Both Uses

proverb
in
The Merry Wives of Windsor
(Auto-generated)

Though what I am I cannot avoid, yet to be what I would not, shall not make me tame; if I have horns to make one mad, let the proverb go with me; I'll be horn-mad.†
Scene 3.5 *

proverb = a well-known, short saying that is thought to communicate wisdom
No; he gives me the proverbs and the no-verbs.†
Scene 3.1 *

Definitions:

(1) (proverb as in: the well-known proverb)
a short saying -- typically well-known and accepted by many as offering good advice

The adjective, proverbial, may refer to a proverb or to anything that is well-known -- as in "It is a proverbial fish story exaggeration."
(2) (Proverbs as in: from The Book of Proverbs)
a work of wisdom literature found in both the Old Testament of the Christian Bible and the Hebrew Bible
(3) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)