A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

not for hope, the heart would breake. 1748 RICHARDSON Clarissa VI. xxix. No harm in

hoping, Jack! My uncle says, Were it not for hope, the heart would break. 1911 J.

LUBBOCK Use of Life (rev. ed.) xv. There is an old proverb that if it were not for Hope

the heart would break. Everything may be retrieved except despair. hope and despair

hope see also while there’s LIFE, there’s hope; he that LIVES in hope dances to an ill
tune.

hopefully see it is BETTER to travel hopefully than to arrive.

You can take a HORSE to the water, but you can’t make him drink

The word the is frequently omitted from the proverb and lead substituted for take.

c 1175 Old English Homilies (EETS) 1st Ser. 9 Hwa is thet mei thet hors wettrien the

him self nule drinken [who can give water to the horse that will not drink of its own

accord]? 1546 J. HEYWOOD Dialogue of Proverbs I. xi. D3 A man may well bryng a

horse to the water, But he can not make hym drynke without he will. 1658 E. PHILLIPS

Mysteries of Love & Eloquence 160 A man may lead his Horse to water, but he cannot

make him drink unless he list. 1857 TROLLOPE Barchester Towers III. i. ‘Well,’ said

she .. ‘one man can take a horse to water but a thousand can’t make him drink.’ 1970 J.

MITFORD in Atlantic (1979) July 50 The dropout rate [for the course] must be close to

90 percent. I guess you can take a horse to the water, but you can’t make him drink. 1997

M. LAZARUS Washington Post 7 Dec. (Momma comic strip) We could send you out to a

firm and convince them to hire you, but we’re not sure you’d be willing to learn the job.

In other words, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. free will and

compulsion

horse see also don’t CHANGE horses in midstream; ENGLAND is the paradise of women;
never look a GIFT horse in the mouth; a GOOD horse cannot be of a bad colour; while the
GRASS grows, the steed starves; the GREY mare is the better horse; because a MAN is born
in a stable that does not make him a horse; NO foot, no horse; a NOD’S as good as a wink to a
blind horse; there is NOTHING so good for the inside of a man as the outside of a horse; don’t
PUT the cart before the horse; if you can’t RIDE two horses at once, you shouldn’t be in the
circus; a SHORT horse is soon curried; it is too late to shut the STABLE-door after the horse
has bolted; one man may STEAL a horse, while another may not look over a hedge; THREE
things are not to be trusted; if TWO ride on a horse, one must ride behind; for WANT of a nail
the shoe was lost; if WISHES were horses, beggars would ride.