John Bartlett (18201905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
Page 9
John Heywood. (1497?1580?) (continued)
72 Let the world slide, 1 let the world go; A fig for care, and a fig for woe! If I cant pay, why I can owe, And death makes equal the high and low.
Be Merry Friends.
73 All a green willow, willow, All a green willow is my garland.
The Green Willow.
74 Haste maketh waste.
Proverbes. Part i. Chap. ii.
75 Beware of, Had I wist. 2
Proverbes. Part i. Chap. ii.
76 Good to be merie and wise. 3
Proverbes. Part i. Chap. ii.
77 Beaten with his owne rod. 4
Proverbes. Part i. Chap. ii.
78 Look ere ye leape. 5
Proverbes. Part i. Chap. ii.
79 He that will not when he may, When he would he shall have nay. 6
Proverbes. Part i. Chap. iii.
80 The fat is in the fire. 7
Proverbes. Part i. Chap. iii.
Note 1. Let the world slide.Towneley Mysteries, p. 101 (1420). William Shakespeare : Taming of the Shrew, induc. 1. Beaumont and Fletcher : Wit without Money, act v. sc. 2. [back ]Note 2. A common exclamation of regret occurring in Spenser, Harrington, and the older writers. An earlier instance of the phrase occurs in the Towneley Mysteries. [back ]Note 3. T is good to be merry and wise.Ben Jonson , George Chapman , Marston: Eastward Ho, act i. sc. 1. Robert Burns : Here s a health to them that s awa. [back ]Note 4. don fust Con kint souvent est-on batu. (By his own stick the prudent one is often beaten.)Roman du Renart, circa 1300. [back ]Note 5. Look ere thou leap.In Tottels Miscellany, 1557; and in Tussers Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry. Of Wiving and Thriving. 1573. Thou shouldst have looked before thou hadst leapt.Ben Jonson , George Chapman , Marston: Eastward Ho, act v. sc 1. Look before you ere you leap.Samuel Butler : Hudibras, pt. ii. c. ii. l. 502. [back ]Note 6. He that will not when he may, When he will he shall have nay.Robert Burton : Anatomy of Melancholy, pt. iii. sec. 2, mem. 5, subs. 5. He that wold not when he might, He shall not when he wolda.The Baffled Knight. Thomas Percy : Reliques. [back ]Note 7. All the fatt s in the fire.Marston: What You Will. 1607. [back ]