User:BD2412/proverbs
Let the world slide.—Towneley Mysteries, p. 101 (1420). William Shakespeare: Taming of the Shrew, induc. 1. Beaumont and Fletcher: Wit without Money, act v, scene 2.
'T is good to be merry and wise.—Ben Jonson, George Chapman, Marston: Eastward Ho, act i, scene 1. Robert Burns: Here 's a health to them that 's awa'.
don fust C'on kint souvent est-on batu. (By his own stick the prudent one is often beaten.) Roman du Renart, circa 1300.
Look ere thou leap.—In Tottel's Miscellany, 1557; and in Tusser's Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry. Of Wiving and Thriving. 1573.
Thou shouldst have looked before thou hadst leapt.—Ben Jonson, George Chapman, Marston: Eastward Ho, act v. sc 1.
Look before you ere you leap.—Samuel Butler: Hudibras, pt. ii. c. ii. l. 502.
He that will not when he may, When he will he shall have nay. Robert Burton: Anatomy of Melancholy, pt. iii. sec. 2, mem. 5, subs. 5.
He that wold not when he might, He shall not when he wolda. The Baffled Knight. Thomas Percy: Reliques.
All the fatt 's in the fire.—Marston: What You Will. 1607.
You should hammer your iron when it is glowing hot.—Publius Syrus: Maxim 262.
Strike whilst the iron is hot.—Francis Rabelais: book ii. chap. xxxi. John Webster: Westward Hoe. Tom A'Lincolne. George Farquhar: The Beaux' Stratagem, iv. 1.
Hoist up saile while gale doth last, Tide and wind stay no man's pleasure. Robert Southwell: St. Peter's Complaint. 1595.
Nae man can tether time or tide.—Robert Burns: Tam O'Shanter.
Fast bind, fast find; A proverb never stale in thrifty mind. William Shakespeare: Merchant of Venice, act ii, scene 5.
Also in Jests of Scogin. 1565.
It is this proverb which Henry V. is reported to have uttered at the siege of Orleans. "Shall I beat the bush and another take the bird?" said King Henry.
Entre deux arcouns chet cul à terre (Between two stools one sits on the ground).—Les Proverbes del Vilain, MS. Bodleian. Circa 1303.
S'asseoir entre deux selles le cul à terre (One falls to the ground in trying to sit on two stools).—Francis Rabelais: book i. chap. ii.
As many men, so many minds.—Terence: Phormio, ii. 3.
As the saying is, So many heades, so many wittes.—Queen Elizabeth: Godly Meditacyon of the Christian Sowle. 1548.
So many men so many mindes.—Gascoigne: Glass of Government.
Hanging and wiving go by destiny.—The Schole-hous for Women. 1541. William Shakespeare: Merchant of Venice, act 2, scene 9.
Marriage and hanging go by destiny; matches are made in heaven.—Robert Burton: Anatomy of Melancholy, part iii. sec. 2, mem. 5, subs. 5.
Happy man be his dole.—William Shakespeare: Merry Wives, act iii, scene 4; Winter's Tale, act i, scene 2. Samuel Butler: Hudibras, part i. canto iii. line 168.
Si les nues tomboyent esperoyt prendre les alouettes (If the skies fall, one may hope to catch larks).—Francis Rabelais: book i. chap. xi.
To cast beyond the moon, is a phrase in frequent use by the old writers. John Lyly: Euphues, p. 78. Thomas Heywood: A Woman Killed with Kindness.
Let the world slide.—William Shakespeare: Taming of the Shrew, ind. 1; and, Let the world slip, ind. 2.
Shall I not take mine ease in mine inn?—William Shakespeare: 1 Henry IV. act iii, scene 2.
Hold their noses to the grindstone.—Thomas Middleton: Blurt, Master-Constable, act iii, scene 3.
It is more blessed to give than to receive.—John xx. 35.
Qui est près de l'église est souvent loin de Dieu (He who is near the Church is often far from God).—Les Proverbes Communs. Circa 1500.
Rather to bowe than breke is profitable; Humylite is a thing commendable. The Morale Proverbs of Cristyne; translated from the French (1390) by Earl Rivers, and printed by Caxton in 1478.
Fair words never hurt the tongue.—Ben Jonson, George Chapman, Marston, Eastward Ho, act iv, scene 1.
Neither fish nor flesh, nor good red herring.—Sir H. Sheres: Satyr on the Sea Officers. Tom Brown: Æneas Sylvius's Letter. John Dryden: Epilogue to the Duke of Guise.
Si finis bonus est, totum bonum erit (If the end be well, all will be well).—Gestæ Romanorum. Tale lxvii.
Who that well his warke beginneth, The rather a good ende he winneth. Gower: Confessio Amantis.
Thomas Tusser: Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry, An Habitation Enforced. John Bunyan: Pilgrim's Progress. Mathew Henry: Commentaries, Matthew xxi. Murphy: The School for Guardians.
Potius sero quam nunquam (Rather late than never).—Livy: iv. ii. 11.
39. Quant le cheval est emblé dounke ferme fols l'estable (When the horse has been stolen, the fool shuts the stable).—Les Proverbes del Vilain.
40. Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.—Proverbs xvi. 18.
Pryde goeth before, and shame cometh behynde.—Treatise of a Gallant. Circa 1510.
41. She looks as if butter would not melt in her mouth.—Jonathan Swift: Polite Conversation.
42. 'T is old, but true, still swine eat all the draff.—William Shakespeare: Merry Wives of Windsor, act iv, scene 2.
43. Ewyl weed ys sone y-growe.—MS. Harleian, circa 1490.
An ill weed grows apace.—George Chapman: An Humorous Day's Mirth.
Great weeds do grow apace.—William Shakespeare: Richard III. act ii, scene 4. Beaumont and Fletcher: The Coxcomb, act iv, scene 4.
44. God knows thou art a collop of my flesh.—William Shakespeare: 1 Henry VI. act v, scene 4.
45. Beggars must be no choosers.—Beaumont and Fletcher: The Scornful Lady, act v, scene 3.
46. Pet coc is kene on his owne mixenne.—Pe Ancren Riwle. Circa 1250.
47. The stone that is rolling can gather no moss.—Thomas Tusser: Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry.
A rolling stone gathers no moss.—Publius Syrus: Maxim 524. Gosson: Ephemerides of Phialo. Marston: The Fawn.
Pierre volage ne queult mousse (A rolling stone gathers no moss).—De l'hermite qui se désespéra pour le larron que ala en paradis avant que lui, 13th century.
48. To rob Peter and pay Paul is said to have derived its origin when, in the reign of Edward VI., the lands of St. Peter at Westminster were appropriated to raise money for the repair of St. Paul's in London.
49. You know that love Will creep in service when it cannot go. William Shakespeare: Two Gentlemen of Verona, act iv, scene 2.
50. Shakespeare alludes to this proverb in Macbeth:— Letting I dare not wait upon I would, Like the poor cat i' the adage.
Cat lufat visch, ac he nele his feth wete.—MS. Trinity College, Cambridge, circa 1250.
51. Whylst grass doth grow, oft sterves the seely steede.—Whetstone: Promos and Cassandra. 1578.
While the grass grows— The proverb is something musty. William Shakespeare: Hamlet, act iii, scene 4.
52. An earlier instance occurs in Heywood, in his "Dialogue on Wit and Folly," circa 1530.
53. Two strings to his bow.—Richard Hooker: Polity, book v. chap. lxxx. George Chapman: D' Ambois, act ii, scene 3. Samuel Butler: Hudibras, part iii. canto i. line 1. Churchill: The Ghost, book iv. Henry Fielding: Love in Several Masques, sc. 13.
54. See Chaucer, Quotation 42.
55. Naught venture naught have.—Thomas Tusser: Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry. October Abstract 56. 'T is an old saw, Children and fooles speake true.—John Lyly: Endymion.
57. Set all on sex and seven.—Geoffrey Chaucer: Troilus and Cresseide, book iv. line 623; also Towneley Mysteries.
At six and seven.—William Shakespeare: Richard II. act ii, scene 2.
58. All 's fish they get that cometh to net.—Thomas Tusser: Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry. February Abstract.
Where all is fish that cometh to net.—Gascoigne: Steele Glas. 1575.
59. Him that makes shoes go barefoot himself.—Robert Burton: Anatomy of Melancholy. Democritus to the Reader.
60. This phrase derives its origin from the custom of certain manors where tenants are authorized to take fire-bote by hook or by crook; that is, so much of the underwood as may be cut with a crook, and so much of the loose timber as may be collected from the boughs by means of a hook. One of the earliest citations of this proverb occurs in John Wycliffe's Controversial Tracts, circa 1370.—See Skelton, Quotation 5. Francis Rabelais: book v. chap. xiii. Du Bartas: The Map of Man. Edmund Spenser: Faerie Queene, book iii. canto i. st. 17. Beaumont and Fletcher: Women Pleased, act i, scene 3.
61. See Chaucer, Quotation 28.
62. In old receipt books we find it invariably advised that an inebriate should drink sparingly in the morning some of the same liquor which he had drunk to excess over-night.
63. See Chaucer, Quotation 48.
64. Ah, well I wot that a new broome sweepeth cleane—John Lyly: Euphues (Arber's reprint), p. 89.
65. Brend child fur dredth, Quoth Hendyng. Proverbs of Hendyng. MSS.
A burnt child dreadeth the fire.—John Lyly: Euphues (Arber's reprint), p. 319.
66. You do not speak gospel.—Francis Rabelais: book i. chap. xiii.
67. Christopher Marlowe: Jew of Malta, act iv, scene 6. Francis Bacon: Formularies.
68. Sottes bolt is sone shote.—Proverbs of Hendyng. MSS.
69. It has been the Providence of Nature to give this creature nine lives instead of one.—Pilpay: The Greedy and Ambitious Cat, fable iii. B. C.
70. John Lyly: Euphues (Arber's reprint), p. 80.
71. Pryde and Abuse of Women. 1550. The Marriage of True Wit and Science. Samuel Butler: Hudibras, part ii. canto i. line 698. Henry Fielding: The Grub Street Opera, act ii, scene 4. Matthew Prior: Epilogue to Lucius.
Lord Macaulay (History of England, vol. i. chap. iii.) thinks that this proverb originated in the preference generally given to the gray mares of Flanders over the finest coach-horses of England. Macaulay, however, is writing of the latter half of the seventeenth century, while the proverb was used a century earlier.
72. See Chaucer, Quotation 58.
Two may keep counsel when the third 's away.—William Shakespeare: Titus Andronicus, act iv, scene 2.
73. Pitchers have ears.—William Shakespeare: Richard III. act ii, scene 4.
74. See Chaucer, Quotation 26.
75. Thou shalt come out of a warme sunne into Gods blessing.—John Lyly: Euphues.
Thou out of Heaven's benediction comest To the warm sun. William Shakespeare: Lear, act ii, scene 2.
76. Ther can no great smoke arise, but there must be some fire.—John Lyly: Euphues (Arber's reprint), p. 153.
77. One swallowe prouveth not that summer is neare. John Northbrooke, Treatise against Dancing (1577).
80. I have thee on the hip.—William Shakespeare: Merchant of Venice, act iv, scene 1; Othello, act ii, scene 7.
82. A hardy mouse that is bold to breede In cattis eeris. Order of Foles. MS. circa 1450.
83. The same in Don Quixote (Lockhart's ed.), part i, book iii. chap. iv. John Bunyan: Pilgrim's Progress. John Fletcher: The Wild-Goose Chase, act iv, scene 3.
84. Time trieth truth.—Tottel's Miscellany, reprint 1867, p. 221.
Time tries the troth in everything.—Thomas Tusser: Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry. Author's Epistle, chap. i.
85. I saye, thou madde March hare.—John Skelton: Replycation against certayne yong scolers.
86. More water glideth by the mill Than wots the miller of. William Shakespeare: Titus Andronicus, act ii, scene 7.
87. An earlier instance of this proverb occurs in Heywood's Johan the Husbande. 1533.
He must needs go whom the devil drives.—William Shakespeare: All 's Well that Ends Well, act i, scene 3. Cervantes: Don Quixote, part i, book iv. chap. iv. Gosson: Ephemerides of Phialo. George Peele: Edward I.
88. Others set carts before the horses.—Francis Rabelais: book v. chap. xxii.
89. Gascoigne: Roses, 1575. Title of a Book of Epigrams, 1608. Beaumont and Fletcher: The Scornful Lady, act i, scene 1; The Sea Voyage, act i, scene 2.
90. To the latter end of a fray and the beginning of a feast.—William Shakespeare: 2 Henry IV. act iv, scene 2.
91. Be the day short or never so long, At length it ringeth to even song. Quoted at the Stake by George Tankerfield (1555). Fox: Book of Martyrs, chap. vii, page 346.
92. Jack Jugler, p. 46. Francis Rabelais: book i. chap xi. Blackloch: Hatchet of Heresies, 1565. Samuel Butler: Hudibras, part ii. canto iii. line 263.
93. What is bred in the bone will never come out of the flesh.—Pilpay: The Two Fishermen, fable xiv.
It will never out of the flesh that 's bred in the bone.—Ben Jonson: Every Man in his Humour, act i, scene 1.
None so deaf as those that will not hear.—Mathew Henry: Commentaries. Psalm lviii.
He has the wrong sow by the ear.—Ben Jonson: Every Man in his Humour, act ii, scene 1.
A proverb in the time of Saint Bernard was, Qui me amat, amet et canem meum (Who loves me will love my dog also).—Sermo Primus.
Falstaff. What wind blew you hither, Pistol? Pistol. Not the ill wind which blows no man to good. William Shakespeare: 2 Henry IV. act v, scene 3.
Give an inch, he 'll take an ell.—John Webster: Sir Thomas Wyatt.
Wouldst thou both eat thy cake and have it?—George Herbert: The Size.
Every man for himself, his own ends, the devil for all.—Robert Burton: Anatomy of Melancholy, part iii. sec. i. mem. iii.
For buying or selling of pig in a poke.—Thomas Tusser: Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry. September Abstract.
You have there hit the nail on the head.—Francis Rabelais: bk. iii. ch. xxxi.
Dives and Pauper, 1493. Gascoigne: Poesies, 1575. Alexander Pope: Horace, book i. Ep. vii. line 24. Henry Fielding: Covent Garden Tragedy, act v, scene 1. Isaac Bickerstaff: Love in a Village, act iii, scene 1.