The aegis & intelligencer., 1899-03-03
.llE EGIS INhIN1EL. n.
BEL AIR MO. MARCH 8. 1889.
EVERYDAY SAYINGS.
TERSE QUOTATIONS THAT ARE PoPU-
LAR FAVORITES.
Somc of Them Are of Remote Origin.
and Il liz OF Interest to Learn when
and by Whom These Words That
Live We're Brought Into Being.

Some of Them Are of Remote Origin.
and Il Is OF Interest to Learn when
and by Whom These Words That
Live Were Brought Into Being.
The everyday sayings which are on
cvcrybody's tongue sometimes have u,
faroif origin, and it is interesting to learI
when and by whom they We're first said.
The society editor could ill describe n
fcstivity without the aid of 1.-THE wee sma'
hours ayont the twal," which is found in
brook" Dancing is never dancing, but
people "trip the light, fantastic toe" for
which expression the editor is indebted to
no less q parsonage than John Milton.
Conspicuous by his absence" was used
by Lord John Russell, who quoted it from
Tacitus And echo answers where is
from Lord Byron's Bride of Abydos.
| 1T Eeggars description" is found i'll AN
tony and Cleopatra "Whcrc ignorance
| is bliss it's folly to be wise was said by
Gray in his ode to Eton College" !"
| We'll begun is half done" may be traced
| back to Horace. According to her gar
| mcnt she cut her cloth was said by Dry
| den in 1.-The Cock and Fox" Sir John
| Holt in "Sir William Morris Case" said,
| The better the day the better the deed. "
"Out of sight, out of mind dates back to
| 1863 and is found in Googe's 'Epytaphes,
| Egloga, ana SonEctres "And there,
| though last, not least" Is from Skeletons
| Colin Clout," and Through thick and
thin from the "Faery Queen"
Rare Ben Jonson gives the advice to
Laugh and be fat" One Of Bishop
Hornc's sermons is the source Of "1t is
| better to wear out than to rust out. /"
| George Withrr in q "Pocm on Christmas"
| gives tic warning that Care will kill a
cat" and couplet from John Wolcot'R
Expostulary Odes'' contains the same
| sentiment:
| Care to our coffin adds nail, no doubt,
| And every grin so merry draws one out
| Nothing venture. nothing have" is
found in Five Hundred Points of Hus-
bandry," by Thomas Tusser. Churchill,
| in The Ghost" said 1.-The more haste
the less speed" 'To go in one ear and
out at the other" probably bad Its origin
in Chauccr's "One care it heard, at the
other it went out"
Prior, in his % Epiloguc to Lucius, gave
rs an adagc which is in use every day,
The gray mare will prove the better
horse" my dear, my better half" was
said by Sir Philip Sidney, in Arcadia, I"
Sauce for the goose Is sauce for tho gan
der is from THE New Maxims of Tom
| Brown" and another proverb often exem-
| pliticd is from u fable by Gay:
| In every age and cline we
| Two Of Il trade can nee agree.
| Ben Jonson, in 1.-THE Devil Is an Ass, y
1 .I-.l 1 3 1,
= 'Tis good to look before you leap"
| comes from Martin Parkcr's Excellent
| New Medley" Goldsmith tells us that
Man wants but little here below. "
Coming events cast their shadows be-
| FORE i; found i'll "Lochiel'S Warming"
| by Campbell hDiscretion is the better
part of valor' occurs in Beaumont and
| f'letchcr's "A King and No King" and
| shakespeare uses almost the same words
| in Henry 1V''-"I'hc better part of valor
| is discretion. in which better part l have
| saved my life. "
Many Other sayings have been used
with slight variations by several authors.
Comparisons arc cdious" is found i'll
Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy. in
| Hcyward's "A Woman Killed by Kind
ness in Dornc. and III George Herbert.
II Don Quixotc" We read that Com
;,ariscns are offensive" Thomas II KEN
bis SAYS that "Of two Devils the less is to l3c
| .hoscu," and in Prors Limitations OF
Horace" We find, "Of two evils l have
.hoscn thc least" Wordsworth is rcspon'
| .iblc for this statement that "Thc child is
:athcr to tire man." but in "Paradise Re
gained Milton had already said:
The childhood shows the man
| As morning shows the Gay.
The changes have been rung on the eS'
preston ..All is not gold that glitters.
Middleton gives ''All is not gold that
glistcns" Spcnscr, i'll the ''Faerit
Quccnc," says, "Gold is not all that gold
IN seems" Lydgatc has I'm all that
glistcrs gold all is not gold that outward
,howcth light" Dryden's version is '' All
rs they say, that giistcns is not gold, y
and Chauccr, in the Canterbury Tales, u
says the s;lne thing, but with more cir
;umiocution:
Eut 1 think that which schincth Us the gold
Is nauSht as that have herd tell
There's luck in odd numbers" Lover
makes Rory O'Moorc say. And in 'The
Merry Wives of Windsor" we find Good
luck lies in odd numbers, = = they say
here is divinity in odd numbers, either
II nativity chance or death Heaven
ncvcr helps the man who will not act, -
aid SophoclrS, and Sir Philip Sidney put
| he same idea in smaller compass III "Go.
helps those who help themselves"
| Holy George Herbert is the author ol
.ompilcr of many slrcwd sayings, such n!
'Wouldst thou have thy cake and keep il
too?'' THE wearcr knows where tho
shoe pinchcs, " Little pitchers have widc
| urs," at is poor sport that is not worth
| the candle" Gods mills grind slow but
sure" 'Half the world knows not how
, The other half lives "His bark is worsc
| shan his bite The burnt Child dread,
the fire." "Thc mill cannot grind witt
water that is past, Whose house is glas:
| must not throw stones at another, Goo
.omcs to sec without II bell, J." IAN il
lahorer Guarrcls with his TOOLS, ITO {
| lose shorn sheep God gives wind by
| measure" This is probably the origin o
he provcrb "God tempers tho wind to til,
horn lamb, which was said by Stcrnc il
'Tristram S;handy." Herbert also quotes
| Man proposes; God disposes.' Thil
WAS first said by Thomas IL kempts.
A great many of our common sayins'
are taken from Shakespeare. ''As dcac
Is door nail" and ITO give the devil hi:
due" arc from Henry ~" MY cakt
is dough" is from "Thc Tanning of the
| Shrew.'' ''St rev your courage to th'
sticking place is found in Macbeth. ,
Some quotations from Shakespeare art
credited to the Bible as, for instance
THAT bourne from which no traveller re
turns, which is used by II worthy deacon
once week in prayer meeting i'll the be
lief that 1t is a Scriptural quotation.
Beaumont and Fletcher are responsible
for several much used sayings, such a
"Beggars should never be choosers,
found in "Thc Scornful Lady" and "Ont
mans meat is another mans poison,
which is taken from Loves Cure" ant
in Buffers "Hudibras" occur "To takt
the wrong SOW by the ear, "To get by
hook or crook, " ''To count their chickens
ere they're hi.tchcd" and To smell a rat. ;
New York Post.
Making New Shoes Secondhand.
AZ knew Il man once" said n man VIII
| was getting his shoes black cd to his neigh