English in everyday life
Proverbs
Explore English sayings from most to least frequent in a published American English corpus. Alternate forms are collected together.
About these frequency groups
Groups use full-form occurrence counts in the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), recorded in 2016–2017. For a proverb with several forms, we use the highest individual count, since adding overlapping forms could count the same occurrence twice.
These are historical American English corpus counts, not estimates of how often everyone uses a saying today. A zero means no full-form match was recorded. The source’s separate familiarity ratings are retained in the data but do not determine this ordering.
We grouped variants, merged reviewed duplicate entries, and preserved existing editorial wording. The source includes historical and dated sayings; inclusion is not an endorsement.
Expressions containing best, including its inflections. Clear word filter
57 entries
Most common
100 or more recorded occurrences
Common
10–99 recorded occurrences
The best is yet to come
Patience is a virtue
Matching variant: Patience is the best virtue
Honesty is the best policy
The best defense is a good offense
Be the best you can be
Save the best for last
The best things in life are free
Laughter is the best medicine
Diamonds are a girl's best friend
Experience is the best teacher
Mother knows best
Less common
1–9 recorded occurrences
Good things come in small packages
Matching variant: The best things come in small packages
Some things are better left unsaid
Matching variant: Some things are best left unsaid
First impressions are important
Matching variant: First impressions are best
Best is not good enough
Living well is the best revenge
Some things are better left alone
Matching variant: Some things are best left alone
Success is the best revenge
Sunshine is the best disinfectant
A dog is man's best friend
He who laughs last laughs best
Old friends are the best friends
Silence is the best policy
That government is best which governs least
The best place to hide is in plain sight
Attack is the best form of defense
Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good
Matching variant: Don't let the best be the enemy of the good
Everything is for the best
Survival is the best revenge
The best things in life aren't things
The best way to rob a bank is to own one
Not observed in this corpus
No full-form matches recorded; this does not mean the proverb is never used