Mostly, if you deconstruct apparently illogical clichés, you find that they do, in fact, make sense. For instance, 'to gild the lily' is in fact a corruption of 'to gild refined gold, to paint the lily' - meaning to improve upon something which has no need of improvement.
To the other Answerers:
A Baby...: Dogs work all the time. The phrase doesn't relate to PET dogs, but to working dogs...like sheep dogs, cattle dogs, guard dogs, police dogs, hunting dogs, etc.
derkaiser93: This saying has nothing to do with knitting or time. Its literal meaning is that if you tear your clothes and then repair them immediately, the tear won't get any worse. More figuratively, it means that if you take care of a problem immediately, it won't get any worse.
pink_angel_vic: 'Sound as a pound' refers to the security of the British currency...i.e., something is 'sound as a pound' if it is stable and not likely to go under/lose all value overnight.
'Takes one to know one' is a variation on the old 'set a thief to catch a thief' maxim...remarking on specialised knowledge and how only someone with the same specialised knowledge will be able to catch/recognise a similar person.
'Sober as a judge' refers to the stern manner of the same.
melkins542: I'm with you on 'recorded live'.
And the apple DOESN'T fall far from the tree...it's too heavy to do anything but pretty much fall straight down. That's why it's adapted to be tasty so that animals will carry it off and eat it and spread appleseeds that way. The saying means that children tend to be similar to their parents.
The saying is 'If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas' - which is literally true, as any dog-owner knows - and means that if you keep undesirable company, the undesirable qualities will rub off on you.