Read The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs Online
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The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (388 page)
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NATURE abhors a vacuum
Cf. L.
natura abhorret vacuum
, Nature abhors a vacuum.
1551
Answer to Gardiner
299
Naturall reason abhorreth vacuum.
1642
Holy State
v.ii.
Queen Joan .. (hating widowhood as much as Nature doth vacuum) maried James King of Majorca.
1686
Free Inquiry
VII
. 292
The Axiom of the Schools, that Nature abhors a Vacuum.
1771
Letter
20 June (1952) I. 249
Whatever philosophy may determine of material nature, it is certainly true of intellectual nature, that it abhors a vacuum: our minds cannot be empty.
1975
Our Man in Camelot
10
The vacuity of Major Davies's personal file .. was damning. Because, like nature, the CIA abhorred a vacuum.
Nature
;
opportunity, taken
natura abhorret vacuum
, Nature abhors a vacuum.
1551Answer to Gardiner
299
Naturall reason abhorreth vacuum.
1642
Holy State
v.ii.
Queen Joan .. (hating widowhood as much as Nature doth vacuum) maried James King of Majorca.
1686
Free Inquiry
VII
. 292
The Axiom of the Schools, that Nature abhors a Vacuum.
1771
Letter
20 June (1952) I. 249
Whatever philosophy may determine of material nature, it is certainly true of intellectual nature, that it abhors a vacuum: our minds cannot be empty.
1975
Our Man in Camelot
10
The vacuity of Major Davies's personal file .. was damning. Because, like nature, the CIA abhorred a vacuum.
Nature;
opportunity, taken
nature
NEAR is my kirtle, but nearer is my smock
A justification for looking after one's own closest interests; see also the next proverb. A
kirtle
is a woman's skirt or gown; a
smock
is an undergarment. Cf. PLAUTUS
Trinummus
l. 1154
tunica propior palliost
, my tunic is closer than my cloak.
1461
Paston Letters
(1976) II. 228
Nere is my kyrtyl but nerre is my smok.
1545
tr.
Erasmus' Adages
(ed. 2) B7
V
The Englysshe prouerbe sayethe thus: nere is my cote, but nerer is my shyrt.
1622
Familiar Letters
1 May (1903) I. 126
That king .. having too many irons in the fire at his own home .. answered them that his shirt was nearer to him than his doublet.
1861
Cloister & Hearth
IV. xxix.
You must not think all of him and none of yourself. Near is your kirtle, but nearer is your smock.
self-preservation
kirtle
is a woman's skirt or gown; a
smock
is an undergarment. Cf. PLAUTUS
Trinummus
l. 1154
tunica propior palliost
, my tunic is closer than my cloak.
1461Paston Letters
(1976) II. 228
Nere is my kyrtyl but nerre is my smok.
1545
tr.
Erasmus' Adages
(ed. 2) B7
V
The Englysshe prouerbe sayethe thus: nere is my cote, but nerer is my shyrt.
1622
Familiar Letters
1 May (1903) I. 126
That king .. having too many irons in the fire at his own home .. answered them that his shirt was nearer to him than his doublet.
1861
Cloister & Hearth
IV. xxix.
You must not think all of him and none of yourself. Near is your kirtle, but nearer is your smock.
self-preservation
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