Read The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs Online
Authors: John Andrew Simpson,
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (550 page)
BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs
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If a THING'S worth doing, it's worth doing well
Job
is sometimes used instead of
thing
.
1746
Letter
9 Oct. (1932) III. 783
Care and application are necessary… In truth, whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.
1910
What's wrong with World
IV
. xiv.
The elegant female, drooping her ringlets over her water-colours, .. was maintaining the prime truth of woman, the universal mother: that if a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.
1915
Bealby
V
.
‘If a thing's worth doing at all,’ said the professor .. ‘it's worth doing well.’
1980
Church Times
22 Feb. 12
‘Things worth doing are worth doing well,’was the motto at my first school.
1992
Rather English Marriage
(1993) iii. 62
She'd never cared for dripdry .. she'd rather see everything starched and crisply ironed.‘ If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well’ was Gracie's motto.
work
is sometimes used instead of
thing
.
1746Letter
9 Oct. (1932) III. 783
Care and application are necessary… In truth, whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.
1910
What's wrong with World
IV
. xiv.
The elegant female, drooping her ringlets over her water-colours, .. was maintaining the prime truth of woman, the universal mother: that if a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.
1915
Bealby
V
.
‘If a thing's worth doing at all,’ said the professor .. ‘it's worth doing well.’
1980
Church Times
22 Feb. 12
‘Things worth doing are worth doing well,’was the motto at my first school.
1992
Rather English Marriage
(1993) iii. 62
She'd never cared for dripdry .. she'd rather see everything starched and crisply ironed.‘ If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well’ was Gracie's motto.
work
thing
see also
ALL good things must come to an end
;
ALL things are possible with God
;
ALL things come to those who wait
;
the BEST things come in small packages
;
the BEST things in life are free
;
FACTS are stubborn things
;
FIRST things first
;
there's no such thing as a FREE lunch
;
GIVE a thing, and take a thing, to wear the Devil's gold ring
;
KEEP a thing seven years and you'll always find a use for it
;
LITTLE things please little minds
;
there is MEASURE in all things
;
MODERATION in all things
;
things PAST cannot be recalled
;
to the PURE all things are pure
;
THREE things are not to be trusted
;
you can have TOO much of a good thing
;
if you WANT a thing done well, do it yourself
;
the WORTH of a thing is what it will bring
.
ALL good things must come to an end
;
ALL things are possible with God
;
ALL things come to those who wait
;
the BEST things come in small packages
;
the BEST things in life are free
;
FACTS are stubborn things
;
FIRST things first
;
there's no such thing as a FREE lunch
;
GIVE a thing, and take a thing, to wear the Devil's gold ring
;
KEEP a thing seven years and you'll always find a use for it
;
LITTLE things please little minds
;
there is MEASURE in all things
;
MODERATION in all things
;
things PAST cannot be recalled
;
to the PURE all things are pure
;
THREE things are not to be trusted
;
you can have TOO much of a good thing
;
if you WANT a thing done well, do it yourself
;
the WORTH of a thing is what it will bring
.
When THINGS are at the worst they begin to mend
1582Heptameron of Civil Discourses
vi.
Thinges when they are at the worst, begin again to amend. The feauer giueth place to health, when he hath brought the pacyent to deathes door.
1600
Sir John Oldcastle
H1
V
Patience good madame, things at worst will mend.
1623
Duchess of Malfi
IV
. i.
Things being at the worst, begin to mend.
1748
Clarissa
III. liv.
When things are at the worst they must mend.
1889
Nether World
I. ii.
When things are at the worst they begin to mend… It can't be much longer before he gets work.
1928
Vampire
V
.
If there be any truth in the old adage, that ‘When things are at the worst they must amend,’ the bettering of Spectral Melodrama is not distant.
optimismTHINK first and speak afterwards
1557Sermons
B6
Thinke well and thou shalt speak wel.
1623
Chaucer New Painted
B1
V
Thinke twise, then speak, the old prouerbe doth say. Yet Fooles their bolts will quickely shoot away.
1639
Parœmiologia Anglo-Latina
133
First thinke and then speak.
1640
Art asleep Husband?
vii.
You thinke twice befor you speake, and may be demanded twice before you answer.
1855
Hand-Book of proverbs
528
Think to-day and speak to-morrow.
1902
in
Philistine
May 192
Think twice before you speak and then talk to yourself.
1943
Happy Golden Years
i.
You must do your thinking first and speak afterward. If you will .. do that you will not have any trouble.
1981
Xanadu Talisman
iv.
Please think before you speak.
discretion;
tact
BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs
7.32Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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