The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (402 page)
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o
, nothing comes of nothing; L.
ex nihilo nihil fit
.
c
1380
Boethius
v. pr. i.
For this sentence is verray and soth, that ‘no thing hath his beynge of naught.’
1551
Answer to Gardiner
369
Sicut ex nihilo nihil fit
,
Ita nihil in nihilum redigitur
, As nothyng can be made of nought, so nothynge can be tourned into nought.
1605
–
6
King Lear
I
. i. 89
Nothing will come of nothing. Speak again.
1818
Heart of Midlothian
I. i.
You are to give me all your business …If you have none, the learned gentleman here knows nothing can come of nothing.
1946
Lady Sarah Lennox
iv.
‘What did you think of it?’ ‘Nothing, Sir.’ ‘Nothing comes of nothing!’ the King exclaimed impatiently.
1979
Sense of Order
viii.
Nothing comes out of nothing. The great ornamental styles could no more have been the invention of one man .. than could the organ fugue.
reciprocity
, nothing comes of nothing; L.
ex nihilo nihil fit
.
c1380
Boethius
v. pr. i.
For this sentence is verray and soth, that ‘no thing hath his beynge of naught.’
1551
Answer to Gardiner
369
Sicut ex nihilo nihil fit
,
Ita nihil in nihilum redigitur
, As nothyng can be made of nought, so nothynge can be tourned into nought.
1605
–
6
King Lear
I
. i. 89
Nothing will come of nothing. Speak again.
1818
Heart of Midlothian
I. i.
You are to give me all your business …If you have none, the learned gentleman here knows nothing can come of nothing.
1946
Lady Sarah Lennox
iv.
‘What did you think of it?’ ‘Nothing, Sir.’ ‘Nothing comes of nothing!’ the King exclaimed impatiently.
1979
Sense of Order
viii.
Nothing comes out of nothing. The great ornamental styles could no more have been the invention of one man .. than could the organ fugue.
reciprocity
NOTHING for nothing
a1704
Works
(1707) I. 131
Thou know'st the proverb, nothing due for nought.
1800
Castle Rackrent
167
Nothing for nothing, or I'm under a mistake with you, Jason.
1858
Interpreter
xxv.
Sir Harry .. recollected the old-established principle of himself and his clique, ‘Nothing for nothing, and very little for a halfpenny.’
1908
Ezekiel
172
The last touch in the picture is meanness, which turned everything into money …Is not ‘nothing for nothing’ an approved maxim to-day?
1981
One Damn Thing after Another
iv.
Their heart's not in it. Nothing for nothing and not much for sixpence.
reciprocityNOTHING is certain but death and taxes
1726Hist. Devil
II
. vi.
Not the Man in the Moon …not the Inspiration of Mother Shipton, or the Miracles of Dr. Faustus, Things as certain as Death and Taxes, can be more firmly believ'd.
1789
Letter
13 Nov. in
Writings
(1907) X. 69
In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.
1912
Spectator
18 May 785
It is not merely the .. amount of the taxes… It is their compulsory and irresistible incidence… ‘There are only two evils from which no man can escape—death and the King's taxes.’
1939
By Shores of Silver Lake
xxv.
Everything's more or less a gamble… Nothing is certain but death and taxes.
1989
Time
13 Feb. 82
Nothing is certain, goes the old saw, but death and taxes. Death, yes. But probably not taxes—if, that is, one is wealthy enough to hire lawyers and accountants with a working knowledge of loopholes in the Internal Revenue code.
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