But if ye shall at all turn from following me† Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and thishouse, which Ihavehallowed formy name, will Icast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people.

-Bible (Old Testament)
Kings 9:6^7.

'Bed,'as the Italian proverb succinctly puts it,'isthe poor man's opera.'

-Huxley, Aldous Leonard
  Heaven and Hell.

Asthe Spanishproverbsays,'He, whowould bring home the wealth of the Indies, must carry the wealth of the Indies with him.' So it is in travelling; a man must carry knowledge with him, if he would bring home knowledge.

-Johnson, Samuel known as Dr Johnson
  Remark,17  Apr. Quoted in  James Boswell  The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), vol.3.

Know that famous proverb? When the prick stands up, the brains get buried in the ground!

-Roth, Philip Milton
  Portnoy's Complaint,'Cunt Crazy'.

I should be the last person to say anything against temptation, naturally, but we have a proverb down here 'in baiting a mouse-trap with cheese, always leave room for the mouse'.

-Saki pseudonym of  Hector Hugh Munro
The Square Egg,'The Infernal Parliament' (published1924).

We had better remain in union with England, even at the risk of becoming a subordinate species of Northumberland, as far as national consequence is concerned, than remedy ourselves by even hinting the possibility of a rupture. But there is no harm in wishing Scotland tohavejust somuchill-nature, according toher own proverb, as may keep her good-nature from being abused.

-Scott, Sir Walter
  Letters of Malachi Malagrowther on the Proposed Change of Currency, letter1.