The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-07-09

all love TO use proverbs, ne says. W6
treat them a. the common property
OF mankind. But some writer-some
great interpreter of the human mind
must have been responsible for the
FIRST formulation OF every proverb. A
considerable number OF proverbs fail
Ito commend themselves to our better
Judgment. We adhere to their false
logic through blind custom. For ex-
ample. Familiarity breeds contempt,
which we get from Plutarch. is only
true by qualifying 1t in such way as
to destroy its general application
What Plutarch really said Ito trans
late him into literal English) was:
TOO much familiarity breeds con-
tempt" and this leaves 1t open to
lus to say when familiarity becomes
TOO much 1t is to Plutarch also
that we owe the maxim: Nothing but
Igood OF the dead" The basis OF the
idea Is that the dead are sacrosanct-
a false principle, for, IL we are to
ljndge people impartially. we must try
to speak the truth about them. living
Tor dead The form OF the Latin phrase
might almost rigidly be retained by
reading: DE mortius nihil nisi We
rum" instead of DE mortfus nihil
nisi bonum." The saying would then
be transformed into, Speak only the
truth about the dead Tho proverb
I'm the dTeeR Oh jJtonySiuS l<deItu Id
shorter. Say nothing evil of the
ldead."
The Greeks loved homefy wisdom
1.-THE stick" in the form OF the hot
lend Of the spit" You won't catch
LA weasel asleep" Is an expansion Of
1.-THE Greek. THE hare sleeps wake
fully. It originated the proverb:
; Better late than never" His YER
sion OF It is: 1T is better to begin our
duties later than never" We say:
Even the worm will turn" The
Greeks said: The trodden ant gets
wrathful" Our proverb, God helps
those. who help themselves" which
come to us directly from the French.
has this Greek equivalent: Even II
lyou have Minerva on your side. still
use your own hand" Cicero Is re-
sponsible for the phrase, "A storm IN
a teacup." Parnell used It on the oc-
casion when the discussion took place
as to his leadership. He was wrong
in applying the words to his own case,
as the storm spread all over the
United Kingdom. Cicero spoke OF
. raising "a storm In a saucer" with
reference to an attempt to introduce
the ballot. The irish say, You can't
KNOCK blood out of turntp." The
lproverb Is Latin. not Celtic, In origin
for Plautus has the phrase: ITO gel
blood out OF a stone" Plautus, too
/ has given us Whats done can't Be
undone." Throwing cold water or
anything and "a friend In need is q
friend indeed"
= Greek literature, is, however, fal
richer In proverbial wisdom thar
Latin literature, We must go tc
? lHerodotus for Birds of a feather
flock together" and to Hesiod fol
1.-Two of a trade can never agree
\ | Everybody knows that Those whom
the gods love die young" is Greek
isaying, but everybody does not know
y lit was Menander who said 1t. 1t wa
IMenander who first said. Evil com
lmunications corrupt good manners.
= land st. Paul only quoted the words
Even Charity begins at home" ha
4 been traced to Theocritus. but not IL
z 1.-THE present beautiful form. for niethe1
ITheocritus nor any other Greek poe
. knew what Christian charity means
The queer phrase, Conspicuous b.
his absence" was laughed at wher
i iI4ord John Russell first used It sixt,
n iyears ago. It was suggested by th'
passage in Tacitus, in which the III
: neral of Junia, the wife of Caius Cas-
sius, lis described. and in which it !
Isaid the images of Brutus and Cassiu'
! were all the more conspicuous" be
tFAuSt lNtS were NOT utSPiAycNs
II has been claimed that even TIT
r apparently modern saying. mo maj
a lis n hero to his valet" can be traced
Ito Plutarch. 1t has been attributed Il
Madame de Sevigne and to Montaigne
. but it really is much older The day
after the fair" somehow sounds Irish
= IT comes down to us from Plato IL
tthe "tseorgias. we read .sYeu hay'
> come after the feast" Montaign'
q lquoted the proverb. ''rhe sick man il
= not to be pitied who. has his cure II
his sleeve" He perhaps was no
s aware that he was borrowing from
G Plato. Some proverbs are ludicrou'
: plumbers. Thus mad as a halter II
a perpersion of mad as an adder
Nobody can tell the origin of sleeping
I Hike a top" 1t Is said to have been Q
Misrepresentation OF ''talpa-" mole
ll"Setting the Thames on fire" Is prob
mistake in which tense" "a
sieve) was turned into Thames.
lone might as wen be hanged for .
D lshcep as a lamb" has reference. FOL
lstealing lambs as we'll a. sheep. The
philosophy of this proverb might have
( lappealed to thievish persons whe
WANTED to save their necks.
The proverb has found its way into