perseverancelong see also (adjective) ART is long and life is short; be the DAY weary or be the day
long, at last it ringeth to evensong; KINGS have long arms; NEVER is a long time; OLD sins
cast long shadows; SHORT reckonings make long friends; a STERN chase is a long chase; he
who SUPS with the Devil should have a long spoon; (adverb) he LIVES long who lives well;
no matter how long a LOG stays in the water.. ; LOVE me little, love me long; if you SIT by
the river for long enough.. ; THREATENED men live long; happy’s the WOOING that is not
long a-doing.
The LONGEST journey begins with a single stepAttributed to Lao-tzu (c 604-c 531 BC), founder of Taoism.1904 Sayings of Lao Tzu tr. L. Giles 51A journey of a thousand miles began with a
single step. 1947 L. LEE Twisted Mirror x. 87 Willie looked at him with all the solemnity
of an old Chinese priest. ‘Even a journey of a thousand miles, my honored superior,’ he
intoned, ‘begins with but a single step.’ 1983 National Review 29 Apr. 485 Of the 15,000
people treated there.., nearly all smoked marijuana. Which proves nothing. Except that
the longest journey begins with a single step. 2001 Washington Times 28 July F9 (Herb &
Jamaal comic strip) ‘They say life is a journey. .. And there’s an old saying: “A journey
of a thousand miles begins with one step.” My first step was into an abandoned shaft.’
2008 African Business June 22 The agreement.. is the first of many steps the continent
will have to take if its own Green Revolution is to succeed. The road is long but every
journey begins with the first step. beginnings and endingsThe LONGEST way round is the shortest way homeThe idea is found earlier: 1580 LYLY Euphues & his England II. 96 Thou goest about (but
yet the neerest way) to hang me vp for holy-dayes. (Go about is used here punningly to mean
both ‘endeavour’ and ‘go around or roundabout’. The context is of a person metaphorically
described as a hat which can be taken up and put down at will.)
1635 F. QUARLES Emblems IV. ii. The road to resolution lies by doubt: The next
way home’s the farthest way about. 1776 G. COLMAN Spleen II. 24 The longest way
about is the shortest way home. 1846 J. K. PAULDING Letter 9 May (1962) vii. The
Potatoes arrived.. via New York.. in pursuance of the Old Proverb, that ‘the longest
way round is the shortest way home.’ 1942 K. ABBEY And let Coffin Pass xviii. ‘The
longest way round is the shortest way home.’.. ‘We’ll make the best time by skirting the