Part 43
The nearest boor is the nearest kinsman when the calf lies in the ditch, 334
The nearest the dearest, 137
The nest made, the bird dead, 287
The new is always liked, though the old is often better, 393
The niggard spends as much as he who is liberal, and in the end more, 7
The night brings counsel, 30
The nobler the blood the less the pride, 382
The nobler the tree the more pliant the twig, 328
The noise is so great one cannot hear God thunder, 31
The oaths of one who loves a woman are not to be believed, 225
The office teaches the man, 136
The official who can’t lie may as well be out of the world, 219
The oft-moved (or rolling) stone gathers no moss, 356
The old branch breaks if bent, 370
The old for want of ability, and the young for want of knowledge, let things be lost, 220
The old man at home, and the young abroad, lie after the same fashion, 220
The old monkey gets the apple, 30
The old ones sing, the young ones pipe (or, As the old cock crows, the young cook learns), 342
The old saints are forgotten in the new, 291
The old wife, if she does not serve for a pot, serves for a cover, 227
The older a fool the worse he is (There is no fool like an old fool), 154
The older one grows the more one learns, 328
The older, the colder; the more avaricious, the more vicious, 154
The one-eyed is a king in the land of the blind, 6, 172, 222, 286
The only victory over love is flight, 31
The only way to keep a secret is to say nothing, 25
The open door invites the thief, 306 (_See_ The hole; _also_ Opportunity)
The owl does not praise the light, nor the wolf the dog, 402
The owl thinks her children the fairest, 402
The ox comes to the yoke at the call of his feeder, 197
The ox spoke and said “Moo,”, 223
The ox that tossed me threw me into a good place, 216, 270
The ox without a bell is soon lost, 216
The pan says to the pot, Keep off, or you’ll smutch me, 106
The paunch warm, the foot sleepy, 204
The people’s voice, God’s voice, 64, 132, 140, 174
The pike grows big on small fry, 370
The pitcher goes so often to the well that it gets broken at last, 58, 139, 305, 383
The pitcher goes so often to the well that it leaves its handle or its mouth, 131, 208, 258, 271
The point of the thorn is small, but he who has felt it does not forget it, 97
The poor man eats at double cost, 288
The poor man has his crop destroyed by hail every year, 217
The poor man seeks for food, the rich man for appetite, 368
The poor man wants much, the miser everything, 353
The poor man’s corn always grows thin, 368
The poor must dance as the rich pipe, 140
The poor-houses are filled with the honestest people, 211
The pope and a peasant know more than the pope alone, 125
The pope eats peasants, gulps gentlemen, and voids monks, 139
The pot boils best on your own hearth, 365
The pot that boils too much loses its flavour, 291
The pot upbraids the kettle that it is black, 306
The pride of the poor does not endure, 368
The priest errs at the altar, 97
The priest loves his flock, but the lambs more than the wethers, 139
The priest to his book, the peasant to his plough, 395
The proof of the pudding is in the eating, 307
The rat does not leave the cat’s house with a bellyful, 274
The rat that has but one hole is soon caught, 198, 354, 299 (_See_ The mouse)
The raven always thinks that her young ones are the whitest, 395
The raven is fair when the rook is not by, 395
The repeated stroke will fell the oak, 173
The rich devour the poor, and the devil devours the rich, and so both are devoured, 306
The rich have many friends, 337
The rich man has more relations than he knows, 33
The rich man transgresses the law, and the poor man is punished, 259
The rich widow’s tears soon dry, 396
The richest man carries nothing away with him but a shroud, 33
The richest man, whatever his lot, is he who’s content with what he has got, 318
The right hand is slave to the left, 105
The righteous man sins before an open chest, 221
The righteous pays for the sinner, 290
The river does not swell with clear water, 102
The river passed the saint forgotten, 118
The road to heaven is equally short, where’er we die, 361
The road to ruin is paved with good intentions, 139
The roses fall, and the thorns remain, 108
The rotten apple spoils its companion, 227
The saint has no believers unless he works miracles, 114
The saint who works no cures has few pilgrims to his shrine, 55
The saint’s-day over, farewell the saint, 29
The same fire purifies gold and consumes straw, 126
The same shoe does not fit every foot, 74
The scabbier the sheep the harder it bleats, 328
The scalded cat (or dog) dreads cold water, 101, 223
The scoffer’s own house is often on fire, 357
The secret in swimming is to know how to take care of your clothes, 226
The secret of two is God’s secret, the secret of three is everybody’s secret, 56
The servant wench that has a mother in town swoons seven times a day, 250
The shadow of a lord is a cap for a fool, 118
The sharper soon (or easily) cheats the covetous man, 220, 290
The she-bear thinks her cubs pretty, 70
The sheep on the mountain is higher than the bull on the plain, 28
The sheep that bleat most give the least milk, 367
The sheep that bleats loses a mouthful, 9, 119, 238, 290
The sheep that is too tame is sucked by too many lambs, 9
The ship does not go without the boat, 106
The shirt is nearer than the doublet, 66, 231, 398
The shortest follies are the best, 35
The shovel scouts the poker, 30
The sick man is free to say all, 109
The sick man is vexed with the flies on the wall, 137
The sick man sleeps when the debtor cannot, 106
The silent dog is the first to bite, 168
The silent man is most trusted, 400
The skin is nearer than the shirt, 30
The sky is not the less blue because the blind man does not see it, 374
The smith’s dog sleeps at the noise of the hammer, and wakes at the grinding of teeth, 219
The smoke of my own house is better than another man’s fire, 121
The snail, to be rid of annoyances, bartered its eyes for horns, 216
The soldier is well paid for doing mischief, 103
The soldier’s blood exalts the captain, 103
The son of an ass brays twice a day, 217
The son-in-law’s sack is never full, 290
The sound of the bell does not drive away rooks, 127
The sow prefers the mire, 398
The spider’s web lets the rat escape and catches the fly, 228
The spot will come out in the washing, 197
The steps at court are slippery, 401
The stew mixed by many is ill-seasoned and worse cooked (Too many cooks spoil the broth), 238
The stew that boils much loses flavour, 238
The still swine eat the mash, the wild ones run past it, 352
The stone is hard and the drop is small, but a hole is made by the constant fall, 228
The stone that everybody spits upon will be wet at last, 356
The strong man’s sport is the weak man’s death, 170
The stronger the seam the worse the rent, 14
The strongest is always in the right, 103
The sun passes over filth and is not defiled, 71
The sun shines for all the world, 35
The sun will bring to light what lay under the snow, 141
The sun-dial counts only the bright hours, 141
The sweetest grapes hang highest, 141
The sword and the ring according to the hand that bears them, 226, 264
The sword keeps the peace of the land, 403
The tail is the hardest to scourge, 30, 105
The tailor ill-dressed, the shoemaker ill-shod, 265
The talker sows, the listener reaps, 85
The teeth of the puppy are growing while the old dog is gnawing bones, 347
The tender surgeon makes a foul wound, 102
The thief becomes the gallows well, 269
The thief cannot find any tree that suits him for a gallows, 147
The thief is frightened even by a mouse, 69
The thief proceeds from a needle to gold, and from gold to the gallows, 288
The thief thinks that all men are like himself, 240, 288
The thief’s wife does not always laugh, 114
The third person makes good company, 304
The thirteenth man brings death, 304
The thorn comes into the world point foremost, 226
The thread breaks where it is thinnest, 217
The threatener loses the opportunity of vengeance, 215
The threatener sometimes gets a drubbing, 58
The threshold says nothing but what it hears of the hinge, 235
The tired mare goes willingly to grass, 276
The tired ox plants his foot firmly, 216
The tongue goes where the tooth aches (or to the aching tooth), 29, 94, 196, 280
The tongue of a bad friend cuts more than a knife, 226
The tongue wounds more than a lance, 61
The tooth often bites the tongue, and yet they keep together, 400
The town that parleys is half surrendered, 64
The trade of thick-headed Michael: eating, drinking, and idling, 303
The treason approved, the traitor abhorred, 172, 265
The tree does not fall at the first stroke, 6, 31, 70, 304
The tree is not felled at one blow, 68
The tree is not to be judged of by its bark, 91
The tree is sure to be pruned before it reaches the skies, 401
The tree must be bent while it is young, 137
The Trojans were wise too late, 128
The two make a pair, 34
The unbidden guest is ever a pest, 171
The unfortunate know who are their real friends, 89
The unrighteous penny consumes the righteous dollar, 172
The upright never grow rich in a hurry, 396
The venom is in the tail, 111
The virtue of silence is a great piece of knowledge, 132
The voice of the people is the voice of God, 262 (_See_ Vox Populi, vox Dei, in _Dict. of Quotations_)
The waggon must go whither the horses draw it, 403
The watch-dog does not get sweet milk unless there be drowned mice in it, 398
The water breaks out where it is not expected, 94
The water runs while the miller sleeps, 402
The weakest goes to the wall, 125
The weakest must hold the candle, 6
The wedding feast is not made with mushrooms only, 237
The weeping bride makes a laughing wife, 176
The well-bred hound, if he does not hunt to-day will hunt to-morrow, 216
The well-dressed woman draws her husband away from another woman’s door, 227
The well-fed man does not believe in hunger, 103
The well-fed sheep makes a cloak of its tail, 227
The wet branch burns better than the dry stone, 349
The white coat does not make the miller, 107
The wicked shun the light as the devil shuns the cross, 306
The will gives the work its name, 140
The will is everything, 107
The will is taken for the deed, 37
The will is the soul of the work, 140
The wind does not always blow from the same quarter, 147
The wine given to your workmen is that for which you get the best paid, 36
The wine is not known by the hoops, 42
The wine-skin has its reasons for smelling of pitch, 264
The winter is gone, the spring is come, a fig for those who us good have done, 218
The wise drunkard is a sober fool, 171
The wise hand does not all that the tongue says, 227
The wise knows that he does not know, the ignoramus thinks he knows, 205
The wise man does not hang his knowledge on a hook, 217
The wise man has long ears and a short tongue, 139
The wit one wants spoils what one has, 36
The wolf and the fox are both in one story, 218
The wolf bemoans the sheep, and then eats it, 102
The wolf does that in the course of the week which hinders him from going to mass on Sunday, 218
The wolf eats of what is counted, 211, 275 (_See_ Counted sheep)
The wolf is always left out of the reckoning, 90
The wolf is not always a wolf, 102
The wolf is not so big as people make him (or The wolf is always said to be bigger than he is), 42, 126
The wolf loses his teeth, but not his inclinations, 218, 233, 288
The wolf picks the ass’s fleas by moonlight, 195
The wolf preys not in his own field (or commits no mischief at home), 218, 402
The wolf will die in his skin, 32
The woman in finery, the house in filth, but the doorway swept, 227
The woman who gives is seldom good; the woman who accepts is in the power of the giver, 93
The wood has ears, the field has eyes, 139
The word of honour of a gentleman—another pledge would be better, 18
The words are fair, said the wolf, but I will not come into the village, 307
The work praises the workman, 137
The workman is known by his work, 3, 70, 296
The workman is worthy of his hire, 312
The world belongs to the phlegmatic, 103
The world is for him who has patience, 103
The world is governed with little brains, 89
The world is like a staircase; some go up, others go down, 103
The world likes to be cheated, 307
The world likes to have night-owls, that it may have matter for wonder, 141
The world wags on with three things: doing, undoing, and pretending, 103
The world’s a stage; each plays his part, and takes his share, 307
The worse service, the better luck, 328
The worse the carpenter, the more the chips, 328
The worse the dun, the worse the paymaster, 154
The worst clothed go to windward, 35
The worst ewe dungs in the milking-pail, 227
The worst jests are those that are true, 11
The worst of a lawsuit is that out of one there grow a hundred, 229
The worst pig eats the best acorn (or pear), 70, 197, 289
The worst wheel creaks most (or makes the most noise), 12, 96, 137, 325, 328
The worth of a thing is what it will bring, 295
The wrath of brothers is the wrath of devils, 225, 280
The wrong-doer never lacks a pretext, 66, 197
The year has a wide mouth and a big belly, 346
The young may die, the old must die, 138, 330
The young pig must often suffer for what the old sow did, 394
The young ravens are beaked like the old, 305
Their dogs don’t hunt in couples, 36
There are calumnies against which even innocence loses courage, 27
There are eyes that fall in love with bleared ones (Fancy surpasses beauty), 238
There are fagots and fagots (all are not alike), 27
There are good and bad everywhere, 119
There are good dogs of all sizes, 15
There are ills that happen for good, 279
There are many days in the year, and still more meals, 356
There are many preachers who don’t hear themselves, 173
There are many roads to Rome, 119
There are more asses than carry sacks, 126
There are more foolish buyers than foolish sellers, 27
There are more old drunkards than old doctors, 43, 145
There are more thieves than are hanged, 302
There are more thieves than gibbets, 126
There are more threatened than hurt, 121, 231
There are no children now-a-days, 25
There are no foolish trades, there are only foolish people, 25
There are only two good women in the world: the one is dead, the other not to be found, 146
There are some who despise pride with greater pride, 127
There are some who see ill, and would like to see worse, 88
There are three bad neighbours: great rivers, great lords, and great roads, 356
There are three things from which no good can be got without a beating: a walnut-tree, a donkey, and a shrew, 401
There are toys for all ages, 27
There come just as many calf-skins to market as cow-skins, 146, 302
There die as many lambs as wethers, 294
There goes more than one ass to market, 98
There is a cause for all things, 116
There is a fool at every feast, 301
There is a remedy for everything but death, 27, 43, 203, 317, 356
There is always a Pharaoh who does not know Joseph, 146
There is little peace in that house where the hen crows and the cock is mute, 104
There is little use in watching a bad woman, 199
There is more disputing about the shell than the kernel, 159
There is never a cry of “Wolf!” but the wolf is in the district, 97
There is never a great dunghill at a sportsman’s door, 200
There is never enmity between the cook and the butler, 128
There is never enough where nought is left, 115
There is never wanting a dog to bark at you, 287
There is no answer for Get out of my house, and What have you to do with my wife?, 195
There is no appeal from time past, 91
There is no beard so well shaven but another barber will find something more to shave from it, 115
There is no beast so savage but sports with its mate, 236
There is no better patch than one off the same cloth, 236
There is no bush so small but casts its shadow, 26
There is no chapel so small but has its saint, 25
There is no choicer morsel than that which is stolen, 236
There is no cure against a slanderer’s bite, 356
There is no day without its night, 285
There is no disputing about taste, 258
There is no dog, be he ever so wicked, but wags his tail, 115
There is no fire without smoke, 356
There is no flavour in a swallowed morsel, 39
There is no fool like a learned fool, 105
There is no getting blood from a turnip, 90
There is no good in preaching to the hungry, 137
There is no helping him who will not be advised, 66
There is no house without its hush! hush!, 236
There is no hunting but with old hounds, 24
There is no joy without alloy, 318
There is no law but has a hole in it, for those who can find it out, 146
There is no lock if the pick is of gold, 236
There is no love without jealousy, 25, 112
There is no making pancakes without breaking the eggs, 84
There is no mother like the mother that bore us, 236
There is no need to bind up one’s head before it is broken, 111
There is no need to blow what does not burn you, 358
There is no need to fasten a bell to a fool, he is sure to tell his own tale, 390
There is no occasion for priests to marry while peasants have wives, 146
There is no pleasure but palls, and the more so if it costs nothing, 236, 285
There is no pot so bad (or ugly) but finds its cover, 26, 236
There is no pride like that of a beggar grown rich, 24
There is no saint so petty but claims his own candle, 146
There is no spite like that of a proud beggar, 25
There is no stripping a naked man, 142
There is no such thing as an insignificant enemy, 25
There is no such witness as a good measure of wine, 236
There is no tax upon lying, 219
There is no thief without a receiver, 230
There is no use in blowing a fire that burns well, 362
There is no use in saying, I will not go such a way, nor drink of such a water, 113
There is no virtue in a promise unless it be kept, 380
There is no worse fruit than that which never ripens, 112
There is no worse joke than a true one, 112, 115, 236
There is no worse thief than a bad book, 115
There is no worse water than that which sleeps, 24
There is not a pair of ears for every Jew, 239
There is nothing for which the boors pray so much to God as that the horses of the squirearchy may not die, for otherwise they would ride the boors with spurs, 140
There is nothing so bad but may be of some use, 156
There is nothing so secret but it transpires, 317
There is nothing so well done but may be mended, 25
There is plenty of corn in Castile, but he who has none starves, 284
There is some distance between Peter and Peter, 196
There never was a banquet so sumptuous but some one dined ill at it, 25
There never was a looking-glass that told a woman she was ugly, 25
There never was a shoe, however handsome, that did not become an ugly slipper, 113
There were never fewer nobles than when all would be so, 346
There would be no ill word if it were not ill taken, 235
There’s cunning in—a pointed chin, 169
There’s many a knave concealed under a surplice, 366
There’s neither rhyme nor reason in him, 25
There’s no argument like that of the stick, 236
There’s no catching trouts with dry breeches, 286
There’s no disputing about tastes, 91
There’s no getting to heaven in a coach, 114
There’s no guarding against the privy thief, 16
There’s no handsome woman on the wedding-day, except the bride, 285
There’s no living without friends, 285
There’s no making a donkey drink against his will, 112, 332
There’s no making a good cloak of bad cloth, 212
There’s no making a silk purse of a sow’s ear, 332
There’s no making apples of plums, 165
There’s no need to grease the fat pig’s rump, 42
There’s no putting off a lie upon the belly, 138
There’s no showing the wolf to a bad dog, 3
There’s no smoke without fire, 112
There’s no turning a windmill with a pair of bellows, 114
There’s not enough if there’s not too much, 5
There’s nothing like being bespattered for making a man defy the gutter, 25
There’s nothing like having the key of the fields, 25
There’s nothing new under the sun, 145
There’s virtue in a man’s face (_i. e._ presence carries weight), 17
They agree like cats and dogs, 345
They are all honest men, but my cloak is not to be found, 259
They are rich who have friends, 201, 267
They may whip me in the market-place, so it be not known at home, 259
They must be strong legs that can support prosperous days, 147
They must hunger in frost who spring-time have lost, 182
“They say” is a fool (or a liar), 41, 126
They took away the mirror from me because I was ugly, and gave it to the blind woman, 254
They understand one another like thieves in a fair, 345
They whip the cat if our mistress does not spin, 204
They who are often at the looking-glass seldom spin, 344
They who come from afar have leave to lie, 173, 311
They who deserve honour fail of it, and they who obtain it do not deserve it, 181
They who do not wash well do not bleach well, 378
They who don’t keep goats and yet sell kids, where do they get them?, 230
They who don’t kill pigs must not expect black-puddings, 201
They who eat cherries with the great are like to have the stones and stalks flung in their face, 162
They who fight with golden weapons are pretty sure to prove their right, 310
They who shun the smoke often fall into the fire, 126
They wrangle about an egg and let the hens fly away, 169
Thick wine is better than clear water, 97
Things are not as they are, but as they are regarded, 108
Things promised are things due, 13 (_See_ Promises make debts)
Think much, say little, write less, 45, 119
Think of many things, do one, 273
Thinking is not knowing, 273
Thinking of where you are going, you forget whence you came, 273
Thirst comes from drinking, 75
Thirteen nuns, fourteen children!, 141
Thistles and thorns prick sore, but evil tongues prick more, 311
Those besoms can be sold cheapest which are stolen ready made, 140
Those who climb high often have a fall, 378
Though a lie be swift, truth overtakes it, 75
Though my father-in-law is a good man, I do not like a dog with a bell, 203
Though the ass may carry a sack of gold, it feeds on thistles, 348
Though the bird may fly over your head, let it not make its nest in your hair, 368
Though the fool waits, the day does not, 54
Though the fox runs, the pullets have wings, 75
Though the heron flies high the falcon kills it, 264
Though the speaker be a fool, let the hearer be wise, 203
Though we are negroes, we are men, and have souls, 264
Though you are a prudent old man, do not despise counsel, 204
Though you seat the frog on a golden stool, he’ll soon jump off and into the pool, 168
Though you see me with this coat, I have another up the mountain, 203
Though you teach a wolf the pater-noster, he will say, “Lamb! lamb!”, 383
Though your bloodhound (or mastiff) be gentle, don’t bite him on the lip, 203, 264
Thought when sober, said when drunk, 164
Thoughts are toll-free, but not hell-free, 149
Thousands drink themselves to death before one dies of thirst, 147
Threads do not break for being fine, but for being gouty and ill-spun, 285
Threatened folks eat bread, 229, 294
Threats are arms for the threatened, 108
Threats don’t kill (Men don’t die of threats), 340
Three brothers, three castles, 60, 128, 295
Three daughters and a mother, four devils for the father, 260
Three know it, all know it, 128
Three or four daily will bring you to the bottom of the sack, 270
Three removals are as bad as a fire, 60, 141
Three things drive a man out of doors: smoke, dropping water (or a leaky roof), and a shrew, 128