Part 40
Neither sign a paper without reading it, nor drink water without seeing it, 230
Neither trust or contend, nor lay wagers or lend, and you’ll have peace to your end, 285
Neither women nor linen by candlelight, 111
Neutrals are soused from above, and singed from below, 139
Neutrals think to tread on eggs and break none, 163
Never advise a man to go to the wars, or to marry, 225
Never ask of him who has, but of him you know wishes you well, 238
Never challenge a fool to do wrong, 23
Never did capon love a hen, 27
Never do evil that good may come of it, 114
Never fell oak at the very first stroke, 145 (_See_ An oak)
Never give advice unasked, 166
Never give the skin when you can pay with the wool, 150
Never heed the colour of a gift horse, 66
Never let fools see half-finished work, 388
Never let the bottom of your purse or of your mind be seen, 113
Never limp before the lame, 23
Never put your finger between the tree and the bark, 23
Never put your thumbs between two grinders, 222
Never refuse a good offer, 123
Never repent a good action, 403
Never say, Fountain, I will not drink of thy water, 23
Never say, of this water I will not drink, of this bread I will not eat, 285
Never seemed a prison fair, or mistress foul, 24, 157
Never sell the bearskin till you have killed the bear, 24
Never speak of a rope in the house of a thief, 276
Never speak of a rope in the house of one who was hanged, 24, 114, 153, 221
Never spread your corn to dry before the door of a saintly man, 200
Never spur a willing horse, 76
Never was a mewing eat a good mouser, 113
Never was hood so holy but the devil could get his head into it, 302
New brooms sweep clean, 100, 163, 335, 393
New churches and new taverns are seldom empty, 163
New come, welcome, 163, 393
New doctor, new churchyard, 163
New laws, new roguery, 163
New loves drive out the old, 199
New songs are eagerly sung (or are liked the best), 163, 393
New trappings to an old mule, 199
Night has no friend, 30
No and yes cause long disputes, 393
No answer is also an answer, 381
No ape but swears he has the handsomest children, 156
No armour is proof against the gallows, 157
No better masters than poverty and want, 318
Nobody so wise but has a little folly to spare, 157
Nobody sows a thing that will not sell, 209
Nobody’s sweetheart is ugly, 335
No comforter’s head ever aches, 72
No corn without chaff, 318
No day but has its evening, 26, 115
No feast like a miser’s, 24
No fire without smoke, 40
No flies get into a shut mouth, 9, 104, 221, 276
No flies light on a boiling pot, 200
No good doctor ever takes physic, 111
No good lawyer ever goes to law himself, 111
No grass grows on a beaten road, 2, 104
No greater promisers than those who have nothing to give, 319
No house without a mouse, no barn without corn, no rose without a thorn, 157
No house without its cross, 318
No is a good answer when given in time, 393
No jealousy, no love, 163
No jesting with edged tools, 53
No Jew a fool, no hare lazy, 230
No king was ever a traitor, or pope excommunicated, 230
No living man all things can, 62
No lock avails against a hatchet, 14
No mad dog runs seven years, 318
No man can serve two masters, 164
No man is a hero in the eyes of his valet, 25
No man is a prophet in his own country, 40
No man is so tall that he need never stretch, and none so small that he need never stoop, 381
No man knoweth fortune till he dies, 335
No man learneth but by pain or shame, 335
No man limps because another is hurt, 381
No man looks for another in a sack, unless he has been there himself, 381
No man understands knavery better than the abbot who has been a monk, 20
No man’s master, no master’s man, 157
No meat ever remains in the shambles however bad it may be, 114
No money, no Swiss, 46, 157
No need to say “trot” to a good horse, 65
No need to seek shelter for an old ox, 193
No news is good news, 46, 115
No office so humble but is better than nothing, 335
No one betrays himself by silence, 162
No one can be caught in places he does not visit, 381
No one can blow and swallow at the same time, 164
No one can complain of the sea who twice suffers shipwreck, 164
No one can do nothing, and no one can do everything, 157
No one can guard against treachery, 172
No one can have peace longer than his neighbour pleases, 335
No one can see into another further than his teeth, 388
No one ever became poor through giving alms, 111
No one ever repented of having held his tongue, 111
No one ever saw a goat dead of hunger, 42, 113
No one falls low unless he attempt to climb high, 381
No one gets into trouble without his own help, 381
No one has seen to-morrow, 288
No one is a good judge in his own cause, 286
No one is always right, 287
No one is bound to do impossibilities, 3, 69
No one is content with his lot, 286
No one is poor but he who thinks himself so, 285
No one is rich enough to do without his neighbour, 381
No one is so liberal as he who has nothing to give, 41
No one is too old to learn, 191
No one is wise enough to advise himself, 164
No one is wise in his own affairs, 335
No one knows better where the shoe pinches than he who wears it, 111, 147
No one knows the parson better than the clerk, 381
No one knows where another’s shoe pinches, 335
No one likes justice brought home to his own door, 72
No one likes to bell the cat, 147
No one sees his own faults, 164
No one should take in an eating pawn (or pledge), 119
No one so hard upon the poor as the pauper who has got into power, 399
No one so sure but he may miss, 335
No one will get a bargain he does not ask for, 40
No one would be an innkeeper but for money, 233
No pear falls into a shut mouth, 104
No penny, no pater-noster, 164
No purchase like a gift, 26
No relation is poor, 236
No rose without a thorn, 46, 115, 318
No sauce like appetite, 26
No sheep runs into the mouth of a sleeping wolf, 306
No smoke without fire, 157, 189
No sooner is the law made than its evasion is discovered, 98
No tree falls at the first stroke, 156
No wind can do him good who steers for no port, 41
No woman is ugly if she is well dressed, 209, 269
No woman marries an old man for God’s sake, 147
No wonder if he breaks his head who stumbles twice over one stone, 248
No wonder lasts more than three days, 111
No word is ill spoken that is not ill taken, 285
None so busy as those who do nothing, 25
None so deaf as he (or those) that won’t hear, 24, 112, 236, 381
Not all are asleep who have their eyes shut, 115
Not all flowers are fit for nosegays, 163
Not all that is true is to be spoken, 286 (_See_ Every truth)
Not all that shakes (or trembles) falls, 129
Not all words require an answer, 129
Not every ball hits, 163
Not every dog that barks bites, 12
Not every land has all at hand, 163
Not every one may pluck roses, 166
Not every one that dances is glad, 12
Not every sort of wood is fit to make an arrow, 59
Not every wood will make wooden shoes, 358
Not every word requires an answer, 113
Not he gives who likes, but who has, 230
Not to wish to recover is a mortal symptom, 256
Not too little, not too much, 163
Nothing bolder than the miller’s shirt, that every morning collars a thief, 26, 164
Nothing can come out of a sack but what is in it, 114
Nothing dries sooner than tears, 164
Nothing falls into the mouth of a sleeping fox, 2, 196, 267, 299
Nothing grows old sooner than a kindness, 55
Nothing happens for nothing, 55
Nothing in haste but catching fleas, 318
Nothing is difficult to a willing mind, 67
Nothing is done while something remains undone, 26
Nothing is ever well done in a hurry, except flying from the plague or from quarrels, and catching fleas, 109
Nothing is had for nothing, 42
Nothing is ill said if it is not ill taken, 106
Nothing is impossible to a willing mind, 5
Nothing is lost on a journey by stopping to pray or to feed your horse, 241
Nothing is more like an honest man than a rogue, 55
Nothing is so burdensome as a secret, 55
Nothing is so liberally given as advice, 55
Nothing is so new as what has long been forgotten, 164
Nothing is so new but it has happened before (There is nothing new under the sun), 381
Nothing looks more like a man of sense than a fool who holds his tongue, 164
Nothing passes between asses but kicks, 128
Nothing should be done in a hurry except catching fleas, 164
Nothing so bad but it finds its master, 318
Nothing so good as forbidden fruit, 55
Nothing venture, nothing have, 50
Nothing weighs lighter than a promise, 164
Now that I have an ewe and a lamb, every one says to me: Good morrow, Peter, 194
Nurenberg wit and a skilful hand will find their way through any land, 164
Nurse, you are mistress whilst the child sucks, and after that nothing, 198
O.
“O what we must suffer for the sake of God’s church!” said the abbot, when the roast fowl burned his fingers, 165
Of bad debtors you may take spoilt herrings, 388
Of big words and feathers many go to the pound, 151
Of brothers-in-law and red dogs few are good, 210
Of evils, choose the least, 211, 276
Of hasty counsel take good heed, for haste is very rarely speed, 321
Of judgment every one has a stock on hand for sale, 91
Of listening children have your fears, for little pitchers have great ears, 331
Of little cloth but a short cloak, 15
Of oil, wine, and friends, the oldest, 268
Of other men’s leather large thongs, 212 (_See_ Good thongs)
Of soup and love, the first is the best, 228, 268
Of the good man a good pledge, and of the bad neither pledge nor surety, 275
Of the great and of the dead either speak well or say nothing, 90
Of the malady a man fears, he dies, 211
Of this world each man has as much as he takes, 92
Of three things the devil makes a salad: lawyers’ tongues, notaries’ fingers, and a third that shall be nameless, 92
Of two cowards, the one who attacks conquers the other, 275
Of two evils choose the least, 14, 172, 340, 346
Of two lookers-on one is sure to become a player, 14
Of what does not concern you say nothing, good or bad, 91
Of what use is it that the cow gives plenty of milk, if she upsets the pail, 175
Of your wife and your tried friend believe nothing but what you know for certain, 213
Offend one monk, and the lappets of all cowls will flutter as far as Rome, 135
Offer a clown your finger, and he’ll take your fist, 345 (_See_ Give a clown)
Office without pay makes thieves, 134
Often shooting hits the mark, 165
Oil is best at the beginning, honey at the end, and wine in the middle, 306
Old as is the boat it may cross the ferry once, 242
Old birds are hard to pluck, 134
Old birds are not caught with cats, 336
Old birds are not caught with chaff, 370
Old birds are not caught with new nets, 115
Old churches have dark windows, 133
Old crows are hard to catch, 133
Old foxes are hard to catch, 336
Old friends and new reckonings, 63
Old friends and old ways ought not to be disdained, 389
Old love and old brands kindle at all seasons, 63
Old love does not rust, 134
Old oxen have stiff horns, 352, 370
Old oxen tread hard, 134
Old people see best in the distance, 134
Old pigs have hard snouts, 134, 370
Old reckonings breed new disputes, 7, 67, 194
Old signs do not deceive, 370
Old thanks are not for new gifts, 68
Old trees are not to be bent, 133
Old wounds easily bleed, 134
On a fool’s beard all learn to shave, 193, 284
On a fool’s beard the barber learns to shave, 1, 69
On a hot day muffle yourself the more, 217
On a long journey even a straw is heavy, 104
On a small pretence the wolf devours the sheep, 119, 336
On dry land even brackish water is good, 222
On poor people’s beards the young barber learns his trade, 134
Once a thief always a thief, 181, 309
Once in people’s mouths, ’tis hard to get out of them, 144
Once is no custom, 61, 314
Once resolved, the trouble is over, 121
Once upon a time, no time (or Some day, no day), 144
One always returns to one’s first love, 43
One always knocks oneself in the sore place, 43
One ass among monkeys is grinned at by all, 260
One ass nicknames another “Long-ears,” 142
One bad eye spoils the other, 142
One barber shaves another, 60
One basket of grapes does not make a vintage, 130
One beats the bush and another catches the bird, 138, 304
One bee is better than a thousand (or a handful of) flies, 142, 232
One beggar likes not that another has two wallets, 353
One bell serves a parish, 129
One bird in the dish is better than a hundred in the air, 145 (_See_ a bird)
One bird in the hand is worth two flying (or on the roof), 281, 316, 343 (_See_ A bird)
One bite brings another, 351
One blind man leads another into the ditch, 60
One briar does not make a hedge, 130
One can speak and seven can sing, 142
One candle for St. Michael, and another for his devil, 61
One cannot be and have been, 42
One cannot be at the oven and the mill at the same time (One cannot be in two places at once), 42
One cannot blow and swallow at the same time, 258
One cannot drink and whistle at the same time, 114 (_See_ No one)
One cannot (no man can) keep peace longer than his neighbour will let him, 160
One cannot please everybody and one’s father, 42
One cannot ring the bells and walk in the procession, 42
One cannot wash a blackamoor white, 143
One can’t enter Paradise in spite of the saints, 114
One can’t hinder the wind from blowing, 42
One can’t shoe a running horse, 332
One catches the hare and another eats it, 138
One crow does not make a winter, 143, 313
One day is as good as two for him who does everything in its place, 62
One daughter helps to marry the other, 129
One deceit brings on another, 61
One devil does not make hell, 130
One devil drives out another, 130
One devil knows another, 130
One does it for love, another for honour, a third for money, 304
One does not always hit what one aims at, 59
One dog growls to see another go into the kitchen, 137
One door never shuts but another opens, 109, 114
One enemy is too many (or too much), and a hundred friends are too few (or not enough), 98, 130, 142, 364
One eye of the master sees more than four eyes of his servants, 121
One eye on the frying-pan and the other on the cat, 260
One flea does not hinder sleep, 129
One flower does not make a garland, 61, 130, 142
One fool always finds a greater to admire him, 63
One fool is enough in a house, 74
One fool makes a hundred (or many), 260, 280, 313, 364
One fool may ask more questions than seven wise men can answer, 144, 366
One fool praises another, 144
One foot is better than two stilts, 39
One God, one wife, but many friends, 313
One good morsel and a hundred vexations, 130
One good turn deserves another, 1, 142, 304
One good word quenches more heat than a bucket of water, 121
One grain does not fill the granary, but it helps its companion, 280
One grievance borne, another follows, 260
One grows used to love and to fire, 3
One hair of a maiden’s head pulls harder than ten yoke of oxen, 365
One hair of a woman draws more than a bell-rope, 143
One half the world knows not how the other half lives, 29
One half the world laughs at the other, 30, 143
One hand full of money is stronger than two hands full of truth, 364
One hand must wash the other, or both will be dirty, 372
One hand washes the other, 143
One hand washes the other, and both the face, 129, 228, 260, 280, 304
One has always strength enough to bear the misfortunes of one’s friends, 41
One has only to die to be praised, 159
One hour’s sleep before midnight is better than two (or three) after it, 16, 143
One hunts the hare, and another eats it, 353
One is never so rich as when one removes (from one house to another), 43
One is never soiled but by filth, 43
One kisses the child for the mother’s sake, and the mother for the child’s sake, 159
One kisses the nurse for the sake of the child, 171
One knavery is met by another, 260
One knife keeps another in its sheath, 130
One knife whets another, 130, 144
One knows not for whom he gathers, 43
One learns by failing, 41
One lie draws ten after it, 129
One link broken, the whole chain is broken, 136
One living pope is better than ten dead, 97
One log does not burn long by itself, 142
One lost, two found, 316
One love drives out another, 260
One man is another’s devil, 144
One man is born to the money, and another to the purse, 364
One man is not bad because another is good, 364
One man knocks in the nail, and another hangs his hat on it, 138
One man, no man, 62
One man often talks another off his bench, and seats himself upon it, 364
One mangy sheep spoils a whole flock, 365
One man’s story is no story; hear both sides. (One story is good till another is told), 143
One marriage is never celebrated but another grows out of it, 147
One may as well be well beaten as badly beaten, 7
One may buy gold too dear, 43, 126, 159
One may go a long way after one is tired, 43
One may have good eyes and see nothing, 127
One may see through a wall, if there’s a hole in it, 159
One may steal nothing save a lawyer’s purse, 24
One may tire of eating tarts, 43
One misfortune brings on another, 280, 322
One must be either anvil or hammer, 22
One must glean at harvest time, 161
One must howl with the wolves (_See_ He who herds), 22
One must lose a minnow to catch a salmon, 22
One must needs like what one cannot hinder, 23
One must pass through the door or the window, 22
One must plough with the horses one has, 160
One must sometimes hold a candle to the devil, 333
One must step back to make the better leap, 22
One must talk soothingly to the dog until one has passed him, 58
One nail drives in another, 304
One nail drives out another, 61, 84, 130
One never gets more than the money’s worth of anything, 42
One never goes so far as when one don’t know whither one is going, 43
One never wept but another laughed, 113
One often has need of a lesser than oneself, 41
One pair of ears would exhaust a hundred tongues, 130
One penny in the pot (money-box) makes more noise than when it is full, 315
One penny is better on land than ten on the sea, 364
One piece of good advice is better than a bag full, 364
One ploughs, another sows, who will reap no one knows, 364
One quill is better in the hand than seven geese upon the strand, 315
One raven does not peck out another’s eyes, 353
One rotten apple in the basket infects the whole quantity, 315
One rotten egg spoils the whole pudding, 142
One scabbed sheep will mar (_or_ infect, _or_ spoil) a whole flock, 24, 36, 129, 347
One shoe will not fit every foot, 144
One should be born either a king or a fool, 160
One starts the game and another bags it, 260
One starts the hare, another catches it, 130
One stroke on the nail and a hundred on the horseshoe, 260
One swallow does not make a spring, 61, 143
One swallow don’t make a summer, 129, 260, 315, 364
One sword keeps another in the scabbard, 144, 358
One “Take this” is better than ten “God help you!”, 144
One “Take this” is better than two “You-shall-haves!”, 39, 63, 314
One to-day is better than ten to-morrows, 143
One to one, and two to the devil, 364
One trick is met by another, 209
One voice, no voice, 132
One wedge drives another, 147 (_See_ One nail)
One wolf does not kill another, 260, 287
One word beforehand is better than ten afterwards, 350
One word brings on another, 129
One would not be alone even in Paradise, 114
One would rather be bitten by wolves than by sheep, 388
One wrong submitted to, another follows, 280
One’s own hearth is worth gold (The Scotch say: Ane’s ain hearth is goud’s worth), 317
One’s own spurs and another’s horse make the miles short, 127
One’s prog does not clog (Store is no sore), 226
Onions, smoke, and a shrew, make a good man’s eyes water, 385
Only one can be emperor, 164
Open hand makes open hand, 165
Open thy mouth that I may know thee, 72
Open your purse, and I will open my mouth, 263
Opportunity makes desire, 319
Opportunity makes the thief, 37, 105, 149, 227, 305, 384
Order and do it, and you will be rid of anxiety, 230
Other folks’ cares kill the ass, 210
Other times, other counsels, 283
Other times, other folk, 347
Other times, other manners, 7
Other towns, other lasses, 134
Others’ bread has seven crusts, 103
Others’ bread is too salt, 103
Our last garment is made without pockets, 109
Our neighbour’s children are always the worst, 172
Our time runs on like a stream; first fall the leaves and then the tree, 336
Out before day, in before night, 341
Out of a great evil often comes a great good, 127
Out of a little grass comes a great ass, 173
Out of a white egg often comes a black chick, 93
Out of sight, out of mind, 37, 134, 245, 280, 339, 384
Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh, 339
Out of the frying-pan into the fire, 270
Out of the mire and into the brook, 255
Out of yes and no comes all dispute, 15
“Own kin are the worst friends,” said the fox, when he saw the foxy dogs after him, 369
Ox, keep to your grass, 165
P.
Painted flowers have no scent, 49, 319
Paper and ink and little justice, 239
Paper bears anything (or is patient), 33, 137
Paper does not blush, 105
Paris was not built in a day, 44
Patience is the virtue of asses, 30
Patience! said the wolf to the ass, 118
Patience surpasses learning, 318
Pay-day comes every day, 190
Pay what you owe, and be cured of your complaint, 238, 290
Peace and a well-built house cannot be bought too dearly, 369
Peace and patience, and death with penitence, 239
Peace feeds, war wastes; peace breeds, war consumes, 369
Peace must be bought even at a high price, 369
Peace with a cudgel in hand is war, 291
Peacock, look at your legs, 165
Peel a fig for your friend, a peach for your enemy, 69
Penny is penny’s brother, 165
Penny wise and pound foolish, 161
People count up the faults of those who keep them waiting, 41
People lend only to the rich, 43
People make the bells say what they please, 41
People must eat, even were every tree a gallows, 333, 357 (_See_ A man must eat)
People often change, and seldom for the better, 160
People take more pains to be damned than to be saved, 41
Peralvillo justice: hang a man first and try him afterwards, 226
Perseverance brings success, 296
Perseverance kills the game, 241, 292
“Peter, I am taking a ride,” said the goose, when the fox was running into the wood with her, 395
Peter is so godly that God does not improve his condition, 258
Peter pinches me, and I like it, 240
Physician, heal thyself, 110, 134
Piety, prudence, wit, and civility, are the elements of true nobility, 148
Pigs in the cold and men in drink make a great noise, 291
Pilgrims seldom come home saints, 174
Pills must be bolted, not chewed, 21, 65
Places are God’s; placemen are the devil’s, 140
Plants oft removed never thrive, 165
Play with an ass and he will whisk his tail in your face, 206, 270
Play with the fool at home and he will play with you abroad, 206
Pleasures steal away the mind, 325
Plenty makes daintiness, 65
Plenty of words when the cause is lost, 66
Plough deep and you will have plenty of corn, 202
Plough or not plough, you must pay your rent, 202
Plough wet or dry, and you will not have to kiss your neighbour’s breech, 202
Pluck it from among the thistles, and we will take it off your hands, 255
Pluck the magpie and don’t make her scream, 119
Pluck the rose and leave the thorns, 88
Poison quells poison, 104
Policy goes beyond strength, 28
Poor folk’s wisdom goes for little, 300
Poor men do penance for rich men’s sins, 91
Poor men’s money and cowards’ weapons are often flourished, 90
Poor people’s words go many to a sackful, 134
Poor relations have little honour, 367