proverb · Traditional
Forsake not the market for the toll.
Do not abandon a worthwhile opportunity solely because of a smaller necessary cost. The toll pictures a limited expense on the way to a larger purpose.
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proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
Fortune can take from us only what she has given us.
A change in circumstances can remove benefits that depended on those circumstances. Distinguish an external advantage from the skills, relationships or values that may remain.
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Fortune favours the brave.
Decisive action can create opportunities that hesitation misses. Courage may help someone benefit from an opening, though it cannot control luck or guarantee success.
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Fortune is a woman; if you neglect her to-day, expect not to regain her to-morrow.
An opportunity passed over today may be unavailable tomorrow. The warning encourages timely assessment, while its gendered personification should not be mistaken for a claim about women.
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Fortune knocks once at least at every man's gate.
The saying expresses hope that everyone will encounter an opportunity. It is an encouraging viewpoint, not a guarantee that opportunities are equally available or that a setback means someone ignored their chance.
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Foul hands befoul all they touch.
A dishonest or harmful way of working can taint what it produces. Foul hands supply a metaphor for misconduct, rather than proving that one mistake permanently corrupts every action a person takes.
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Four farthings and a thimble make a tailor's pocket jingle.
The saying makes a tailor’s pocket sound lively with very little money and a thimble. The small contents contrast with the impression created by their jingle.
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Foxes, when they cannot reach the grapes, say they are not ripe.
People may dismiss something they cannot obtain to make disappointment easier to bear. Check whether the criticism reflects the thing itself or a response to being denied it.
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Friday's sail, sure to fail.
The saying predicts failure for a voyage begun on Friday. The rhyme treats a weekday as an unlucky condition without establishing a causal connection.
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From confessors, doctors, and lawyers, do not conceal the truth of your case.
The saying values an accurate account when seeking help from a trusted adviser. Its list of professional and religious roles contrasts useful understanding with an account that conceals relevant facts.
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From to-morrow till to-morrow time goes a long journey.
Repeatedly moving a task to tomorrow allows considerable time to pass. Notice the pattern of postponement and choose a concrete next step rather than another indefinite promise.
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Frugality makes an easy chair for old age.
Care with resources now may make later life less burdensome. The easy chair pictures comfort made possible by earlier restraint.
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Gather thistles, expect prickles.
Choosing to engage with something troublesome may bring its characteristic difficulties. The thistles and prickles picture a foreseeable cost of the chosen activity.
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Gems must not be valued by what they are set in.
Judge something by its substance rather than by the setting around it. The gem and its mount distinguish underlying quality from presentation, without making context irrelevant to how something is used or understood.
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Gentility without ability is worse than plain beggary.
Inherited standing or polished manners cannot substitute for practical ability. The harsh comparison with begging challenges prestige that offers little useful contribution, without making poverty evidence of failure or deciding anyone’s personal worth.
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Gentle strokes make the sweetest harmony.
A measured, considerate approach can produce a better response than unnecessary force. Gentle strokes and harmony picture that relation, without proving that firmness is always wrong or that gentleness guarantees agreement.
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Get thy spindle and thy distaff ready, and God will send thee flax.
Prepare the means to do a task instead of waiting passively for everything to arrive. The tools come first, while the materials are pictured as coming through providence.
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Get what you can, and what you get, hold, 'Tis the stone which will turn your lead into gold.
Acquiring and keeping resources is presented as a route to greater prosperity. The promised transformation of lead into gold gives that advice an extravagant image.
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Give a dog a bone in his mouth, and you may kick him and he can't bite.
The saying depicts a benefit being used to weaken someone’s resistance to mistreatment. It describes a manipulative tactic; accepting help does not make harm acceptable or remove a person’s right to object.
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Give a man luck, and throw him into the sea.
The saying exaggerates luck until it seems able to overcome even an extreme danger. It exposes confidence in favourable outcomes that ignores the actual situation.
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Give a thief rope enough and he'll hang himself.
The saying gives a thief enough rope to bring about his own downfall. Its violent image presents harmful conduct as eventually exposing or defeating itself.
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Give him an inch, and he'll take an ell.
A small concession can encourage someone to ask for much more. Make the scope of an agreement clear without assuming that every request for additional help shows bad intentions.
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Give it plenty of elbow grease.
The phrase calls for sustained practical effort on a task. Elbow grease is figurative hard work, not a substance or a guarantee that more effort will solve every difficulty.
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Give neither advice nor salt until you are asked for it.
Unrequested advice can be as unwelcome as altering someone’s food without asking. Check whether help is wanted before assuming you know what another person needs.
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