c 1386 CHAUCER Tale of Melibee 1. 1793 An olde proverbe.. seith that ‘the good-
nesse that thou mayst do this day, do it, and abide nat ne delaye it nat til to-morwe’. 1616
T. DRAXE Adages 42 Deferre not vntill to morrow, if thou canst do it to day. 1633 J.
HOWELL Familiar Letters 5 Sept. (1903) II. 140 Secretary Cecil.. would ofttimes speak
of himself, ‘It shall never be said of me that I will defer till tomorrow what I can do to-
day.’ 1749 CHESTERFIELD Letter 26 Dec. (1932) IV. 1478 No procrastination; never
put off til to-morrow what you can do to-day. 1869 C. H. SPURGEON John Ploughman’s
Talk vii. These slow coaches think that to-morrow is better than to-day, and take for their
rule an old proverb turned topsy-turvy—‘Never do to-day what you can put off till
tomorrow.’ 1980 J. LEES-MILNE Harold Nicolson xv. Lord Sackville was.. a lovable,
easy-going but indolent peer whose philosophy is best summarized in one of his pet
sayings: ‘Never do today what you can possibly put off until tomorrow.’ 2002
Washington Post 16 Feb. C13 (Born Loser comic strip) ‘Brutus, weren’t you going to take
down the Christmas lights this weekend?’ ‘No.. Next weekend, Gladys! Never put off till
tomorrow what you can put off till next weekend!’ efficiency and inefficiency;
procrastinationput see also don’t put all your EGGS in one basket; you can’t put NEW wine in old
bottles; you cannot put an OLD head on young shoulders; put a STOUT heart to a stey brae;
put your TRUST in God, and keep your power dry.
pyramids see man fears TIME, but time fears the pyramids.