The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (330 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs
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A LIVE dog is better than a dead lion
With allusion to
ECCLESIASTES
ix. 4 (AV) To him that is joined to all the living, there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
c
1390
in
Minor Poems of Vernon
MS (EETS) 534
Better is a quick [living] and an hol hounde Then a ded lyon .. And better is pouert with godnes Then richesse with wikkedness.
1566
Pedigree of Heretics
2
V
A lyuing Dogge, is better than a dead Lion.
1798
Tales of Hoy
41
It was a devil of a trick .. but, ‘A living Dog is better than a dead Lion,’ as the saying is.
1864
Can You forgive Her?
II. vii.
He had so often told the widow that care killed the cat, and that a live dog was better than a dead lion.
1928
Woman who rode Away
132
When the lion is shot, the dog gets the spoil. So he had come in for Katherine, Alan's lioness. A live dog is better than a dead lion.
1953
Post Mortem
iv.
I take my walks without following a ball about like a dog. Which reminds me of the old proverb that a live dog is better than a dead lion.
great and small
;
life
They that LIVE longest, see most
Cf. early 14th-cent. Fr.
qui vit trop voit
, he who lives [long] sees much;
1605

6
SHAKESPEARE
King Lear
v. iii. 325 We that are young Shall never see so much nor live so long.
1620
tr.
Cervantes' Don Quixote
II. lii.
My Mother was vsed to say, That' twas needfull to liue long, to see much.
1837
Jack Brag
III. ii.
Them as lives longest sees the most.
1961
House at Old Vine
VI. vi.
Them that live longest see most. You remember that, young man, if ever you're down on your luck.
1971
Brood of Folly
V.
Mrs Parslowe gave her a glance that was both sly and knowing. ‘Those that live longest will see most,’ she answered cryptically.
experience
;
old age
Come LIVE with me and you'll know me
1925
Juno & Paycock
II. 49
I only seen him twiced; if you want to know me, come an' live with me.
1960
Four Loves
iii.
You must really give no kind of preference to yourself; at a party it is enough to conceal the preference. Hence the old proverb ‘come live with me and you'll know me.’
familiarity
BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs
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