| A man’s home is his castle. | Charbonnier est maître chez lui. | A coalman is master at home. |
| The miser’s son is a spendthrift. | À père avare fils prodigue. | To a stingy father prodigal son. |
| New converts are the most pious. | Quand le diable devient vieux, il se fait ermite. | When the devil gets old, he turns into a hermit. |
| No man is a prophet in his own country. | Nul n’est prophète en son pays. | |
| Opportunity makes a thief. | L’occasion fait le larron. | |
| The rich man is the one who pays his debts. | Qui paie ses dettes s’enrichit. | He who pays his debts gets richer. |
| Robbing Peter to pay Paul. | Il ne sert à rien de déshabiller Pierre pour habiller Paul. | It serves no purpose to undress Peter to dress Paul. |
| The shoemaker’s son always goes barefoot. | Les cordonniers sont toujours les plus mal chaussés. | Shoemakers are always the worst shod. |
| The sky is the limit. | Tout soldat a dans son sac son batôn de maréchal. | Every soldier has his marshall’s baton in his bag. |
| To err is human | L’erreur est humaine | The error is human |
| To know a friend is to respect him. | Comme on connaît ses saints, on les honore. | As one knows his saints, one honors them. |
| Too many cooks spoil the broth. | Autant de têtes, autant d’avis. Deux patrons font chavirer la barque. | So many heads, so many opinions. Two bosses capsize the boat |
| The tree is known by its fruit. | C’est au pied du mur qu’on voit le maçon. | It’s at the foot of the wall that you see the mason. |
| A word to the wise is enough. | À bon entendeur, salut. | To a good listener, safety. |
| You can tell an artist by his handiwork. | À l’oeuvre on reconnaît l’artisan. | By his work one recognizes the workman. |
