The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (371 page)

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Authors: John Andrew Simpson,

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs
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If you don't make MISTAKES you don't make anything
1896
Outcast of Islands
III
. ii.
It's only those who do nothing that make no mistakes, I suppose.
1925
Times
9 Nov. 17
The comforting assurance that ‘a man who never makes mistakes never makes anything’.
1980
Middle Ground
86
If you don't make mistakes you don't make anything, she said, a motto which Hugo seemed to remember having seen pinned over the desk.
error
;
risk
So many MISTS in March, so many frosts in May
1612
Concordancy of Years
xxx.
Some say, so many mistes in March, so many hoare frosts after Easter.
1678
English Proverbs
(ed. 2) 344
So many frosts in March so many in May.
1978
Calendar of Country Customs
iii.
Many old country beliefs are not content with generalities but strive to be more precise. A well-known proverb is: So many mists in March, So many frosts in May.
weather lore
MODERATION in all things
A more recent formulation of the idea contained in there is
MEASURE in all things
. The Latin word
modus
can be translated as either ‘moderation’ or ‘measure’, but the former seems to be gaining currency at the expense of the latter, possibly because ‘measure’ has several meanings and so could be misunderstood. HESIOD
Works & Days
l. 694 µ
u

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