Proverbs Can Be Useful As Writing Prompts
Proverbs are short well-known sayings that express a wise thought. They are common, thoughtful, short and often applicable to various situations. These thought provoking statements can also be used as a writing prompt. Select a few proverbs and have your child or student complete the ending, e.g., a picture is worth…
List of Proverbs
Our list contains 160 proverbs. We categorized them as follows: action & determination, animals, appearances, caution, encouragement, food, good advice, good deeds, money, relationships, time and words.
| Proverb | Type |
|---|---|
| A bad tree does not yield good apples. | Food |
| A bad workman blames his tool | Words |
| A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. | Animals |
| A cat has nine lives | Animals |
| A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. | Words |
| A faint heart never won a fair lady. | Action & Determination |
| A fool and his/her money are soon parted. | Money |
| A friend in need is a friend indeed. | Relationship |
| A good beginning makes a good ending. | Good Advice |
| A house divided cannot stand. | Relationships |
| A hovel on a rock is better than a palace on the sand. | Good Advice |
| A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. | Words |
| A penny saved is a penny earned. | Money |
| A picture is worth a thousand words. | Words |
| A quitter never wins and a winner never quits. | Action & Determination |
| A rising tide lifts all boats. | Encouragement |
| A rolling stone gathers no moss. | Action & Determination |
| A rotten apple spoils the barrel. | Food |
| A soft answer turneth away wrath. | Words |
| A stitch in time saves nine. | Action & Determination |
| A tongue is worth little without a brain. | Words |
| A watched pot never boils. | Time |
| A word spoken is not an action done. | Words |
| Absence makes the heart grow fonder. | Relationship |
| Actions speak louder than words. | Action & Determination |
| Adversity makes strange bedfellows. | Relationships |
| All good things come to an end. | Words |
| All that glitters is not gold. | Money |
| All things come to those who wait. | Action & Determination |
| All's fair in love and war. | Relationship |
| An apple a day keeps the doctor away. | Food |
| An idle brain is the devil's workshop. | Words |
| Ask a silly question and you get a silly answer. | Words |
| Ask no question and hear no lies. | Words |
| Bad news travels fast. | Words |
| Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. | Appearances |
| Beauty is only skin deep. | Appearances |
| Beggars can't be choosers. | Good advice |
| Better alone than in poor company | Relationships |
| Better late than never. | Time |
| Better safe than sorry. | Caution |
| Better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. | Relationship |
| Birds of a feather flock together. | Animals |
| Brevity is the soul of wit. | Words |
| Charity begins at home. | Good Deeds |
| Civility costs nothing. | Good Deeds |
| Cleanliness is next to godliness. | Appearances |
| Confession is good for the soul. | Action & Determination |
| Curiosity killed the cat. | Animals |
| Dead men tell no tales (or lies). | Words |
| Different strokes for different folks. | Good Advice |
| Discretion is the greater part of valor. | Words |
| Do right and fear no one. | Good Deeds |
| Do unto others as you would have them do to you. | Good Deeds |
| Don't bite the hand that feeds you. | Food |
| Don't change horses in midstream. | Animals |
| Don't count your chicken before they hatch. | Animals |
| Don't cross the bridge until you come to it. | Caution |
| Don't cry over split milk. | Food |
| Don't get mad - get even. | Words |
| Don't judge a book by its cover. | Appearances |
| Don't put all your eggs in one basket. | Food |
| Early to bed, early to rise makes a man/women healthy, wealthy and wise. | Money |
| Easy come, easy go. | Money |
| Every cloud has a silver lining. | Encouragement |
| Everybody's business is nobody's business. | Good Advice |
| Experience is the father/mother of wisdom. | Action and Determination |
| Fact is stranger than fiction. | Words |
| Familiarity breeds contempt. | Relationship |
| Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. | Good advice |
| For every joy, there is a price to pay. | Words |
| Forewarned is forearmed. | Caution |
| Fortune favors the bold. | Money |
| Give credit where credit | Good Deeds |
| God helps those who help themselves. | Encouragement |
| Good fences make good neighbors. | Relationship |
| Good things come to those who wait. | Time |
| Great minds think alike. | Relationships |
| Great oaks from little acorns grow. | Good Deeds |
| Half a loaf is better than none. | Food |
| Haste makes waste. | Caution |
| He/She who hesitates is lost | Action & Determination |
| He/She who lives by the sword, dies by the sword. | Words |
| He/She who pays the piper calls the tune. | Money |
| He/She who sits on the fence is easily blown off. | Action & Determination |
| He/She who would eat the fruit must climb the tree. | Food |
| Honesty is the best policy. | Relationships |
| Honey catches more flies than vinegar. | Food |
| Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. | Caution |
| If it isn't broken, don't fix it. | Good Advice |
| If the shoe fits, wear it. | Good Advice |
| If you can't beat them, join them. | Relationship |
| If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. | Action & Determination |
| If you want a friend, be a friend. | Relationships |
| If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. | Good Advice |
| if you want something done, ask a busy person. | Action & Determination |
| If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. | Good Advice |
| Ignorance is bliss. | Words |
| Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. | Caution |
| Laughter is the best medicine. | Encouragement |
| Learn to walk before you run. | Caution |
| Leave no stone unturned. | Action & Determination |
| Lend your money and lose your friend. | Money |
| Let sleeping dogs lie. | Animals |
| Like father, like son. | Relationship |
| Look before you leap. | Caution |
| Love will find a way. | Relationship |
| Make hay while the sun shines. | Action & Determination |
| Marry in haste, repent at leisure. | Relationship |
| Misery loves company. | Relationship |
| Money burns a hole in your pocket. | Money |
| Necessity is the mother/father of invention. | Encouragement |
| Never put off 'til' tomorrow what you can do today. | Action & Determination |
| No man is an island. | Words |
| No pain, no gain. | Action & Determination |
| One camel doesn't make fun of another camel's hump. | Animals |
| One good turn deserves another. | Good Deeds |
| One man's trash is another man's treasure. | Words |
| People who live in glass houses should not throw stones. | Good Advice |
| Practice makes perfect. | Action and Determination |
| Short visits make long friends. | Relationship |
| Sometimes you have to run just to stay in place. | Action & Determination |
| Spare the rod and spoil the child. | Relationships |
| Speech is silver, silence is golden. | Words |
| Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me. | Words |
| Still waters run deep. | Words |
| Strike while the iron is hot. | Action & Determination |
| The apple never falls far from the tree. | Food |
| The darkest hour is just before dawn. | Encouragement |
| The early bird catches the worm. | Animals |
| The first step is the most difficult. | Encouragement |
| The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. | Appearances |
| The pen is mightier than the sword. | Words |
| The proof of the pudding is in the eating. | Food |
| The squeaky wheel gets the grease. | Words |
| There's many a slip between cup and lip. | Words |
| There's no place like home. | Relationships |
| There's no such thing as a free lunch. | Food |
| There's no time like the present. | Action and Determination |
| They who dance must pay the fiddler. | Money |
| Time is money. | Money |
| To err is human; to forgive, divine. | Good Deeds |
| Too many cooks spoil the broth. | Food |
| Two heads are better than one. | Good Advice |
| Two wrongs don't make a right. | Good Deeds |
| Waste not, want not. | Caution |
| When in Rome, do as the Romans. | Good Advice |
| When the cat's away, the mice will play. | Animals |
| When the going gets tough, the tough get going. | Action & Determination |
| Where there's a will, there's a way. | Action & Determination |
| You are never too old to learn. | Encouragement |
| You are what you eat. | Food |
| You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. | Animals |
| You can't always get what you want. | Words |
| You can't have your cake and eat it too. | Food |
| You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. | Food |
| You can't teach an old dog new tricks. | Animals |
| You can't tell a book by its cover. | Appearances |
| You never know what you can do until you try. | Encouragement |
| You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. | Relationships |