The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (81 page)
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certain
chaff
A CHAIN is no stronger than its weakest link
1856Letter
1 Dec. (1877) II. 499
The devil is very busy, and no one knows better than he, that ‘nothing is stronger than its weakest part’.
1868
in
Cornhill Mag.
XVII. 295
A chain is no stronger than its weakest link; but if you show how admirably the last few are united .. half the world will forget to test the security of the .. parts which are kept out of sight.
1942
Body for Bill
298
‘I've gathered that Stansfield was a pretty weak individual … He was threatening to give the whole thing away.’.. ‘A chain is no stronger than its weakest link, remember?’
1986
Peter Pyramid
ii.
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link; and the longer the chain, the more weak links.
strength and weaknessDon't CHANGE horses in mid-stream
The proverb is also used in the phrase
to change horse in mid-stream
.
1864
Collected Works
(1953) VII. 384
I am reminded .. of a story of an old Dutch farmer, who remarked to a companion once that ‘it was best not to swap horses when crossing streams’.
1889
C.G. Gordon
ii.
Clothing and equipment were then undergoing a vigorous process of ‘swopping’ at the moment the animals were in the mid-stream of the siege of Sebastopol.
1929
Good-bye to All That
xxiii.
‘If ours is the true religion why do you not become a Catholic?’ .. ‘Reverend father, we have a proverb in England never to swap horses while crossing a stream’.
1967
English Proverbs Explained
41
Don't change horses in mid-stream … If we think it necessary to make changes, we must choose the right moment to make them.
1979
Revenger's Comedy
ix.
Changing horses, love? I should look before you leap.
decision and indecision
to change horse in mid-stream
.
1864Collected Works
(1953) VII. 384
I am reminded .. of a story of an old Dutch farmer, who remarked to a companion once that ‘it was best not to swap horses when crossing streams’.
1889
C.G. Gordon
ii.
Clothing and equipment were then undergoing a vigorous process of ‘swopping’ at the moment the animals were in the mid-stream of the siege of Sebastopol.
1929
Good-bye to All That
xxiii.
‘If ours is the true religion why do you not become a Catholic?’ .. ‘Reverend father, we have a proverb in England never to swap horses while crossing a stream’.
1967
English Proverbs Explained
41
Don't change horses in mid-stream … If we think it necessary to make changes, we must choose the right moment to make them.
1979
Revenger's Comedy
ix.
Changing horses, love? I should look before you leap.
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