A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

(Marcin) #1
He who LAUGHS last, laughs longest

A modern development of the preceding proverb.

1912 J. MASEFIELD Widow in Bye Street iv. 66 In this life he laughs longest who
laughs last. 1943 J. LODWICK Running to Paradise xxx. He who laughs last laughs
longest, and in another four days I was able to look at my mug in the mirror without
wincing. 1951 M. DE LA ROCHE Renny’s Daughter ix. ‘We’ll see. He who laughs last,
laughs.. ‘ So worked up was Eugene Clapperton that he could not recall the last word of
the proverb. revenge; winners and losers

LAUGHTER is the best medicine

The idea of the beneficial effects of laughter upon the health is an ancient one; e.g.
PROVERBS xvii. 22 (AV) A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth
the bones. Older English expressions of the concept include laugh and be fat (attested from
1596) and laugh and be well (1737); hence ‘Laughter, the Best Medicine’, the title of a long-
running jokes feature in the Reader’s Digest. Cf. the best DOCTORS are Dr Diet, Dr Quiet,
and Dr Merryman.


1992 MIEDER Dict. American Proverbs 362 Laughter is the best medicine. 2002
Washington Post 21 Jan. C10 Who could argue with the sage advice that an ounce of
prevention is worth a pound of cure,.. or laughter is the best medicine? doctors;
health; merriment

One LAW for the rich and another for the poor

1830 MARRYAT King’s Own I. xi. Is there nothing smuggled besides gin? Now, if
the husbands and fathers of these ladies,—those who have themselves enacted the laws,—
wink at their infringement, why should not others do so?.. There cannot be one law for the
rich and another for the poor. 1913 Spectator 8 Nov. 757 The idea prevails abroad that
there is one law for the ‘rich’ Englishman and another for the ‘poor’ foreigner. 1944 A.
THIRKELL Headmistress iv. ‘You want one law for the people you think are rich and
another law for the people you think are poor,’ I said. ‘Let me advise you to find out
which are which before you make a fool of yourself.’ 2001 Spectator 29 Dec. 48 If he
gets community service and a suspended sentence the hustlers will be out in force
screaming the old ‘one law for the rich, another for the poor’ chestnut. justice and
injustice; law and lawyers
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