A proverb (from Latin: proverbium) is a simple and concrete saying, popularly known and repeated, that expresses a truth based on common sense or experience. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim. Proverbs fall into the category of formulaic language.

Proverbs are often borrowed from similar languages and cultures, and sometimes come down to the present through more than one language. Both the Bible (including, but not limited to the Book of Proverbs) and medieval Latin (aided by the work of Erasmus) have played a considerable role in distributing proverbs across Europe

Examples

• Haste makes waste
• A stitch in time saves nine
• Ignorance is bliss
• Mustn't cry over spilled milk.
• You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.
• You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.
• Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
• A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Use in conversation

Proverbs are used in conversation by adults more than children, partially because adults have learned more proverbs than children. Also, using proverbs well is a skill that is developed over years. Additionally, children have not mastered the patterns of metaphorical expression that are invoked in proverb use. Proverbs, because they are indirect, allow a speaker to disagree or give advice in a way that may be less offensive. Studying actual proverb use in conversation, however, is difficult since the researcher must wait for proverbs to happen

How can you use proverbs to learn English?

It's good to know the really common English proverbs because you hear them come up in conversation all the time. Sometimes people say the entire proverb to give advice to a friend. More often, someone will say just part of a proverb like this:

You know what they say: when the going gets tough...

(Read #5 below to learn the rest of this proverb and what it means.)
Learning proverbs can also help you to understand the way that people in English-speaking cultures think about the world.
Proverbs can also give you good example sentences which you can memorize and use as models for building your own sentences.

The List of Proverbs

 Friendship

• A friend's frown is better than a fool's smile.
• A friend in need is a friend indeed.
• A friend is easier lost than found.
• A friend to everybody is a friend to nobody.

Love

• A loveless life is a living death.
• Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
• All's fair in love and war.
• Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
• Before you meet the handsome prince you have to kiss a lot of toads.
• Better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all.

Relationships

• A good friend is one's nearest relation.
• A man is known by the company he keeps.
• A man of straw needs a woman of gold.
• A wink is as good as a nod, to a blind man.
• An injury is forgiven better than an injury revenged.

Life

• A bully is always a coward.
• A handsome shoe often pinches the foot.
• A good thing is all the sweeter when won with pain.
• A man too careful of danger lives in continual torment.
• A miss is as good as a mile.
• Adversity flatters no man

 Health & Food

• A watched pot never boils.
• A drowning man will clutch at a straw.
• An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
• An onion a day keeps everyone away.
• An ounce of protection is worth a pound of cure.
• Another pot ! Try the teapot.

Wisdom

• A change is as good as a rest.
• A stitch in time saves nine.
• A throne is only a bench covered in purple velvet.
• A wise man shall hold his tongue till he sees his opportunity.
• Accidents will happen.
• All's well that ends well.

 









references
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proverb
http://www.phrasemix.com/collections/the-50-most-important-english-proverbs
http://tww.id.au/proverbs/proverbs.html