding, understanding. For example: A baby has no knowledge of good and evil. A child does not understand good and evil.

2. all that a person knows familiarity gained by experience personal knowledge, for example: I have only a limited knowledge of computers. My computer knowledge is very limited.

3. everything that is known, organized body of information. Knowledge, knowledge, knowledge. For example: all branches of knowledge.

The commonly used collocations of knowledge are as follows:

be common/public knowledge

It's pointless trying to keep your friendship secret----it's common knowledge already.

Come to somebody's knowledge

It has come to our knowledge that you have been cheating the company. We understand that you have been cheating the company.

This motto actually tells us that we must do things practically, and just talking on paper is not enough.

17. A man without distant care must have near sorrow.

Distant-the amount of space between two places or things, far, far away. Examples: A distant relative; distant control; long distance phone call.

Care usually means taking care of; managing; or being careful. For example: Give more care to your spelling. Pay more attention to your spelling. Care here means worry; worry; care. Let's look at some examples: be free from all care/Care had aged him. Care had aged him.

Sorrow-a feeling of great sadness, usually because someone has died or because something terrible has happened to you, sadness, sadness. Convert sorrows into strength. Convert sorrows into strength.

Social competition is becoming increasingly fierce, and people are under increasing pressure. There are not a few people who have both long-term and short-term worries. I sincerely hope that everyone can relax and live comfortably.

18. Self-distrust is the cause of most of our failures.

Most of our failures are due to lack of self-confidence.

Distrust - a feeling that you cannot trust someone, distrust, suspicion. Have a distrust of somebody / something, doubt about someone (something). Self-distrust means lack of self-confidence. On the contrary, self-confidence is full of confidence. There are many phrases composed of self-structure, such as: self-dramatizing; self-educated; self-financing; self-glorifying; etc.

Cause, reason. the cause of, is the cause of...

Failure is the noun form of the verb fail, which is interpreted as failure. Failure is the mother of success. Failure is the mother of success. It can also be interpreted as a failed person; a failed attempt: He is a failure as an artist. He is a failure as an artist. Fail means failure or inability; forget. Don't fail to ring me up. Don't forget to call me.

This proverb tells us that we must be confident when doing anything.

19. Some people pretend to despise the things they cannot have. ---- Aesop

People who cannot eat grapes say grapes are sour. ----Aesop

pretend means make pretensions, which means pretending.

Here, let’s take a look at the following words: pretend, feign, assume, and affect, all of which mean "pretend".

pretend means "feeling something and pretending to be true in words and deeds", such as: pretend not to hear pretend not to hear.

Feign means "carefully installed or pretending", such as: feign deafness pretending to be deaf.

Assume refers to "pretending to have a certain feeling to hide one's true feelings", such as:

She assumed a look of sorrow. She pretended to be sad.

Affect refers to "pretending to have a certain characteristic or emotion in order to achieve a certain effect", such as: affect a British accent.

20. The secret of success is constancy of purpose.

Secret - something kept hidden or known about by only a few people, secret; confidential. The secret of health; make no secret of something. Make no secret of something.

Constancy - the quality of staying the same even though other things change, firm; steadfast; enduring. Constancy of purpose.

Purpose-the thing that an event, process, or activity is supposed to achieve, or the job that something is supposed to do, intention; purpose. What is his purpose in coming? What is his purpose in coming?

This proverb tells us that if we set goals and persevere, we can successfully complete things.

21. Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the key to it.

Knowledge is a treasure house, but practice is the key to this treasure house.

This sentence is what we have been saying all the time: the mastery of theoretical knowledge must be based on practice. Without practical experience, the knowledge mastered is relatively abstract. Treasure, wealth, treasure means. There is another form of this word treasury, which can be interpreted as treasury, treasury, and also means treasure house. So how should we express the treasury bonds we have been talking about in English? Short-term treasury bills: treasury bill; medium-term treasury bills: treasury note. Since it is interpreted as a treasure house, it means that the things inside are very classic and very precious. It also reminds us of another way of expressing the word collection, which is also treasury.

For example, a collection of Chinese poetry is a treasury of Chinese poetry.

22. A Jack of all trades is master of none.

A Jack of all trades is master of none. / There is no one who knows all kinds of arts.

The Jack here is not the name we usually refer to, but refers to people with no special skills. I think everyone has heard this sentence: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Similarly, Jack here also refers to it in general.

Trade here means - a particular job, especially one needing special skill with your hands. Craftsmanship.

The meaning of this sentence is actually very simple. It is the word "three-legged cat" that is more popular among us now. It seems that just being a "three-legged cat" is not enough. You must have some specialties of your own.

A good education gives a man a great pull.

"When wood is supported by a rope, it becomes straight; when metal is sharpened, it is beneficial; when a gentleman is knowledgeable and examines himself day by day, he will act with knowledge. There is nothing wrong with it. "

Xunzi's "Encouraging Learning"

The meaning is somewhat similar, but Xunzi's is more vivid and easy to understand.

23. Man can climb to the highest summit, but he cannot dwell there long. (Bernard Shaw)

Man can climb to the highest summit, but he cannot dwell there long. (Bernard Shaw)

There are two words worth learning in this proverb, one is summit and the other is dwell. The most basic meaning of Summit is the top, the top, such as: a mountain summit and what can be achieved It means the highest level and degree, such as: summit of career development, summit of ambition, summit of advancement, etc. In addition, summit also means the highest level, the highest level, summit, head of government, and can be used as a noun or as a noun. Make an adjective. The term "summit meeting" that appears frequently comes from summit. It can be said to be summit meeting, summit talk, or directly CEO summit.

Dwell means living in a certain place, implying the meaning of long-term residence. It is a more formal usage, and there are corresponding terms such as dweller resident, dwelling residence, etc. It is common to encounter the phrases dwell on or dwell upon regarding this word. There is almost no difference between the two, meaning to elaborate and discuss in detail. For example: She's dwelling too much on her past. She talked about her past in too much detail.

24. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Spirit, the part of a person's mind that is able to think and will be talked about as clearly opposed to the body. (as opposed to the body) mind, spirit.

Flesh, the physical human body as opposed to the mind or soul. (human) body.

This word comes from the Bible, and it means that one's strength is not enough.

25. He loses all who loses the moment. The opportunity cannot be missed, and the time will never come again.

Moment here cannot be interpreted as a moment, it refers to the time for doing something, the opportunity.

In other words, if you miss an opportunity, you will miss everything. It tells us that we must be prepared every moment in our daily lives and seize the opportunity when it comes. Only in this way will we not have too many regrets in life.

The more common saying in spoken language is: Now or never.

26. Distance lends enchantment to the view. Distance makes the scenery more charming. /The scenery is more beautiful from a distance.

Lend...to..., here does not mean to lend... to..., but should be interpreted as to be suitable for being used in a particular way, to help ; Suitable for; useful to.

Enchantment-a feeling of mystery that strongly interests or attracts you. Charm; charm; pleasure.

View here means scenery. There are many other words for scenery in English, such as scenery; landscape, etc.

This proverb comes from "The Pleasure of Hope" (The Pleasure of Hope) by the Scottish poet Thomas Campbell. Revealing the truth: distance creates beauty; in fact, people should maintain a certain distance when getting along with each other, and intimacy is not necessarily the best way to promote friendship.

This sentence can be studied with reference to the seventh sentence: 7. A hedge between keeps friendship green.

27. Take the rough with the smooth. Accept the situation.

Rough: used as a noun here, translated as difficulty; the suffering aspect (of life); smooth: also used as a noun, meaning smooth and peaceful. There is such a phrase: the roughs and the smooths, which means hardship and smoothness; suffering and happiness; the joys and sorrows of the world.

Nine times out of ten things will go wrong in life. When we encounter such things, we should face them with an optimistic attitude, so that we can live happily.

28. Actions speak louder than words. Actions speak louder than words. /Facts speak louder than words.

This quote is from the American poet Henry Wordsworth Longfell