Scottish Proverbs (001-100)

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God takes care of fools, and drunken men.

Need makes greed.

A misty morning may prove a good day.

Get a name to rise early, and you may lie all day.

The name of an honest woman is worth much.

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Ill flesh was never good broth.

A fool when he has spoken has done all.

Good forecast makes work easy.

Greedy folk have long arms.

Keep something for the sore foot.

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Better play for nothing than work for nothing.

What is none of my profit shall be none of my peril.

Bitter pills may have blessed effects.

He that will cheat in play will not be honest in earnest.

Rich folk have many friends.

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Gut no fish till you get them.

Forbid a fool a thing, and that he will do.

Bridal feud is soon forgotten.

You cannot sell the cow and sup the milk.

A good fellow is a costly name.

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Fools should not see half-done work.

A fool may give a wise man counsel by a time.

False folk should have many witnesses.

He that never eats flesh thinks a pudding a fine bit.

Need makes virtue.

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A nimble mother makes a lazy daughter.

Handle the pudding while it is hot.

Money is welcome in a dirten clout.

Enough is as good as a feast.

There was never enough where nothing was left.

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Experience is good, but often dear bought.

Better a good fame than a good face.

The fairest face, the falsest heart.

A greedy eye had never a full belly.

Fancy flees before the wind.

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It is well that all our faults are not written in our face.

When all men speak, no man hears.

Better be merry with something, as sad with nothing.

If you will have the hen's egg, you must bear her cackling.

It is good to fear the worst, the best will be the welcomer.

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He is poor that cannot promise.

No profit without pains.

It is hard for a greedy eye to have an honest heart.

Better the end of a feast than the beginning of a fray.

When God will help none can hinder.

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Thoughts are free.

He that falls in the dirt, the longer he lies the fouler he is.

If the doctor cures, the sun sees it;
but if he kills, the earth hides it.

Every miller draws water to his own mill.

If you touch dirt, it will stick to your fingers.

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Danger past and God forgotten.

Dirt parts good company.

He that is first on the dunghill may sit where he will.

Provision in season makes a rich house.

He that has a full purse, never wanted a friend.

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They can do ill that cannot do good.

It is ill to waken sleeping dogs.

A dog will not howl if you strike him with a bone.

Do what you ought, and come what will.

A good overseer is better than an ill worker.

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No pains, no gains.

Eating and drinking takes away a man's stomach.

Eating and drinking wants but a beginning.

When drink is in wit is out.

Do well, and dread no shame.

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What you do when you're drunk
you must pay for when you're dry.

If better were within, better would come out.

Pride never left his master without a fall.

It is ill to make a silk purse of a sow's ear.

Death defies the doctor.

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Old debts are better than old sores.

Nature hates all sudden changes.

A full purse never wanted a friend.

There is many a true word spoken in jest.

Bare words make no bargain.

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He that's afraid of every grass
should not piss in a meadow.

Because is woman's reason.

Hunger will break through hard stone walls.

An inch of a miss is as good as a spaw.

He that would eat the kernel must crack the nut.

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As soon goes the lambskin to the
market as the old sheep.

Law makers should not be law breakers.

A young saint may prove an old devil.

Ale sellers should not be tale tellers.

Kings have long hands.

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Lads will be men.

We are to learn while we live.

Stay no longer in your friend's house than
you are sure that you are welcome.

All that is said in the kitchen should not be heard in the parlor.

Where nothing is, the king loses his right.

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He may laugh that wins.

Never too late to learn.

If a child is sent to the well against his will,
either the pail will break, or the water will spill.

He that's afraid of leaves should not come into a wood.

Day light will peep through a little hole.

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Be what you seem, and seem what you are.

Ale sellers should not be tale tellers.

Follow love and it will flee you.

A horse with four feet may stumble by a time.

The foremost hound catches the hare.

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Scottish Proverbs (101-200)

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See for love, and buy for money.

An ill life makes an ill end.

Let every man be content with his own lot.

Love and light cannot be hid.

No great loss without some small profit.

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True love shows itself in time of need.

Love is never without jealousy.

Either live or die with honor.

A hungry louse bites sore.

Better good sale than good ale.

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Ill herds make fat wolves.

Better say here it is than here it was.

A neat maiden makes a dirty wife.

He that's first up is not always first served.

Our sins and our debts are
often more than we think.

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A man may bind a sack, before it be full.

A man may woo where he will, but wed where his wife is.

A man cannot wive and thrive in a year.

He that woos a maid must come seldom in her sight.

A wise man carries his cloak in fair weather,
and a fool wants his in rain.

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He loves me for little that hates me for nought.

A man cannot bear all his kin on his back.

If you tell your secret to your servant,
you have made him your master.

He that lives on hope has a slender diet.

Better an old maid than a young whore.

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A maiden with many wooers often chooses the worst.

When the cup is full carry it even.

Old sins breed new shame.

It is ill to make an unlawful oath, but worse to keep it.

The goat gives a good milking,
but she casts it all down with her foot.

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God help the poor, for the rich can help themselves.

Freedom is a fair thing.

All is good that God sends.

He that gets forgets, but he that gives thinks on.

Home is a pleasant word.

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Better my friend think me strange than troublesome.

Better give than take by a time.

Never trust much to a new friend or an old enemy.

God comes with leaden feet, but strikes with iron hands.

Nothing freer than a gift.

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Every play must be played, and some must be players.

When poverty comes in at the door,
friendship flees out at the window.

When friends meet, heart is warm.

Be a friend to yourself and others will befriend you.

They are well guided that God guides.

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A black hen lays a white egg.

When the heart is full, the tongue will speak.

He's poor whom God hates.

Come not to counsel uncalled.

The cow that's first up gets the first of the dew.

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Better a bit in the morning than fast all day.

A guilty conscience self-accuses.

He that hews above his head,
may have the chip fall in his eye.

He that is angry without a cause must settle without amends.

Oppression will make a wise man mad.

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An ill won penny will cast down a pound.

Beggars are able to bear no wealth.

Better a laying hen, than a lying crown.

Hope holds up the head.

He is a proud beggar that makes his own alms.

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Come uncalled, sit unserved.

A great boaster was never a good rider.

Condition makes, condition breaks.

As the cock crows, the young cock learns.

Change of masters, change of manners.

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Make the best of a bad cause.

He must needs run, whom the devil drives.

Let him that is cold blow at the coal.

It is hard to please all parties.

Honesty may be dear bought,
but can never be an ill pennyworth.

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Fair offer is no cause of emnity.

Of all wars peace is the end.

A hard beginning is a good beginning.

Cut your cloak according to your cloth.

A safe conscience makes a sound sleep.

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Confession of a fault is half amends.

Open confession is good for the soul.

A new pair of breeches will soon draw down an old doublet.

If you brew well, you will drink the better.

All cats are alike, grey in the night.

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You will never get two breads of one cake.

When the heart is full of lust, the mouth is full of lies.

They that have much butter, may lay it thick on their bread.

When the pot is full it will boil over.

He is a weak horse that is not able to bear the saddle.

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He will soon be a beggar that cannot say no.

An ill bush is better than no shelter.

A bashful cat makes a proud mouse.

A halfpenny cat may look at a king.

He that is angry is seldom at ease.

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He that wears black must carry a brush on his back.

Cannot has no craft.

Seeing is believing all the world over.

Rome It is hard to sit in Rome and strive against the Pope.

It is an ill bargain where no man wins.

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Burn a candle at both ends, and it will not last long.

The cat would fain fish eat, but she has no will to wet her feet.

Leave off while the play is good.

It is too late to spare when the bottom is bare.

Sorrow and ill weather come unsent for.

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Scottish Proverbs (201-300)

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He that lives well, lives long.

Sorrow is soon enough when it comes.

Happy is she who marries the son of a dead mother.

Tread on a snail, and he'll shoot out his horns.

As you make your bed, so you lie down.

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Were it not for hope, heart would break.

It is no sin to sell dear, but a sin to give ill measure.

Be long sick that you may be soon healed.

He that has not silver in his purse should have silk on his tongue.

He that has one sheep in the flock
will like all the rest the better for it.

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A dear ship stays long in the harbor.

Little can a long tongue conceal.

He that's afraid of wounds must keep from a battle.

Bare words make no bargain.

There is many a true word spoken in jest.

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Spilled wine is worse than water.

Nearest the heart, nearest the mouth.

It may come in an hour that will not come in a year.

Two wits are better than one.

All the winning is in the first buying.

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Bread and cheese is good to eat
when men can get no other meat.

A bow overbent will weaken.

Better eat gray bread in your youth, than in your age.

Good ale needs no wisp.

There came never ill of good advisement.

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God does not measure men by inches.

A friend in court is worth a penny in the purse.

Friends agree best at a distance.

He's a good horse that never stumbled,
and a better wife that never grumbled.

Delays in love are dangerous.

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An ounce of mother wit is worth a pound of clergy.

No flying without wings.

Every man at thirty is a fool or a physician.

Every man is blind in his own cause.

Every man bows to the bush he gets shelter of.

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Every man is not born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

The poor man pays for all.

Take a man by his word, and a cow by her horn.

He's no wise man who cannot play the fool by a time.

Honesty is no pride.

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He is a gentle horse that never threw his rider.

The happy man cannot be ruined.

Every man is a fool sometimes, and none at all times.

He is a wise man who can make a friend of a foe.

He that woos a widow must woo day and night.

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A wonder lasts but nine days in a town.

Every man wears his belt in his own fashion.

Better be the happy man than the happy man's son.

Every man can guide an ill wife but he that has her.

He's a silly man that can neither do good nor ill.

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One man may lead a horse to the water,
but four and twenty will not make him drink.

It is no time to bow when the head is off.

A drunk heart lied never.

God help the rich, for the poor can beg.

No man can live longer in peace than his neighbor pleases.

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Early master, soon servant.

A hungry man's meat is long in making ready.

As the market goes wares must sell.

There is but one good wife in the world,
and every man thinks he has her.

Good will should be taken for part payment.

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Better master one than fight with ten.

A falling master makes a standing servant.

Measure twice, cut but once.

Nothing enters into a closed hand.

An empty hand is no lure for a hawk.

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A reproof is no poison.

It is no sin to see wasters want.

Better long little, than soon nothing.

Better short and sweet than long and lax.

A man has no worse friends than
those he brings with him.

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A traveled man has leave to lie.

If one will not, another will; so are all maidens married.

He that marries a maiden,
marries a pokeful of pleasure.

A man that would thrive must ask his wife's leave.

Fair maidens wear no purses.

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A willful man should be very wise.

Quality without quantity is little thought of.

Make the best of a bad market.

When every man gets his own,
the thief will get the gallows.

The poor man pays for all.

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He that would be master of his own
must not be bound for another.

Marry above your match, and you get a master.

If marriages be made in heaven, some had few friends there.

He that never rode never fell.

As the wind blows seek your shelter.

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He that has a wife has a master.

He that would eat the fruit must climb the tree.

A proud heart and a poor purse are ill met.

Nothing to be done in haste but gripping of fleas.

A ragged colt may prove a good horse.

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Silence catches a mouse.

Every dog has his day, and a bitch two afternoons.

Women's work is never done.

It is a good tongue that says no ill,
and a better heart that thinks none.

Tread on a worm, and he'll turn his head.

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A full belly makes a stiff back.

A tumbling stone never gathers moss.

Never take a stone to break an egg when
you can do it with the back of your knife.

He that marries a widow, marries a pokeful of lawsuits.

One hand will not wash the other for nothing.

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Scottish Proverbs (301-350)

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Many heads are better than one.

Never strive against the stream.

The stone that lies not in your
gate breaks not your toes.

It is good to have two strings to one's bow.

The stoup that goes often to the well,
comes home broken at last.

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All things thrive at thrice.

He that suffers patiently overcomes.

Good watch prevents harm.

Every thing is the worse for the wearing.

Better late thrive, as never do well.

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Every thing would fain live.

Gold is good but it may be dear bought.

An ill cook should have a good cleaver.

A whore in a fine dress is like a
dirty house with a clean door.

A nice wife and a back door will
soon make a rich man poor.

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Two things a man should never be angry at:
what he can help, and what he cannot help.

A long tongue has a short hand.

He must have leave to speak who cannot hold his tongue.

Time and tide will stay for no man.

An ill tongue may do much.

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Time and thought tame the strongest grief.

A threatened tree stands long.

A turn well done is twice done.

Every crow thinks its own young one prettiest.

He that does his turn in time, sits half idle.

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What's my turn today may be yours tomorrow.

Never pour water on a drowned mouse.

Whoredom and grace dwelt never in one place.

All the truth should not be told.

Between ten and thirteen, bow the twig while it is green.

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He that does you an ill turn will never forgive you.

Better unborn than untaught.

Good wares make a quick market.

The weakest goes to the wall.

An ill-natured cow should have short horns.

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A boaster and a liar are near akin.

Cast not out the foul water till you bring in the clean.

Much water goes by the miller when he sleeps.

A wager is a fool's argument.

An ill cow may have a good calf.

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If you sell your purse to your wife,
give your breeches into the bargain.

Be it better, be it worse, be ruled by him that has the purse.

Yawning goes from man to man.

Go to bed with the lamb, and rise with the lark.

Better never begun as never ended.

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We are bound to be honest, but not to be rich.

It is ill to waken sleeping dogs.

Every man’s tale is good till another’s been told.

It’s a poor thing that’s not worth asking.

A bald head is soon shaved.

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A dog will not howl if you strike him with a bone.

Every dog has his day, and a bitch two afternoons.

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Confession is good for the soul. ~ Scottish Proverb [16044]

16q, QOTD,

Be happy while you are living, for you are a long time dead. ~ Scottish Proverb [15799]

Photo by Tomas Castelazo
[CC-BY-SA-3.0 or GFDL],
via Wikimedia Commons

To see more Illustrated Proverbs click here.

16, POTD, Proverb of the Day,

Be happy while you're living, for you're a long time dead. — Scottish proverb

More Scottish Proverbs

To see more Illustrated Proverbs click here.

[6094]

The devil takes care of his own. ~ Scottish Proverb [18525]

A smile costs less than electricity and gives more light. ~ Scottish Proverb [15452]

Danger and delight grow on one stalk. ~ Scottish Proverb [16081]

When the heart is full the tongue will speak. ~ Scottish Proverb [19439]

When the cup is full, carry it even. ~ Scottish Proverb [19357]

What may be done at any time will be done at no time. ~ Scottish Proverb [19284]

Were it not for hope the heart would break. ~ Scottish Proverb [19231]

Twelve highlanders and a bagpipe make a rebellion. ~ Scottish Proverb [19133]

Wink at small faults, for you have great ones yourself. ~ Scottish Proverb [19538]

Never let your feet run faster than your shoes. ~ Scottish Proverb [17830]

Money is flat and meant to be piled up. ~ Scottish Proverb [17786]

Why hit a golf ball from a tee, when you can hit it from the green?~ Scottish Proverb [17528]

It's sin and not poverty that makes men miserable. ~ Scottish Proverb [17513]