English proverbs (G)

English proverbs (G)

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.

G

• Garbage in, Garbage out.
  • Sometimes abbreviated GIGO.
• Get four Episcopalians together and a fifth will always appear. (Humor intended!)
• Give a dog a bad name and hang him.
• Give a dog a bad name and he'll live up to it. (or repay you for it)
  • Implying that people live up to stereotypes given to them or that individuals are corrupted by the illtreatment that goes with being given a bad name
• Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
  • Knowledge is the best charity.
  • To learn a lesson is a far better reward than to receive a gift.
  • It is better to know how to help yourself than to beg from others.
• Give a man a match, he shall be warm for a moment. Light a man on fire and he shall be warm for the rest of his life.
• Give and take is fair play.
• Give, and ye shall receive.
• Give credit where credit is due.
  • Variant: Give the Devil his due.
• Give him an inch and he'll take a yard.
  • meaning: Once concessions have been made to someone they will demand a great deal more
  • Variant: Give the Camel and inch and it will take an ell.
  • Variant: Give him an inch and he'll take a mile.
• Give people a common enemy and hopefully they will work together
• Give respect, take respect.
• Go with the flow
• God cures and the physician takes the fee.
• God don't like ugly and he ain't stuck on pretty.
• God takes care of drunks.
• A good beginning makes (for) a good ending.
  • Chinese Version: A good beginning is half a succession-好的开始是成功的一半
  • Meaning: Planning is the key to success.
• Good eating deserves good drinking.
• A good enemy is a better person than a false friend.
• Good fences make good neighbors.
  • Robert Frost, "Mending Wall"
• A good man in an evil society seems the greatest villain of all.
• Good men are hard to find.
• A good surgeon has an eagle's eye, a lion's heart, and a lady's hand.
• Good wine needs no bush.
  • Meaning: Something desirable of quality and substance need not be embellished. It was customary since early times to hang a grapevine, ivy or other greenery over the door of a tavern or way stop to advertise the availability of drink within, once something establishes a good reputation for quality the advertisement is rendered superfluous.
• The grass is always greener on the other side...
  • Meaning: You will always want what you don't (or can't) have.
• Great cry little wool.
• Great events cast their shadows before them.
• Great minds think alike, but fools seldom differ.
  • Great minds think alike, as do lesser ones.
• Great oaks from little acorns grow.
  • meaning: Wonderful things come from tiny things.
• Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.
  • Albert Einstein
• The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do..
• The greatest thing that could happen in my lifetime is for all my ideas to be stolen.
• Green leaves and brown leaves fall from the same tree.
  • Many possible interpretations- Things change over time- If you are good at one aspect of a skill, you should be skilled at the other aspects, such as a painter who says he can't draw, yet both painting and drawing are aspects of art.- No matter of the outside, we are all the same inside.
• Grow where you are planted.
• A guilty conscience needs no accuser.
• Guns for show, knives for a pro.