The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (243 page)

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GREAT minds think alike
Used ironically. Both verb and noun have changed in the course of this proverb's history, the earliest instance of the present form thus far discovered being quot. 1898.
Jump
used absolutely in the sense of ‘agree completely’ or ‘coincide’ is now somewhat archaic.
1618
Hans Beer-Pot
D1
Though he made that verse, Those words were made before … Good wits doe iumpe.
1761
Tristram Shandy
III. IX.
Great wits jump: for the moment Dr. Slop cast his eyes upon his bag .. the very same thought occurred.
1889
Journal
1 Dec. (1964) 61
As great minds jump this proves .. that my Mind
is Great!
1898
Voces Academicae
24
Curious how great minds think alike. My pupil wrote me the same explanation about his non-appearance …
1922
Punch
27 Dec. 601
Lord Riddell considers that Mr. H. G. Wells is one of the world's greatest minds. Great minds, as the saying is, think alike.
1984
Last Laugh
xii.
‘Are you thinking the same thing I'm thinking?’ ‘You know what they say about great minds.’
1997
Washington Times
9 Feb. C9
Great minds think alike. Perhaps that explains why Intel, General Electric, Philip Morris, Cisco Systems and Microsoft pop up over and over again in mutual fund portfolios.
coincidence
;
harmony
GREAT oaks from little acorns grow
c
1385
Troilus & Criseyde
II. 1335
As an ook comth of a litel spir [shoot], So thorugh this letter .. Encressen gan desir.
1579
School of Abuse
20
V
But Tall Cedars from little graynes shoote high: great Oakes, from slender rootes spread wide.
1584
Dict.
(rev. ed.) D4
Of a nut springes an hasill, and of an Akorn an hie or tall oke.
1732
Gnomologia
no. 4576
The greatest Oaks have been little Acorns.
1777
in
Columbian Orator
(1797) 58
Large streams from little fountains flow, Tall oaks from little acorns grow.
1923
Times
13 Oct. 7
Here in England, as nowhere else in the world, ‘great oaks from little acorns grow’. The oak, as the emblem of British strength, has been symbolic in many ways.
1979
Oxford Star
24 May 2
Who are these people to say that ‘a foetus is not a human being’? ‘Great oaks’, they say, ‘from little acorns grow.’
1995
Washington Times
11 July A16
A curfew, I admit, is not the end of civilization, nor even a steep imposition. But mighty oaks, as they say, from little acorns grow.
beginnings and endings
;
great and small
The GREATER the sinner, the greater the saint
1773
Spiritual Quixote
II. VII. xi.
It was a maxim with Mr. Whitfield, ‘The greater the Sinner, the greater the Saint.’
1856
Barthomley
vi.
How well is the old proverb illustrated in this foul seducer … ‘The greater the sinner, the greater the Saint.’
1964
Stories
I. 293
Ah, well, I always heard it's the biggest divils that make the best saints, and now I can believe it!
good and evil
;
wrongdoers

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