A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

I knew not their faces, for they might know mine.. according to the old English proverb,

‘that more knows Tom Fool, than Tom Fool knows’. 1865 SURTEES Facey Romford’s

Hounds xxxii. ‘Good mornin’, Mr. Swig,’ said the man; for the aphorism that ‘more

people know Tom Fool than Tom Fool knows,’ holds particularly good as regards

huntsmen and field servants. 1980 L. MEYNELL Hooky & Prancing Horse iv. Hooky

asked.. ‘How’s the great pulsating world of journalism?’ Mac was.. surprised; but he

consoled himself with the thought that more people know Tom Fool than Tom Fool

knows. 2000 ‘C. AIRD’ Little Knell (2001) xv. 170 ‘I reckon that just at this minute, sir,

there’s more that we don’t know about this girl’s murder than what we do.. ‘ ‘More

people always know Tom Fool, Crosby.’ associates; fame and obscurity

The MORE the merrier

c 1380 Pearl (1953) 1. 850 The mo [more] the myryer, so God me blesse. 1546 J.

HEYWOOD Dialogue of Proverbs II. vii. I3 The mo the merier, we all daie here [hear]

and se. Ye but the fewer the better fare (saied he). 1614 T. ADAMS Devil’s Banquet IV.

196 The company is.. all the Patriarchs, Prophets, Saints. .. The more the mirrier, yea, and

the better cheare to. 1855 C. KINGSLEY Westward Ho! III. iv. The old proverb comes

true—’the more the merrier: but the fewer the better fare.’ 1976 L. ALTHER Kinflicks

xiii. ‘Take my word for it. Have another baby.’.. ‘The more, the merrier!’ 2001 M. DAHL

Viking Claw vii. 56 A third rope was tossed through the hole. ‘Clip that on, too!’ yelled

out Uncle Stoppard. Why not? The more the merrier. hospitality; merriment

The MORE you get, the more you want

An observation more succinctly stated as MUCH would have more. Cf. HORACE Epistles
II. ii. 147 quanto plura parasti, tanto plura cupis, you want as much again as you have already
got.

c 1340 R. ROLLE Psalter (1884) 97 The mare that a man has the brennandere [more

ardently] he askis. a 1450 Castle of Perseverance 1. 3268 in Macro Plays (EETS) The

more he hadde, the more he cravyd, Whyl the lyf lefte hym with-Inne. 1578 J. FLORIO

First Fruits 32 The more a man hath, the more he desireth. 1798 W. MANNING Key of

Liberty (1922) 9 In short he is never easy, but the more he has the more he wants. 1940 G.

H. COXE Glass Triangle x. I was averaging eighty to a hundred [dollars] a week. Well,

you know how it is. The more you get the more you want. greed; riches

more see also more HASTE, less speed; the more LAWS, the more thieves and bandits;
LESS is more; MUCH would have more; the more you STIR it the worse it stinks; there are
more WAYS of killing a cat than choking it with cream; there are more WAYS of killing a