Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1913-07-30
FAMOUS PHRASES
Origin of Some of Worlds Most
Popular Quotations.
WORDS THAT WILL ENDURE.
~NNhile There's Life There's Hope"
Was Wtitten by Cicero, and Cynical
Old Diogsnes II Was Who Told the
World "Asbit is Second Nature"

III Is EecbENe1 Aual au ARlNA @AiA kSAN
son. explaining Der diStaste for Shake
spearean performances. said that his
plays We're too full of quotations Yet
we, too. though we may pride ourselves
upon our learning. probably do not
know the origin Of half the common
phrases We use as carelessly as verbs
IN our daily conversation.
No less person than Cicero first
made use Of the expression. While
there's life there's hope" In letter he
wrote TO Atdcus- We are in the same
boat" is not modern slang. but occurs
In letter written by Clement l.. bish-
op Of Rome. to the Church Of Corinth
IN the first century. This letter is e1-
tant and is one Of the priced docu-
ments of the early church.
u never put of till tomorrow what
] can do today" was Lord Chester
fields explanation OF how be managed
to do so much work whatever is
worth doing at all is worth doing well"
he wrote later In the famous letters TO
his son
In some of the expressions we use
habitually may be crystailized an
epoch of history. Such is the motto Of
the Order Of the Garter. ''Honi soft Out
NAL pense" c'Shamed be he who
thinks evil Of it'1, which was given by
Edward Ill. Of England. Wishing to
draw the tcst soldiers in the world TO
him, he proposed q revival Of the round
table of king Arthur, holding tour
nament at Windsor castle on New
Years day. 1914. After the contest Of
arms the guests were entertained at
his expense at a round table Philip.
king of France. was jealous over the
interest this aroused and forbade his
subjects to attend. ar the same time
misrepresenting Edwards motives
Several years later, when Edward
founded the Order OF the Garter. he
chose a motto that seemed TO chaI-
lenge his rival monarch to think wrong
Of Il II be dared.
Later English history has not been
laggani in Increasing the supply OF apt
remarks that have grown into every
day sayings Lord Eldon. lord chan
cellor of England during the first TWEEN
ty-six years OF the nineteenth century.
continually mispronounced the name
OF Henry Brougham. afterward to be
q successor in the chancellors Office
Brougham objectedtto be called Brotf
sIn, and in this regard Eldon was the
chief offender. Once. after Broughsm
had made an excellent speech. Eldon
by way OF apology pronounced his
name correctly and made a proyeTb.
New brooms sweep clean"
The same expression occurs fire.
.Quently to different people who could
have no knowledge that their thought
had been given utteraDce before. NO
man Is q hero 10 his valet" has been
paraphrased by scores. from Nine. du
Cornuel, witty Frenchwoman Of the
seventeenth century. TO DR.. johnson
and Napoleon. The first record Of II
however, is found IN Pl1tarch. who
states that when Hermodotus address
ed a poem 10 Antigonous l.. king Of
Sparta. hating him as son OF the sun
and a god. the monarch replied. My
body servant sings me no such song"
Ii was DIogenes, the cynic, who de-
clared that habit is second nature
The phrase circumstances over which
he has no control" was used by the
Duke Of Wellington in a letter coz
corning some affairs in which his son
was mixed up and with which be de-
clined to interfere. Dickens also used
the expression a few years later when
he had Micawber write to David Cop
perfeid. Circumstances beyond my in
dividual control" etc
Conspicuous by their absence" has
been used on many occasions in mod
ern oratory. IL was FIRST used by
Tacftus In relating that In the funeral
procession Of Julia. niece Of Cato. SIS
ter Of Brutus. wife OF Cassius. many
families in Rome were seen. but Gas
sius and Brutus shone pre-eminent be
cause their images were not dis
played"
Nothing is certain but death and
taxes" wrote Benjamin Franklin. stat
ing that the constitution OF the United
States was in operation and TO all sp
penrances would last
Those who live In glass houses
should not throw stones was said by
James !. of England when mis- favor
ite the Duke Of Buckingham. cous-
planned that a mob had broken his
glass windows. which were at that
time q luxury.
Mind your p's and as is said to
have been taken from an old French
phrase at the time OF Louis XIV A
very low bow was in fashion. and the
dancing master In instrucring his pu-
pills would warn them 10 hook out for
the position OF the feet and the move
ment of the head lest their cue wigs
be disarranged The French word for
foot Is pied Mind your pleds and
queues" soon came 10 be transplanted
INTO English and abbreviated
Wallace irwin once complained that