American Proverbs (F / G / H / I)

American Proverbs (F / G / H / I)

Proverbs are popularly defined as short expressions of popular wisdom. Efforts to improve on the popular definition have not led to a more precise definition. The wisdom is in the form of a general observation about the world or a bit of advice, sometimes more nearly an attitude toward a situation.

F

• Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me thrice, shame on both of us.
• Fortune favors the bold.
• Fly by the seat of your pants.
• Failing to plan is planning to fail.

G

• Good fences make good neighbors.
• Good enough for Government work.

H

• Haste makes waste. - Ben Franklin
  • Doing things too fast is inefficient.
• Hay is for horses.
  • Play on words. A gentle rebuke that one shouldn't greet another with the expression "Hey, you!"
• He who has the gold makes the rules.

Variant: He who taxes the gold makes the rules. - Robert Kiyosaki, author of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad"

• He who laughs last laughs the loudest.

Variant: He who laughs last, thinks slowest.

• Ben Franklin said as Poor Richard, "He who teaches himself hath a fool for a teacher", but I must tell you that he who does not teach himself has no teachers at all
  • Without teachers we are nowhere. [Christopher Berkeley, Professor of History]
• Hesitation is a killer.
  • Act quickly, or suffer consequence.
• Hindsight is 20/20.

I

• I don't know how cloud's are formed, but the clouds do, and that's the important thing.
• If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
• If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
  • Don't meddle with things just for the sake of change, if they're working fine already.
• If it seems too good to be true then it probably is.
• If it's free, it's for me!
• If three people tell you that you are drunk, you better lie down.
  • If many people tell you that you're acting inapproprately, you must act appropriately.
• If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride.
  • Variant: Yeah, and if wishes were horses, we'd all be eatin' steak. -Jayne Cobb
• If you can't beat them, join them.
• If you can't stand the heat, get out of the Kitchen.
• If you can't walk, why bother tying your shoes. - Doc Michaels
• If you wait till the last minute, it'll only take a minute.
  • Procrastinators' credo; also credo of subordinate workers who are given a task by their boss with a deadline completely inadequate to allow for a well-researched response or product.
• If you want it bad, you'll get it bad.
  • Credo of subordinate workers who are given a task by their boss with a deadline and/or budget/manpower resources completely inadequate to allow for a well-researched response or product.
• Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
• In God we trust, all others pay cash.
• It is better to say nothing and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Abraham Lincoln
• It's always darkest before the dawn.
• It is easier said than done.
• It takes a village to raise a child.
• It takes two to tango.
• If knowledge of all is power, then knowledge of self is divine. - Carlos Lugo II
• I'd be a failure if it weren't for all the mistakes I've made.
  • Success is achieved through an iterative process of learning from mistakes.
• It's not over till the fat lady sings.
• It's never too late to be what you might have been. - George Eliot
• It's nice to be at the end of a journey but it's the journey that matters in the end.
• It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
• It will all come out in the wash.