An act of kindness is a good investment.

Avoid a remedy that is worse than the disease.

Beauty is only skin-deep.

Beware of flatterers.

A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush.

A fine appearance is a poor substitute for inward worth.

A man is known by the company he keeps.

A word in season is most precious.

Birds of a feather flock together.

Clothes do not make the man.

Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.

Even the wise must recognize their limits.

Every tale is not to be believed.

Evil wishes, like chickens, come home to roost.

Example is more powerful than precept.

Figures are not always facts.

He who tries to please everybody pleases nobody.

It is dangerous to speak the truth to tyrants.

It is easy to kick a man that is down.

A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety.
A doubtful friend is worse than a certain enemy. Let a man be one thing or the other, and we then know how to meet him.
A liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth.
After all is said and done, more is said than done.
Any excuse will serve a tyrant.
Appearances are often deceiving.
Be content with your lot; one cannot be first in everything.
Destroy the seed of evil, or it will grow up to your ruin.
Familiarity breeds contempt.
Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.
He that is discontented in one place will seldom be happy in another.
If you allow men to use you for your own purposes, they will use you for theirs.
Injuries may be forgiven, but not forgotten.
It is easy to be brave from a safe distance.
It is in vain to expect our prayers to be heard, if we do not strive as well as pray.
It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.
It is thrifty to prepare today for the wants of tomorrow.
It is with our passions as it is with fire and water, they are good servants, but bad masters.
Men often applaud an imitation and hiss the real thing.
Never trust the advice of a man in difficulties.
No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
Our insignificance is often the cause of our safety.
Outside show is a poor substitute for inner worth.
People often grudge others what they cannot enjoy themselves.
Persuasion is often more effectual than force.
Please all, and you will please none.
Put your shoulder to the wheel.
Self-conceit may lead to self destruction.
Slow but steady wins the race.
The injuries we do and those we suffer are seldom weighed in the same scales.
The level of our success is limited only by our imagination
The little reed, bending to the force of the wind, soon stood upright again when the storm had passed over.
The smaller the mind the greater the conceit.
The unhappy derive comfort from the misfortunes of others.
United we stand, divided we fall.  
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.
We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction.
We should look to the mind, and not to the outward appearance.
We would often be sorry if our wishes were gratified.
Live and let live.

Look before you leap.

Man is what he believes.

Misfortune tests the sincerity of friends.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

Nothing escapes the master's eye.

Once bitten, twice shy

One good turn deserves another

One man's meat is another man's poison.

One swallow does not make summer.

Persuasion is better than force.

Pride goes before destruction.

Slow but steady wins the race.

Spare the rod and spoil the child.

The greedy never know when they have had enough.

Stoop to conquer.

The wise man does at once what the fool does finally.

They who lay traps for others are often caught by their own bait.

Think before you act.

Whatever you do, do with all your might.

The Ant and the Grasshopper

The fable concerns  grasshopper who has spent the warm months singing away while the ant worked to store up food for winter.

After the winter has come, the grasshopper finds itself dying of hunger, and upon asking the ant for food is only rebuked for its idleness. The story is used to teach the virtues of hard work and saving, and the perils of improvidence. Some versions of the fable state a moral at the end, along the lines of: Idleness brings want.

• The Ant and the Grasshopper
• The Boy Who Cried Wolf
• The Cat and the Mice
• The Crow and the Pitcher
• The Dog and the Bone
• The Dog in the Manger
• The Farmer and the Stork
• The Farmer and the Viper
• The Frog and the Ox
• The Frogs Who Desired a King
• The Fox and the Grapes
• The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs
• The Lion and the Mouse
• The Mischievous Dog
• The North Wind and the Sun
• The Tortoise and the Hare
• The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
• The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Famous fables commonly mis-attributed to Aesop:

• The Scorpion and the Frog