The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (438 page)

1834
Peter Simple
I. v.
‘Well,’ continued he, ‘it's a poor heart that never rejoiceth.’ He then poured out half a tumbler of rum.
1841
Barnaby Rudge
iv.
What happened when I reached home you may guess… Ah! Well, it's a poor heart that never rejoices.
1935
Lucia's Progress
viii.
They were all men together, he said, and it was a sad heart that never rejoiced.
1979
Clutch of Vipers
iv.
‘It's a poor heart’, Frankie told him, ‘that never rejoices.’
happiness

 
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see also
one LAW for the rich and another for the poor
;
the RICH man has his ice in the summer and the poor man gets his in the winter
.

 
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see
it is ill SITTING at Rome and striving with the Pope
.

 
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ANY port in a storm
.

 
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There is no specific legal ruling which supports this proverb—though the concept is widely acknowledged—but in early use the satisfaction of ten (sometimes twelve) points was commonly asserted to attest full entitlement or ownership. Possession, represented by nine (or eleven) points, is therefore the closest substitute for this. Cf.
1595
Edward III
E3 Tis you are in possession of the Crowne, And thats the surest poynt of all the Law.
1616
Adages
163
Possession is nine points in the Law.
1659
Oration
5
This Rascally-devill .. denys to pay a farthing of rent. Tis true, possession is nine points of the Law, Yet give Gentlemen, right's right.
1709
English Proverbs
213
Possession is a mighty Matter indeed; and we commonly say, 'tis eleven Points of the Law. It goes a great Way to the giving of Security, but not any Right.
1822
Maid Marian
v.
In those days possession was considerably more than eleven points of the Law. The baron was therefore convinced that the earl's outlawry was infallible.
1920
In Chancery
II
. xiv.
We're the backbone of the country. They [Leftists] won't upset us easily. Possession's nine points of the Law.
1980
Queue here for Murder
xviii.
I'm in the Penthouse Suite and I'm staying there. ‘Possession’, he added .. ‘is nine points of the law.’ ‘Eleven,’ Belva Barrie said automatically.
property

 
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