Rodgers Dictionary of Proverbs
You cannot hit the point of a needle with a
fist.
You cannot hold your head high with your
hand out.
You cannot hook trout? Try digging clams.
You cannot hunt with a tied dog.
You cannot insult the whole village and ex-
empt the village chief.
You cannot jump higher than your head.
You cannot kill an elephant with bullets of
wax.
You cannot know the defects of a house you
have not slept in.
You cannot lean on air.
You cannot lock up science in one head.
You cannot loosen a man's tongue with root
beer.
You cannot lose what you never had.
You cannot make a beautiful plumage out of
a pig's tail.
You cannot make a good archbishop out of a
rogue.
You cannot make a good hunting-horn of a
pig's tail.
You cannot make a hawk of a buzzard.
You cannot make a sieve of an ass's tail.
You cannot make a silk purse from a sow's
ear.
You cannot make a silk purse of a sow's ear.
You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s
ear.
You cannot make a soft bed for everyone.
You cannot make an ass drink if he is not
thirsty.
You cannot make an omelet without
breaking eggs.
You cannot make an omelette without
breaking eggs.
You cannot make bricks without straw.
You cannot make people honest by an act of
parliament.
You cannot make the mule drink when he is
not thirsty.
You cannot name a child that is not born.
You cannot pick up a pebble with one fin-
ger.
You cannot pick up salt with dry fingers.
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You cannot please everybody.
You cannot prevent the birds of sadness
from passing over your head, but you
can prevent them from nesting in your
hair.
You cannot propel yourself forward by
patting yourself on the back.
You cannot pull a fish out of the pond
without work.
You cannot pull hard with a broken rope.
You cannot put a fire out with spit.
You cannot reason with a hungry belly; it
has no ears.
You cannot reject the head of a cow simply
because the eye scares you.
You cannot ride two horses with one ass.
You cannot roast corn with two eyes.
You cannot run and scratch your ass at the
same time.
You cannot run with the hare and hunt with
the hounds.
You cannot sail as you would, but as the
wind blows.
You cannot satisfy the whole world and
your father.
You cannot say A without saying B.
You cannot see the future with tears in your
eyes.
You cannot see the wood for the trees.
You cannot send a goat to rescue a lamb
from a loin's attack.
You cannot separate water by beating it
with a fork.
You cannot serve God and Mammon
You cannot serve God and the devil.
You cannot serve two masters at once.
You cannot sew buttons on your neighbor's
mouth.
You cannot shave a man's head in his
absence.
You cannot shear the sheep closer than the
skin.
You cannot shift an old tree without it
dying.