The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (171 page)
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A fair EXCHANGE is no robbery
1546Dialogue of Proverbs
II. iv. G4
Chaunge be no robbry for the changed case.
c
1590
John of Bordeaux
(1936) 1.213
Exchaung is no roberie.
a
1628
in
Proverbs in Scots
(1957) no. 540
Fair shifts [exchange] na robberie.
1721
Scottish Proverbs
105
Fair Exchange is no Rob'ry. Spoken when we take up one Thing, and lay down another.
1748
Roderick Random
II. xIi.
Casting an eye at my hat and wig .. he took them off, and clapping his own on my head, declared, that a fair exchange was no robbery.
1930
Eyes through Trees
i.
A fair exchange was no robbery. She might gain a new insight into the art of living as I also might gain a fuller comprehension of the heart of things.
1960
Don't tell Alfred
xx.
‘So it was you who took away the Harar frescoes?’ ‘Took away? We exchanged them … A good exchange is no robbery, I believe?’
1983
Burglar who painted like Mondrian
xxii.
For that matter, it wasn't inconceivable that departing guests often went through her purse on the way out, or that she considered such actions not theft but a quid pro quo. A fair exchange, they say, is no robbery.
fair dealing
excuse
He who EXCUSES, accuses himself
Cf. L.
dum excusare credis
,
accusas
, while you believe you excuse, you accuse; Fr.
qui s'excuse
,
s'accuse
.
1611
Dict. French & English
s.v. Excuser,
Some when they mean to excuse, accuse, themselues.
1884
Canon's Ward
II. xxxi.
It is very difficult for a person in my position to excuse without accusing himself, but I should like you to feel that Miss Gilbert's fortune has formed no part of her attraction for me.
1936
Murder gone to Earth
vi.
She spoke with such venom that I remembered the good old French proverb of ‘he who excuses, accuses himself.’
1968
Elegy for Corsica
xi.
The tests would be underground, every precaution taken, impossible to contaminate anything. One had heard these pleas before. Who excuses himself accuses himself.
conscience
;
excuses
dum excusare credis
,
accusas
, while you believe you excuse, you accuse; Fr.
qui s'excuse
,
s'accuse
.
1611Dict. French & English
s.v. Excuser,
Some when they mean to excuse, accuse, themselues.
1884
Canon's Ward
II. xxxi.
It is very difficult for a person in my position to excuse without accusing himself, but I should like you to feel that Miss Gilbert's fortune has formed no part of her attraction for me.
1936
Murder gone to Earth
vi.
She spoke with such venom that I remembered the good old French proverb of ‘he who excuses, accuses himself.’
1968
Elegy for Corsica
xi.
The tests would be underground, every precaution taken, impossible to contaminate anything. One had heard these pleas before. Who excuses himself accuses himself.
conscience;
excuses
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