Rodgers Dictionary of Proverbs
Better to be off with the old love before we
be on with the new.
Better to be paying the baker than the
chemist.
Better to be poor and honest than to be rich
and lying.
Better to be queen for an hour than a
countess for life.
Better to be red-faced once than 100 times
purple.
Better to be safe than sorry.
Better to be seen alone than in bad company.
Better to be shot with a crossbow than
rejected by a window slammed shut.
Better to be squinting than blind.
Better to be the beak of a chicken than the
rump of an ox.
Better to be thought a fool, than to open
your mouth and remove all doubt.
Better to be watched by a wild animal than a
nosey man.
Better to be wrongfully excommunicated
than to make a death bed confession.
Better to beg forgiveness than to ask permis-
sion.
Better to bend than to break.
Better to bit your tongue than biting your
words.
Better to blush once than pale a hundred
times.
Better to dam the brook than the creek.
Better to deny at once, than to promise long.
Better to die and have something to leave
than to live wanting.
Better to die in the clutches of the lion than
under the tail of a jackass.
Better to die on our feet than live on our
knees.
Better to die than to live in shame.
Better to die than to live on with a bad
reputation.
Better to die than to suffer.
Better to die upright than to live on your
knees.
Better to do a kindness near home than go
far away to burn incense.
Better to drink the milk than to eat the cow.
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Better to drink the weak tea of a friend than
the sweet wine of an enemy.
Better to eat beans in peace than to eat meat
in distress.
Better to eat bread in peace, than cake amid
turmoil.
Better to fall from the window than the roof.
Better to fear than to be frightened.
Better to give than to receive.
Better to go to bed hungry than to wake up
in debt.
Better to go to bed supperless than run in
debt.
Better to haud than to draw.
Better to have a diamond with a few small
flaws than a rock that is perfect.
Better to have a friend on the road than gold
and silver in your purse.
Better to have a good friend than a bad
relative.
Better to have a handful of might than a sack
of justice.
Better to have bread and an onion with
peace than stuffed fowl with strife.
Better to have friends in the marketplace
than money in your coffers.
Better to have little than nothing.
Better to have loved and lost than never to
have loved at all
Better to have one thousand enemies outside
the house than to have one single enemy
inside it.
Better to have something yourself, than to
beg of your sister.
Better to have than wish.
Better to hear curses than to be pitied.
Better to hear the evil than see it.
Better to kiss a knave than be troubled with
him.
Better to kiss an ugly woman than to lick
yourself.
Better to learn one thing well than to know
ten superficially.
Better to light a candle than to curse the
darkness.