English proverbs (I)

English proverbs (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.

I

• I came, I saw, I conquered
  • Said by Julius Caesar, spoken as Veni, Vidi, Vici during a message to the Roman senate
• I complained I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.
• I have the whole world against me, I show my back and the whole world is following me.
• I know I know nothing
  • From Socrates defence speech
• I think, therefore I am
  • Descartes' most famous statement (Cogito Ergo Sum in Latin)
• I wants, don't gets.
  • An alternative used in the black British community is: "Ask it, Ask it don't get... Get it, get it don't want."
• I was born on a Friday, but not last Friday.
  • Alternative: I wasn't born yesterday.
• Idle hands are the devil's playthings. 'Alt.' The devil makes work for idle hands.

• If a job is worth doing, it is worth doing well.
• If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing badly.
• If all else fails, try the obvious.
• If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
  • Cf. William Edward Hickson's Try and Try again
    "Tis a lesson you should heed:
    Try, try, try again.
    If at first you don't succeed,
    Try, try, try again"
    
• If God had wanted man to fly, he would have given him wings.
• If in doubt go left.
• If in doubt, pick "C"
• If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
  • Variation: If it isn't broken, don't fix it.
• If it can't be cured, it must be endured.
  • From Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
• If it's too good to be true, then it probably is.
• If it's worth doing, it's worth over-doing.
• If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
• If something can go wrong, it will.
  • Murphy's Law
• If the mountain won't come to Muhammad, Muhammad must go to the mountain.
  • "If the mountain won't come to Muhammad, Muhammad must go to the mountain", Answers.com
• If the shoe fits, wear it.
• If wishes were fishes, we'd all cast nets.
• If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
• If you believe that dreams can come true be prepared for the occasional nightmare.
• If you buy cheaply, you pay dearly.
  • Alternatively: You get what you pay for
• If you buy quality, you only cry once.
• If you can't be good, be careful.
• If you can't be good, be good at it.
• If you can't beat them, arrange to have them beaten.
• If you can't beat them, join them.
• If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
• If you cross your bridges before you come to them, you will have to pay the toll twice.
• If you don't buy a ticket, you can't win the raffle.
• If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all
• If you don't know where you're going, any train will get you there.
• If you fake it, you can't make it.
• If you fall off a cliff, you might as well try to fly. After all, you got nothing to lose.
• If you keep your mouth shut, you won't put your foot in it.
• If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don't, they never were.
• If you snooze you lose
• If you trust before you try, you may repent before you die. - Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721
• If you want a thing done right, do it yourself.
• If you want breakfast in bed, sleep in the kitchen.
• If you want to judge a man's character, give him power.
• If you were born to be shot, you'll never be hanged.
• If you're in a hole, stop digging.
• If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
• If you're prepared to be confused, be prepared for a sore bum
• Ignorance is bliss.
  • Common mal-shortening of "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise.
  • Thomas Gray, "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College"
    
  • The more you know, you more you want to know / The more you learn about things, the more you learn about your ignorance of things
• Impossible itself says I'm Possible

• In for a penny, in for a pound.
  • Alternate version: In for a dime, in for a dollar.
• In one ear and out the other.
  • Cf. Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales: "One eare it heard, at the other out it went"
• In order to get where you want to go, you first have to leave where you are.
  • From Sandy Elsberg's Bread Winner, Bread Baker; Upline Press, Charlottesville, VA; 1977, p. 80
• In the end, a man's motives are second to his accomplishments.
• In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
• In the law there are no small cases, only small lawyers.
  • Ben Harlow
• In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity
  • Emerson
• In the mind of thieves the moon is always shining.
  • Marathi proverb, meaning: dishonest persons have to be always on the alert to avoid getting caught.
• Infatuations are a plenty. Love is rare. - Pashi
• Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.
  • Alternatively "Stupidity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results"
• Is the Pope a Catholic?
  • Do bears shit in the woods?
  • Used in response to what is considered to be a question with an extremely obvious answer.
• It ain't over till the fat lady sings.
  • Variation: Church ain't over until the fat lady sings.
  • Attributed as an old Southern saying in Smith & Smith, Southern Words and Sayings (1976), according to Quinion, Michael (21 August 1999). "It Ain't Over Till the Fat Lady Sings". World Wide Words. Retrieved on 2007-01-23.
• It's a blessing in disguise.
• It's a cracked pitcher that goes longest to the well.
• It's a good horse that never stumbles.
• It's a long lane that has no turning.
• It's a poor job that can't stand at least one supervisor.
• It's always darkest before the dawn
• It's always the baker's children who have no bread.
• It's an ill wind that blows no good.
• It's better to be safe than sorry.
• It's better to be silent and thought a fool, than to speak up and remove all doubt.
• It is better to die on one's feet than live on one's knees.
• It's better to give than to receive.
• It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
• It's better to have something you don't need than to need something you don't have.
• It's better to want something you can't have than have something you don't want.
• It's cheaper to keep her.
• It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission.
  • Attributed to Grace Hopper
• It's easy to be wise after the event.
• It's never too late to mend.
• It's no use crying over spilt milk.
• It's not over till it's over.
  • Yogi Berra
  • Often attributed to sportscaster Dan Cook (1978)
• It is not so much the gift that is given but the way in which the gift is driven.
• It's not the size of the boat, it's the motion of the ocean.
• It's often a person's mouth broke their nose.
  • Meaning: People talk themselves into trouble.
• It's the early bird that gets the worm.
• It's the empty can that makes the most noise.
• It's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.
• It is through the small things we do that we learn, not the big things

• It never rains, but it pours.
  • Alternatively: When it rains, it pours.
• It pays to pay attention.
  • Rewards come to those who are attentive, or wary of events in the past/present/future.
• It takes all sorts to make a world.
  • Alternatively: It takes all sorts to make the world go round.
  • Alternatively: It takes all kinds to make the world go round.
• It takes both rain and sunshine to make rainbows
  • It takes good and bad to make good things in the future, or make them stand out.
• It takes two to lie — one to lie and one to listen.
• It takes two to make a quarrel.
• It takes two to tango.