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Saturday, April 20, 2024

180 days of proverbs and quotes for US public school students

I left them without attribution and sometimes modified in the hope that curious readers will look up the sources on their own. Enjoy!

1. The purpose of school is to learn, not to get good grades.
2. You can have more degrees than a thermometer and still be sharp as a marble.
3. Imagination is more important than knowledge.
4. What you put in your brain and belly, no one can take away from you.
5. There is no royal road to learning.
6. People who try to drag you down are already beneath you.
7. A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
8. Education is what remains after you forget what you learned in school.
9. We forget what we hear, remember what we see, and understand what we do.
10. The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their proper names.
11. It is better to light a candle the curse the darkness.
12. He who lives by the sword dies by the sword.
13. The key to happiness is freedom and the key to freedom is courage.
14. Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong.
15. Life is short, art is long, experience is treacherous, judgment is difficult.
16. At birth, people are almost the same. By habit, they become very different.
17. You can't win if you don't play.
18. If you follow all the rules, you miss all the fun.
19. Better alone than with bad company.
20. There's no point in tiptoeing through life just to arrive safely at death.
21. At the end of the game, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.
22. Anger is a brief madness.
23. Seize the day.
24. Mix a little foolishness with your wisdom.
25. When speaking, be brief, be sincere, be seated.
26. Brevity is the soul of wit.
27. The best place to find a helping hand is at the end of your arm.
28. The contemplation of beauty gives the soul wings.
29. Fortune favors the bold.
30. Many hands make for light work.
31. A bad worker blames his tools.
32. No good deed goes unpunished.
33. A fool and his money are soon parted.
34. The pen is mightier than the sword.
35. No harm, no foul.
36. There are many paths to the top of the mountain.
37. A small bump tilts a big load.
38. A picture is worth a thousand words.
39. Ships are safe in the harbor, but that is not what they're for.
40. You reap what you sow.
41. The apple does not fall far from the tree.
42. Better late than never.
43. Don't judge a book by its cover.
44. Different strokes for different folks.
45. Discretion is the better part of valor.
46. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
47. Money doesn't grow on trees.
48. A secret is safe with 3 people if 2 of them are dead.
49. It's better to bend than to break.
50. Slow and steady wins the race.
51. A big fish in a little pond thinks he's a whale.  
52. The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.
53. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
54. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. 
55. Too many cooks spoil the broth.
56. Two wrongs don't make a right.
57. Never argue with a fool. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
58. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
59. Where there's a will, there's a way.
60. Where's there's smoke, there's fire.
61. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
62. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
63. You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs. 
64. To the victors, the spoils.
65. Winners write the history books.
66. History is a tale mostly false, about deeds mostly unimportant, brought about by kings and soldiers, mostly fools.
67. You can't eat money.
68. Democracy is four wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. 
69. It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
70. The race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong.
71. Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease.
72. It is enough to open minds. There is no need to overload them.
73. If you can't find a way, make one.
74. Many kiss the hand they wish to cut off.
75. Pride comes before a fall.
76. More laws, less justice
77. Fake it til you make it.
78. There is no point in arguing about matters of taste.
79. The guilty flee when none pursue.
80. Beauty is a fragile advantage.
81. A wise man knows everything. A shrewd man knows everybody.
82. There is no curve on the test of life.
83. To rule yourself is the ultimate power.
84. A broken clock is right twice a day.
85. A good name is better than great riches.
86. It's better to have interesting enemies than boring friends.
87. What's done in the dark will be brought to the light.
88. There is nothing new under the sun.
89. There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing.
90. A bad peace is better than a good war.
91. Big fish eat little fish.
92. You get what you pay for.
93. A thing is worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.
94. If give an inch, you might lose a mile.
95. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
96. Knowledge is power.
97. A mighty dragon can be overcome by a swarm of ants.
98. Time flies when you're having fun.
99. Variety is the spice of life.
100. Fight the ocean and you will drown.
101. The truth will set you free.
102. Iron sharpens iron.
103. Once bitten, twice shy. 
104. Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing. 
105. The wheel of fortune is forever in motion.
106. Cry out for wisdom and beg for understanding.
107. Love your enemies, for they tell you your faults.
108. If you lie down with dogs, you'll get up with fleas.
109. Early to bed and early to rise makes you healthy, wealthy, and wise.
110. What matters is how you play the game.
111. Lost time is never found again.
112. When you're good to others, you're best to yourself.
113. Haste makes waste.
114. It's better to live well than to live long.
115. It's better to take many injuries than to give one. 
116. Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain, and most of them do.
117. A critic is a legless man who teaches running.
118. Who honors not the penny deserves not the dollar.
119. Judge not or you'll be judged.
120. The map is not the terrain.
121. There's a sucker born every minute.
122. A wise man builds his house upon a rock. 
123. Neither a borrower nor a lender be.
124. He who pays the piper calls the tune.
125. Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.
126. Life gives countless gifts, and death keeps them forever.
127. It is better to be feared than loved.
128. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
129. Man is wolf to man.
130. Be wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove.
131. Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.
132. Great minds think alike.
133. To everything, there is a season.
134. Out of sight, out of mind
135. Faces we see, hearts we do not know.
136. Forgive and forget.
137. All's well that ends well.
138. To thine own self be true.
139. Faint of heart never won a lady.
140. No man is an island.
141. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
142. Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.
143. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.
144. The evil that men do lives after them; The good is often buried with their bones.
145. Love the sinner, hate the sin.
146. Money can't buy happiness.
147. History repeats itself.
148. Crooked logs make straight fires.
149. Eggs and promises are easy to break.
150. New brooms clean well.
151. Dead fish swim with the current. 
152. Speech is silver and silence is golden.
153. Better safe than sorry. 
154. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
155. Failure teaches more than success.
156. If you want it done right, do it yourself.
157. Play with fire, and you'll get burned.
158. Still waters run deep.
159. A hidden treasure is worth nothing.
160. To whom much is given, much is expected.
161. The truth gives one reason and a lie gives many.
162. A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth can get out of bed.
163. If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
164. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
165. Don't get mad, get even.
166. He who laughs last laughs best.
167. If you walk on water, some people will mock you for not being able to swim.
168. What little Johnny doesn't learn, big John won't know.
169. A soldier who doesn't dream of becoming a general is a bad one.
170. A tree is known by its fruit.
171. There is no honor among thieves.
172. There is a black sheep in every flock.
173. A chain is only a strong as its weakest link.
174. A leopard cannot change its spots.
175. Eat, drink, and be merry.
176. Choose the lesser of two evils.
177. Even a good horse can stumble.
178. You find what you look for.
179. Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.
180. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 

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