Proverb Examples from around the world

Proverbs Starting with letter F - part 1
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Faces we (can) see, hearts we don't/can't know.
Fact is stranger than fiction.
Facts are male, words are female.
Fail to steal the chicken while it ate up your bait grain.
Failing to plan is planning to fail.

Failing will make you more determined to succeed the next time you try, or make you put in more effort to get something right with successive attempts.
Failure is not falling down, you fail when you don't get back up.
Failure is the first step to success.
Failure is the stepping stone for success.
Failures are but mileposts on the road to success.
Faint heart ne'er won fair lady.
Faint heart never won fair lady.
Faint hearts never win fair ladies.
Faint praise is akin to abuse.
Faintheart is always in danger.
Fair and softly goes far.
Fair and softly goes far in a day.
Fair feathers make fair fowls.
Fair flowers are not left standing along the wayside long.
Fair flowers do not remain long by the wayside.
Fair flowers to not remain long by the wayside.
Fair hair may hae foul roots.
Fair is he that comes, but fairer he that brings.
Fair money can cover much that's foul.
Fair money can cover mush that's foul.
Fair play's a jewel.
Fair promises bind fools.
Fair things are soon snatched away.
Fair without, foul within.
Fair words can buy a horse on credit.
Fair words don't fill the pocket.
Fair words please the fool, and sometimes the wise.
Fair words won't feed a cat.
Fair words won't fill the sack.
Fair words, but look to your purse.
Fair, good, rich, and wise, is a woman four stories high.
Faith and dishonesty are other words for uselessness.
Faith can move mountains.
Faith has no eyes; he who asks to see has no faith.
Faith in a lord, a cap for the fool.
Faith is confirmed by the heart, confessed by the tongue, and acted upon by the body.
Faith keeps the world going.
Faith moves mountains.
Faith will move mountains.
Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Proverbs 27:6.
Falcons don't fly after cage-birds.
Fall down seven times, stand up eight.
Fall seven times, stand up eight.

Fall seven times, stand up the eighth.
Fall sick, and you will see who is your friend and who not.
Falling down does not signify failure but staying there does.
Falling hurts least those who fly low.
Falling is easier than rising.
Falling teaches us to walk safely.
Falling with the door into the house.
False ambition serves the neck.
False friends are worst than bitter enemies.
False in one respect, never trustworthy.
Falsehood never tires of going round about.
Falsehood travels and grows.
Falsehood, like a nettle, stings those who meddle with it.
Falseness often lurks beneath fair hair.
Fame and repute follow a man to the door.
Fame is a magnifying glass.
Familiarity breeds contempt.
Familiarity breeds contempt; distance breeds respect.
Familiarity is like the sea that kills the fisherman.
Family is the worst.
Fancy passes beauty.
Fancy requires much, necessity but little.
Fancy surpasses beauty.
Far fetched and dear bought is meat for ladies.
Far fowls have fair feathers.
Far from Jupiter, far from his thunder.
Far from court, far from care.
Far from grave, no praying.
Far from the eye - far from the heart.
Far from the eye, far from the heart.
Far from the eyes, far from the heart.
Far waters cannot quench near fires.
Far-fetched and dear-bought is good for ladies.
Farewell and be hanged; friends must part!.
Farewell baskets, the vintage is ended.
Fashion is a tyrant from which there is no deliverance; all must conform to its whimsical.
Fashion is more powerful than any tyrant.
Fast Ripe, Fast Rotten.
Faster, Higher, Stronger' (Olympic Games motto).
Fat broth cannot be made of nothing.
Fat geese don't fly far.
Fat head, less brains.
Fat hens lay few eggs.
Fat pastures make fat venison.
Fate and self-help share equally in shaping our destiny.
Fate loves a rebel.
Fate sends almonds to toothless people.
Fate throws fortune, but not everyone catches.
Father and mother are kind, but God is kinder.
Faults are thick where love is thin.
Favour and gifts disturb justice.
Favour oft avails more than justice or reason.
Favours should never be forced upon others against their will.
Fear a silent man. He has lips like a drum.
Fear a silent man. He has lips like a drum.
Fear an ignorant man more than a lion.
Fear and love do not go together.
Fear and love never eat from the same plate.
Fear and restlessness kill more than do illnesses.
Fear blows wind into your sails.
Fear guards the vineyard.
Fear has big eyes.
Fear has large eyes.
Fear increasing age, for it does not come without companions.
Fear is a fine spur; so is rage.
Fear is a great inventor.

Fear is also a shield.
Fear is no obstacle to death.
Fear is the fever of life.
Fear lends wings.
Fear less, hope more, eat less, chew more, whine less, berathe more, talk less, say more, hate less, love more, and all good things will be yours.
Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; hate less, love more; and all good things will be yours.
Fear may force a man to cast beyond the moon.
Fear not a jest. If one throws salt at thee thou wilt receive no harm unless thou hast sore places.
Fear not the man who fears God.
Fear of death is worse than death itself.
Fear only two: God, and the man who has no fear of God.
Fear the Greeks bearing gifts.
Fear the goat from the front, the horse from the rear, and a man from all sides.
Fear the goat from the front, the horse from the rear, and man from all sides.
Fear the law not the judge.
Fear the man who fears you.
Fear the person who fears you.
Fear the worst.
Fear those who do not fear God.
Fear to let fall a drop and you will spill a lot.
Fear to let fall a drop, will always make you spill a lot.
Feasting is the physician's harvest.
Feather by feather the goose can be plucked.
Feather by feather the goose is plucked.
February fill dyke, be it black or be it white.
Fedot, yet not the right one.
Feed a cold and starve a fever.
Feed a cold, starve a fever.
Feed a dog to bark at you.
Feed sparingly and defy the physician.
Feed the raven and he'll peck out your eyes.
Feed your horse as a friend, mount him as an enemy.
Feel free to jabber, Emelya — it's your week.
Feeling it from his water.
Feet accustomed to go cannot be still.
Feet that are used to move cannot remain quiet.
Feet warm, head cool.

Feign death and the bull will leave you.
Feigned love is worse than hatred.
Feminist phrase; Men are poorer than women, skill-wise.
Fetters of gold are still fetters, and silken cords pinch.
Few are fit to be entrusted with themselves.
Few are like father, no one is like mother.
Few have luck, all have death.
Few laws, good nations.
Few there are that will endure a true friend.
Few women turn grey because their husband dies.
Few words are best.
Few words to the good knowledgeable.
Fie upon a cloak in fair weather!.
Fields have eyes and woods have ears.
Fifty percent of something is better than one hundred percent of nothing.
Fight a wolf with a flex stalk.
Fight fire with fire.
Fight with silver spears, and you will overcome everything.
Fighting for your country glorifies death.
Fill up the crack so the rat can't pass.
Fill your garners, harvest lasts not for ever.
Find a cruel man and you see a coward.
Find words butter no parsnips.
Find you without an excuse, and find a hare without a meuse.
Finders keepers losers weepers.
Finders keepers, losers weepers.
Findings keepings.
Fine and fine make but a slender doublet.
Fine birds are commonly plucked.
Fine dressing is a foul house, swept before the windows.
Fine feathers make find birds.
Fine feathers make fine birds.
Fine linen often conceals scabby skin.
Fine words butter no parsnips.
Fine words do not produce food.
Fine words don't fill the belly.
Fine words without deeds go not far.
Fingers were invented before knives and forks.
Fingers were made before forks.
Fir and water are good servants, but bad masters.
Fire and faggot are but sad reformers.
Fire and gunpowder are not bedfellows.
Fire and gunpowder do not sleep together.
Fire and love do not say 'Go to your work.'.
Fire and straw soon make a flame.
Fire and water are good servants but bad masters.
Fire begins with sparks.
Fire burns where it 'strikes.
Fire burns where it falls.

Fire does not make fire, only ashes.
Fire doesn't beget fire, it begets ashes.
Fire drives the wasp out of its nest.
Fire has no brother.
Fire in the heart sends smoke into the head.
Fire in the heart sends smoke to the head.
Fire is a good servant but a bad master.
Fire is a good servant but a poor master.
Fire is a good slave, but a bad master.
Fire is good, but ashes are also produced from it.
Fire is never a gentle master.
Fire is next akin to smoke.
Fire is not quenched with fire.
Fire makes mud hard and gold melt.
Fire purges everything.
Fire will not put out fire. Anger is not appeased by anger.
Fire with seasoned wood and work with flexible people are easy.
Fire, fire, many pots on. and one pea in them all.
Fire, the sea, and woman; these are three ills.
Fire, water and government know nothing of mercy.
Fire, water, and government know nothing of mercy.
Firelight will not let you read fine stories but it's warm and you won't see the dust on the floor.
Firm breasts don't last long.
First God, then the white man.
First I, then I, thereafter I.' (The author of this confident statement, a Roman emperor, will be added soon!).
First a turnip, then a sheep; next a cow, and then the gallows.
First catch your hare.
First catch your hare, then cook it.
First cobwebs, then chains.
First come to the mill, first grind.
First come, first served.
First comes chow, then morals.
First comes duty, then devotion.
First deserve then desire.
First deserve, and then desire.
First deserve, then desire.
First do it, then say it.
First food, then religion.
First help yourself and then God will help you.
First impressions are the most lasting.
First leap, and then say 'hop'! (Do something before you brag about it.).
First leap, and then say 'hop'! (Look before you leap.).
First leap, then say: 'jump'!.
First look at home, then censure me.
First secure an independent income, then practice virtue.
First sweep the ground in front of your own door.
First the man takes a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes the man.
First the man takes a drink; then the drink takes a drink; after that the drink takes the man.
First the stable, then the cow.

First things first.
First think, then speak.
First think, then steer.
First weigh, then venture.
First, do no harm' (often falsely attributed to the ).
Fish and guests smell at three days old.
Fish and guests smell in three days.
Fish and guests smell when they are three days old.
Fish and guests stink after three days.
Fish begin to stink at the head.
Fish bite best on a golden hook.
Fish don't get caught in deep water.
Fish must swim three times: once in the water, a second time in the sauce, and a third time in wine in the stomach.
Fish or cut bait.
Fish rots from the head.
Fish seek for a deep place, men seek for a better place.
Fish stinks from the head first.
Fish's child knows how to swim.
Fish, to taste right, must swim 3 times -- in water, in butter and in wine.
Fishermen recognize each other from far away.
Fishes don't pull carts.
Fishing without a net is just bathing.
Five fingers are brothers but not equals.
Five fingers are brothers, not equals.
Five fingers hold more than two forks.
Five minutes of health comfort the ill one.
Five of them would run from the bang of one empty gun.
Fix the small problem now before it becomes larger and harder to fix.
Fix your cart in winter, and sled in summer.
Flatter a fool and you'll see how he goes.
Flatterers and traders are related.
Flatterers are cats that lick before and scratch behind.
Flatterers haunt not cottages.
Flatters, like cats, lick and then scratch.
Flattery is sweet food for those who can swallow it.
Flattery is the best persuader of people.
Flattery makes friends and truth makes enemies.
Flattery will get you nowhere.
Flawless human is impossible.
Fleas are not lobsters.
Fleeing from error leads into fault if skill is lacking.' , 'De Arte Poetica.
Flesh of man - mends itself.
Flies are easier caught with honey than with vinegar.
Flies don't light on a boiling pot.
Flies flock to the lean horse.
Flies will easily fly into the honey -- their problem is how to get out.
Flies will never leave the shop of a sweetmaker.
Flies will not land on a boiling pot.
Flies will not light on a boiling pot.

Flies, dogs. and mimics are the first to rush to the dish.
Flint and gunpowder: every time they meet there is an explosion.
Float on small clouds.
Flowers are the pledges of fruit.
Flowers leave a part of their fragrance in the hands that bestow them.
Flowing water never gets dirty.
Flowing water never goes bad; our door hubs never gather termites.
Flying birds have no master.
Flying from the bull he fell into the river.
Foam will always find its way to the shore.
Follow love and it will flee, flee love and it will follow.
Follow the advice of the one who makes you cry, not from the one who makes you laugh.
Follow the customs or flee the country.
Follow the customs, or fly the country.
Follow the river and you will get to the sea.
Follow the river and you will reach the sea.
Follow the road and you will reach an inn.
Follow the saint no further than his doorstep.
Folly hath eagle's wings, but the eyes of an owl.
Folly is the most incurable of maladies.
Folly is the product of all countries and ages.
Food tastes best when you eat it with your own spoon.
Food you will not eat you do not boil.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
Fooled once shame on you, fooled twice shame on me.
Foolish boys, wise men.
Fools and bairns should never see half-done work.
Fools and knives require good handling.
Fools and obstinate men make lawyers rich.
Fools and obstinate men make rich lawyers.
Fools and scissors require good handling.
Fools and the perverse fill the lawyers' purse.
Fools are free all the world over.
Fools are like other folks as long as they are silent.
Fools are more useful to the wise than wise are to fools.
Fools are not sown or reaped, they appear by themselves.
Fools ask questions that wise men cannot answer.
Fools ask what's o'clock, but wise men know their time.
Fools build house and wise men live in them.
Fools build houses, and wise men buy them.
Fools build houses, wise men buy them.
Fools for luck.
Fools go in throngs.
Fools grow without watering.
Fools have the habit of writing their names everywhere.
Fools live poor to die rich.
Fools look to tomorrow. Wise men use tonight.
Fools love not the wise, drunkards love not the sober.
Fools must not be set on eggs.
Fools never get grey hair.
Fools refuse favours.
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
Fools sometimes give wise men counsel.
Foot firm till death.
Footprints on the sands of time are not made by sitting down.
For God and Country.
For God and our country.
For a bad night, a mattress of wine.
For a bad tongue scissors.
For a big ship, a big voyage.
For a chaste woman God is enough.

For a drunkard the sea only reaches his knees.
For a drunken one, a sea is knee-deep(, and a puddle ear-deep).

These are Proverb Examples from around the world, some have been translated from their original language to english.


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