French Proverbs - Proverbes français
Spice up your language with some French proverbs.
French
À coeur vaillant rien
d'impossible.
À l'impossible nul n'est tenu.
Après la pluie le beau temps.
À quelque chose malheur est
bon.
L'arbre cache souvent la
forêt.
Autres temps, autres
moeurs.
Aux grands maux les grands
remèdes.
Aux innocents les mains
pleines.
Avec des si et des mais, on
mettrait Paris dans une
bouteille.
Aussitôt dit, aussitôt fait
Battre le fer pendant qu'il
est chaud.
Bien mal acquis ne profite
jamais.
Bonne renommée vaut
mieux que ceinture dorée.
Bon sang ne saurait mentir.
C'est en forgeant qu'on
devient forgeron.
Ce sont les tonneaux vides
qui font le plus de bruit.
Chacun voit midi à sa porte.
Un clou chasse l'autre.
English
Nothing is impossible for a
willing heart.
No one is bound to do the
impossible.
Every cloud has a silver lining.
Every cloud has a silver lining.
Can't see the forest for the
trees.
Times change.
Desperate times call for
desperate measures.
Beginner's luck.
If ifs and ands were pots and
pans there'd be no work for
tinkers' hands.
No sooner said than done
To strike while the iron is hot.
Ill gotten ill spent.
A good name is better than
riches.
What's bred in the bone will
come out in the flesh.
Practice makes perfect.
Empty vessels make the most
noise.
To each his own.
Life goes on.
Literal translation
To a valient heart nothing
impossible.
After the rain, the nice
weather.
Unhappiness is good for
something.
The tree often hides the
forest.
Other times, other customs.
To the great evils great
remedies.
Full hands for the innocents.
With ifs and buts, one would
put Paris in a bottle.
Immediately said,
immediately done
To hit the iron while it's hot.
Goods poorly gotten never
profit.
Well named is more is worth
more than golden belt.
Good blood doesn't know
how to lie.
It's by forging that one
becomes a blacksmith.
It's the empty barrels that
make the most noise.
Everyone sees noon at his
door.
One nail chases the other.
Comme on fait son lit, on se
couche.
En tout pays, il y a une lieue
de mauvais chemin.
Entre l'arbre et l'écorce il ne
faut pas mettre le doigt.
L'exactitude est la politesse
des rois.
Heureux au jeu, malheureux Lucky at cards, unlucky in love.
en amour.
Il faut casser le noyau pour
avoir l'amande.
Il faut qu'une porte soit
ouverte ou fermée.
Il faut réfléchir avant d'agir.
Il ne faut jamais dire «
Fontaine, je ne boirai pas de
ton eau ! »
Il ne faut jamais jeter le
manche après la cognée.
Il ne faut rien laisser au
hasard.
Il n'y a pas de fumée sans
feu.
Il n'y a que les montagnes
qui ne se rencontrent
jamais.
Il vaut mieux être marteau
qu'enclume.
Impossible n'est pas
français.
Les jours se suivent et ne se
ressemblent pas.
Un malheur ne vient jamais
seul.
Le mieux est l'ennemi de
bien.
Mieux vaut plier que rompre.
You've made your bed, now
you must lie on it.
There will be bumps in the
smoothest roads.
Caught between a rock and a
hard place.
Punctuality is the politeness of
kings.
No pain no gain.
There can be no middle course.
Look before you leap.
Never say never.
Never say die.
Leave nothing to chance.
Where there's smoke, there's
fire.
There are none so distant that
fate cannot bring together.
It's better to be a hammer
than a nail.
There is no such word as
"can't."
There's no telling what
tomorrow will bring.
It never rains but it pours.
Let well enough alone.
Adapt and survive.
In every country there is a
league of bad road.
Between the tree and the
bark one shouldn't put a
finger.
Happy in the game,
unhappy in love.
You need to break the shell
to have the almond.
A door must be open or
closed.
You have to think before
acting.
You should never say,
"Fountain, I will never drink
your water!"
One should never throw the
handle after the felling axe.
Nothing should be left to
chance.
There's no smoke without
fire.
There are only mountains
that never meet.
It's better to be hammer
than anvil.
Impossible isn't French.
The days follow each other
and don't look alike.
Misfortune never comes
alone.
Best is good's enemy.
Better to bend than to
break.
 Mieux vaut prévenir que
guérir.
Mieux vaut tard que jamais.
Les murs ont des oreilles.
Noël au balcon, Pâques aux
tisons.
On ne fait pas d'omelette
sans casser des oeufs.
On ne peut pas avoir le
beurre et l'argent du beurre.
On ne peut pas être à la fois
au four et au moulin.
On ne prête qu'aux riches.
Paris ne s'est pas fait en un
jour.
Les petits ruisseaux font les
grandes rivières.
Quand on veut, on peut.
Qui aime bien châtie bien.
Qui casse les verres les paie.
Qui craint le danger ne doit
pas aller en mer.
Qui donne aux pauvres prête
à Dieu.
Qui dort dîne.
Quand le vin est tiré, il faut
le boire.
Qui m'aime aime mon chien.
Qui m'aime me suive.
Qui n'entend qu'une cloche
n'entend qu'un son.
Qui ne dit mot consent.
Prevention is better than cure.
Better late than never.
Walls have ears.
A warm Christmas means a
cold Easter.
You can't make an omelette
without breaking eggs.
You can't have your cake and
eat it too.
You can't be in two places at
once.
Only the rich get richer.
Rome wasn't built in a day.
Tall oaks from little acorns
grow.
Where there's a will, there's a
way.
Spare the rod and spoil the
child.
You pay for your mistakes.
If you can't stand the heat, get
out of the kitchen.
Charity will be rewarded in
heaven.
He who sleeps forgets his
hunger.
Once the first step is taken
there's no going back.
Love me love my dog.
Come all ye faithful.
Hear the other side and believe
little.
Silence implies consent.
Better to prevent than to
cure.
Late is worth more than
never.
Christmas on the balcony,
Easter at the embers.
You can't have the butter
and the money from the
butter.
One can't be at the oven
and the mill at the same
time.
One only lends to the rich.
Paris wasn't made in a day.
The little streams make the
big rivers.
When one wants, one can.
He who loves well punishes
well.
He who breaks the glasses
pays for them.
He who fears dangers
shouldn't go to sea.
He who gives to the poor
loans to God.
He who sleeps eats.
When the wine is drawn,
one must drink it.
He who loves me loves my
dog.
He who loves me, follow me.
He who hears only one bell
hears only one sound.
He who says nothing

Qui ne risque rien n'a rien.
Qui peut le plus peut le
moins.
Qui se marie à la hâte se
repent à loisir.
Qui sème le vent récolte la
tempête.
Qui se sent morveux, qu'il se
mouche.
Qui s'y frotte s'y pique.
Qui terre a, guerre a.
Qui trop embrasse mal
étreint.
Qui va à la chasse perd sa
place.
Qui va lentement va
sûrement.
Qui veut la fin veut les
moyens.
Qui veut voyager loin
ménage sa monture.
Qui vivra verra.
La raison du plus fort est
toujours la meilleure.
Rien ne sert de courir, il faut
partir à point.
Rira bien qui rira le dernier.
Si jeunesse savait, si
vieillesse pouvait.
Un sou est un sou.
Tant va la cruche à l'eau
qu'à la fin elle se casse.
Tel est pris qui croyait
Nothing ventured, nothing
gained.
He who can do more can do
less.
Marry in haste, repent later.
As you sow, so shall you reap.
If the shoe fits, wear it.
Watch out - you might get
burned.
He who has land has quarrels.
He who grasps at too much
loses everything.
He who leaves his place loses
it./Step out of line and you'll
lose your place.
More haste less speed.
The end justifies the means.
He who takes it slow and
steady travels a long way.
What will be will be./Time will
tell.
Might makes right.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Whoever laughs last laughs
best.
Youth is wasted on the young.
Every penny counts
Enough is enough.
It's the biter bit.
consents.
He who risks nothing has
nothing.
He who marries in haste
repents in leisure.
He who sows the wind reaps
the storm.
He who feels stuffy should
blow his nose.
He who rubs against it gets
stung.
Who land has, war has.
He who hugs too much
holds badly.
He who goes hunting loses
his place.
He who goes slowly goes
surely.
He who wants the end wants
the means.
He who wants to travel far
spares his mount.
He who lives will see.
The strongest reason is
always the best.
Running is worthless, you
have to leave on time.
Will laugh well he who
laughs last.
If youth knew, if old age
could.
A cent is a cent
So often the pitcher goes to
the water that in the end it
breaks.
He is taken who thought he
 prendre. could take.
Tel qui rit vendredi Laugh on Friday, cry on He who laughs on Friday will
dimanche pleurera. Sunday. cry on Sunday.
Le temps, c'est de l'argent Time is money Time, that's money
Tous les goûts sont dans la It takes all kinds (to make a All tastes are in nature.
nature. world)
Tout est bien qui finit bien. All's well that ends well.
Tout vient à point à qui sait All things come to those who All comes on time to the one
attendre. wait. who knows how to wait.
Toute peine mérite salaire. The laborer is worthy of his All trouble taken deserves
hire. pay.
La vérité sort de la bouche Out of the mouths of babes. The truth comes out of the
des enfants. mouths of children.
Vouloir, c'est pouvoir. Where there's a will, there's a To want, that's to be able.
way.

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