Rodgers Dictionary of Proverbs
Be happy today, for tomorrow you may die.
Be happy while you’re living, for you’re a
long time dead.
Be honorable yourself if you wish to
associate with honorable people.
Be honorable yourself if you wish to
associate with honorable people.
Be humble for you are made of earth. Be
noble for you are made of stars.
Be humble in making demands even when
making your demands.
Be in general virtuous, and you will be
happy.
Be in readiness for favorable winds.
Be just before you are generous.
Be just before you're generous you should
make sure all your debts are paid
Be kind to those that meet you as you rise,
you may pass them again as you fall.
Be lang sick that ye may be soon hale.
Be like a camel – carrying sweets but dining
on thorns.
Be like the mouth and the hand: when the
hand is hurt the mouth blows on it,
when the mouth is hurt the hand rubs it.
Be master of mind rather than mastered by
mind.
Be merry, Shrovetide, for to-morrow thou
wilt be ashes.
Be mine; I will be thine.
Be my enemy and go to my mill.
Be neither intimate nor distant with the
clergy.
Be never the first with friend of thine to
break the bond of fellowship.
Be not a baker if your head be of butter.
Be not a baker if your head is butter.
Be not a shoemaker nor yet a shaft maker
save for thyself alone: let the shoe be
misshapen, or crooked the shaft, and a
curse on thy head will be called.
Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid
only of standing still.
Be not an esquire where you were a page.
Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make
them crimes.
Be not ashamed of your craft.
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Be not deceived with the first appearance of
things, for show is not substance.
Be not discouraged by adverse
circumstances.
Be not disturbed at being misunderstood; be
disturbed rather at not being
understanding.
Be not idle, and you shall not be longing.
Be not led by flattery.
Be not lenient to your own faults.
Be not the first to quarrel, nor the last to
make it up.
Be not unmindful of obligations conferred.
Be not water, taking the tint of all colors.
Be old betimes that thou may’st long be so.
Be old betimes, if you wish your old age to
last.
Be old when young, if you would be young
when old.
Be on a horse when you go in search of a
better one.
Be on your guard against a silent dog and
still water.
Be one in love.
Be patient with a bad neighbor. Maybe he’ll
leave or a disaster will take him out.
Be patient with your enemies and forgiving
of your friends.
Be patient, a burning desire is not pain.
Be patient, cossack, and you’ll be a chieftain.
Be peaceful yet vigilant – a sheep will bite
someone without a stick.
Be pleased with what you have swallowed,
that which is still in the cheek is for other
people. (be boastful of what you have
already achieved)
Be quick to follow up an advantage.
Be resolved and the thing is done.
Be satisfied with the needs instead of the
wants.
Be silent, or say something better than
silence.
Be skeptical; long garments can also hide big
feet.
Be slow in choosing a friend, but slower in
changing him.
Be slow to promise but quick to perform.