A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

1773 R. GRAVES Spiritual Quixote II. VII. xi. It was a maxim with Mr. Whitfield,

‘The greater the Sinner, the greater the Saint.’ 1856 E. HINCHCLIFFE Barthomley vi.

How well is the old proverb illustrated in this foul seducer. .. ‘The greater the sinner, the

greater the Saint.’ 1964 M. LAVIN Stories I. 293 Ah, well, I always heard it’s the biggest

divils that make the best saints, and now I can believe it! good and evil; wrong-doers

The GREATER the truth, the greater the libel

The ‘Mansfield’ referred to in quots. 1787 and 1882 was William Murray, first Earl of
Mansfield (1705–93), statesman and judge.

c 1787 BURNS Poems (1968) I. 349 Dost not know that old Mansfield, who writes

like the Bible, Says the more ‘tis a truth, sir, the more ‘tis a libel? 1828

BULWELYTTON Pelham I. xxiv. ‘You won’t catch an old lawyer in such impudence.’

‘The greater the truth the greater the libel,’ said Warburton, with a sneer. 1882 S. A.

BENT Short Sayings of Great Men 371 The greater the truth, the greater the libel. A

maxim of the law in vogue.. while Mansfield presided over the King’s Bench. .. The

maxim is said to have originated in the Star Chamber. 2002 Spectator 23 Nov. 50 On the

contrary: there is an old adage, ‘The greater the truth, the greater the libel’, for rioting is

bound to be more serious if the incitement is known to be based on fact rather than on

gross exaggeration. slander; truth

When GREEK meets Greek, then comes the tug of war

1677 N. LEE Rival Queens IV. 48 When Greeks joyn’d Greeks, then was the tug of

War. 1804 W. IRVING Journals & Notebooks (1969) I. 69 Two upright Postillions.. were

disputing who was the greatest rogue. .. ‘When Greek meets Greek then comes the tug of

war.’ 1926 A. HUXLEY Two or Three Graces 175 When Greek meets Greek then comes,

in this case, an exchange of anecdotes about the deposed sovereigns of eastern Europe—

in a word, the tug of bores. 1979 M. A. SCREECH Rabelais iii. One is reminded of an

adage Erasmus used.. Magus cum mago: ‘magician meets magician’—Greek, as we say,

meets Greek. enemies; similarity and dissimilarity

Greek see also FEAR the Greeks bearing gifts.

A GREEN Yule makes a fat churchyard