A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

Be ware and wyse, and lye nought .. and haue thy will. 1623 J. WODROEPHE Spared

Hours of Soldier 276 Heare all, see all, and hold thee still If peace desirest with thy will.

1913 D. H. LAWRENCE Letter 1 Feb. (1962) 1.183 It seems queer, that you do it and get

no profit. I should think you’ve forgotten the Yorkshire proverb, ‘An’ if tha does owt for

nowt, do it for thysen.’ 1925 Notes & Queries 412 The famous Yorkshire motto .. is

invariably recited with an air of superior bravado, and will be found upon mugs, post

cards, etc. The authentic version, I believe, is, ‘Hear all, see all, say now’t, tak’ all, keep

all, gie now’t, and if tha ever does ow’t for now’t do it for thysen.’ 1984 G. SMITH

English Companion 265 ‘Hear all, see all, say nowt; sup all, eat all, pay nowt’, is said by

detractors to be the Yorkshireman’s motto. self-preservation; speech and silence

hear see also ASK no questions and hear no lies; BELIEVE nothing of what you hear, and
only half of what you see; there’s none so DEAF as those who will not hear; DREAM of a
funeral and you hear of a marriage; GO abroad and you’ll hear news of home; LISTENERS
never hear any good of themselves; SEE no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

heard see CHILDREN should be seen and not heard.

heart see ABSENCE makes the heart grow fonder; COLD hands, warm heart; what the
EYE doesn’t see, the heart doesn’t grieve over; FAINT heart never won fair lady; out of the
FULLNESS of the heart the mouth speaks; HOME is where the heart is; HOPE deferred makes
the heart sick; if it were not for HOPE, the heart would break; a NATION without a language
is a nation without a heart; PLEASE your eye and plague your heart; it is a POOR heart that
never rejoices; put a STOUT heart to a stey brae; the WAY to a man’s heart is through his
stomach.

If you don’t like the HEAT, get out of the kitchen

1952 Time 28 Apr. 19 President [Truman] gave a .. down-to-earth reason for his

retirement, quoting a favorite expression of his military jester, Major General Harry

Vaughan: ‘If you don’t like the heat, get out of the kitchen.’ 1970 Financial Times 13

Apr. 25 Property people argue that hoteliers are not facing the facts of economic life, and

that if they cannot stand the heat they should get out of the kitchen. 2002 Times 29 Aug.

22 (heading) If you can’t stand the Heat, then you need to get out of Hello!’s kitchen.

politics; stress

HEAVEN protects children, sailors, and drunken men

The proverb is found in various forms; latterly, American examples often add ‘the United