The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (335 page)
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LOOK before you leap
c1350
Douce MS
52 no. 150
First loke and aftirward lepe.
1528
Obedience of Christian Man
130
We say .. Loke yer thou lepe, whose literall sence is, doo nothinge sodenly or without avisement.
1567
Palace of Pleasure
II. xxiv.
He that looketh not before he leapeth, may chaunce to stumble before he sleapeth.
1621
Anatomy of Melancholy
II. iii.
Looke before you leape.
1836
Midshipman Easy
I. vi.
Look before you leap is an old proverb … Jack .. had pitched into a small apiary, and had upset two hives of bees.
1941
Red Tapeworm
i.
Do you remember the rousing slogan which the Prime Minister gave the voters .. on the eve of the last General Election? .. Look Before You Leap.
1979
Revenger's Comedy
ix.
Changing horses, love? I should look before you leap.
cautionlook
see also
a CAT may look at a king
;
the DEVIL looks after his own
;
never look a GIFT horse in the mouth
;
when all you have is a HAMMER, everything looks like a nail
;
a MAN is as old as he feels, and a woman as old as she looks
;
take care of the PENCE and the pounds will take care of themselves
;
those who PLAY at bowls must look out for rubbers
;
one man may STEAL a horse, while another may not look over a hedge
.
a CAT may look at a king
;
the DEVIL looks after his own
;
never look a GIFT horse in the mouth
;
when all you have is a HAMMER, everything looks like a nail
;
a MAN is as old as he feels, and a woman as old as she looks
;
take care of the PENCE and the pounds will take care of themselves
;
those who PLAY at bowls must look out for rubbers
;
one man may STEAL a horse, while another may not look over a hedge
.
LOOKERS-ON see most of the game
1529in
Acolastus
(EETS) p. xxxviii.
It fareth between thee and me as it doth between a player at the chess and a looker on, for he that looketh on seeth many draughts that the player considereth nothing at all.
1597
Essays
‘Of Followers’ 7
V
To take aduise of friends is euer honorable: For lookers on many times see more then gamesters.
1666
Italian Proverbs
III
As the English say, The stander by sees more than he who plays.
1850
Frank Fairlegh
vii.
Remembering the old adage, that ‘lookers-on see most of the game,’ I determined .. to accompany him.
1937
Murder in Mews
153
If it is true that the looker-on knows most of the game, Mr. Satterthwaite knew a good deal.
1983
Black Seraphim
vi.
They say that the onlooker sees most of the game. It's not a very happy game that's being played here at the moment.
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