Poster: Adam & Eve

When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?
(English proverb)

The source for this rhyming proverb is English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by William Carew Hazlitt (Google Books). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is a 14th-century painting at Wikipedia. This proverb was famously invoked by the radical English priest John Ball, a leader of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381.

Poster: Stitch in Time

A stitch in time saves nine.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is David Crystal's book, As They Say in Zanzibar: Proverbial Wisdom from Around the World (Oxford University Press: 2006). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is by Albert Anke. The saying also features near-rhyme: time - nine.

Poster: Cats and Kings

A cat may look on a king.
(English proverb)

The saying famously shows up also in Heywood's 16th-century proverbial poem (a treasure-trove for proverb hunters):

Some hear and see him whom he heareth nor seeth not
But fields have eyes and woods have ears, ye wot
And also on my maids he is ever tooting.
Can ye judge a man, (quoth I), by his looking?
What, a cat may look on a king, ye know!
My cat's leering look, (quoth she), at first show,
Showeth me that my cat goeth a caterwauling;
And specially by his manner of drawing
To Madge, my fair maid.

It also famously appears in Alice in Wonderland.

You can also find the proverb in English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by William Carew Hazlitt (Google Books). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is of the Cheshire Cat by John Tenniel at Wikipedia.

Poster: Belling the Cat

No one will bell the cat.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is Early American Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by Bartlett Jere Whiting (Amazon). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is Milo Winter, illustrating Aesop's fable of the cat, the mice, and the bell (Flickr).

Poster: Calm

After a storm comes a calm.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by William Carew Hazlitt (Google Books). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is by ShutterSparks at Flickr.

Poster: Bees

Bees gather honey from every flower.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is Early American Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by Bartlett Jere Whiting (Amazon). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is by ndboy (Flickr).

Poster: Time and Tide

Time and tide wait for no man.
(English proverb)

You can read about this English proverb online at The Phrase Finder. The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is from Wikipedia.

Poster: Best Foot

Put your best foot forward.
(English proverb)

You can read about this English proverb online at The Phrase Finder. The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is by Mr. T in DC at Flickr.

Poster: Learned

A learned man has his treasure about him.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by William Carew Hazlitt (Google Books). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is at Cheezburger.

Poster: A Fool and His Money

A fool and his money are soon parted.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by William Carew Hazlitt (Google Books). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is The Cardsharps by Caravaggio at Wikipedia.

Poster: Running Away

He that fights and runs away may live to fight another day.
(English proverb)

The source for this rhyming proverb is English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by William Carew Hazlitt (Google Books). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is at Cheezburger

Poster: Movers and Shakes

World-losers and world-forsakers,

On whom the pale moon gleams:

Yet we are the movers and shakers

Of the world for ever, it seems.

Thanks to James Stansell at Google+, I learned about the origin of the phrase "movers and shakers." It comes from a poem entitled "Ode" by Arthur O'Shaughnessy. You can read more about the poem at Wikipedia. The moon photo is by klareralt at Flickr, and the poster is made with Automotivator.

Poster: The Hedgehog

Deck a hedgehog, and he will seem a lord.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by William Carew Hazlitt (GoogleBooks). And here is Hazlitt's note: “So said of a base Boure that will ranke himselfe out of his ranke.”—W. MS. Rawlinson, c. 86, fol. 31, quoted by Mr. Furnivall (Babees Book, &c., 1868). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is by Krissy Venosdale at Flickr.

Poster: Watched Pot

A watched pot never boils.
(English proverb)

You can read about this English proverb online at The Phrase Finder. The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is from Wikipedia.

Proverb: An Ape's an Ape

An ape's an ape, a varlet's a varlet,
though they be clad in silk or scarlet.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by William Carew Hazlitt (GoogleBooks). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The painting "The Monkey Who Had Seen the World" is by Edwin Henry Landseer at Wikipedia.

Poster: A Little Pot

A little pot is soon hot.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by William Carew Hazlitt (GoogleBooks). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is by montroyaler at Flickr.

Poster: Beards

An old goat is never the more reverend for his beard.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by William Carew Hazlitt (GoogleBooks). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is by Eliya Selhub at Flickr.

Poster: Cats

Better have cats' good will than their ill will.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is Early American Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by Bartlett Jere Whiting (Amazon). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is by 12story (Flickr).

Poster: Toot Your Horn

If you don’t toot your own horn, nobody else will.
(Proverb from the USA)

The source for the proverb is David Crystal's book, As They Say in Zanzibar: Proverbial Wisdom from Around the World (Oxford University Press: 2006). The poster is made with AutoMotivator.

The image is by ep_jhu at Flickr.

Poster: All Things

No living man all things can.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by William Carew Hazlitt (GoogleBooks). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is of a one-man band; photo by Andrew Malone Flickr.