Frank J. Wilstach, comp. A Dictionary of Similes. 1916.

Benjamin Franklin

A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges.

Forgotten like the forms of last year’s clouds.

As hard as for an empty sack to stand upright.

A house without woman or firelight is like a body without soul or spirit.

Applause
Waits on success; the fickle multitude,
Like the straw that floats along the stream,
Glide with the current still and follow fortune.

Plain as the way to market.

Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labor wears, while the key often used is always bright.

Snug
As a bug
In a rug.

Stared like a pig poisoned.