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There are two good reasons why English learners should take interest in these expressions of oral tradition. 

For one thing, they provide an extraordinary word bank you can always turn to when you need. Learning words in isolation is not very useful, and by storing them in context they get easier to remember.

Even though you might never have a chance to use adages in real life (they’re such well-known sayings that we often leave out the second part in conversation …), proverbs are an invaluable aid to improve rhythm, stress and intonation.

They are meaningful short messages, always consisting of two distinctive chunks (of words), perfectly balanced to each other, and often involving word rhymes, as well.

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And remember: these are fixed expressions; you have to be word perfect if you use them  ⇓

The graphic shows the words that are used in English proverbs, with the size of each word indicating how often it occurs ⇓

• Proverbs explained … →[01]← / →[02]← / →[03]←

«The Genius, Wit and Spirit of a Nation are discovered in its proverbs.″ – Francis Bacon