A BELLOWING cow soon forgets her calfAn excessive show of grief (at a bereavement) quickly passes. Cf. 1553 T. WILSON Art of
Rhetoric 42 The Cowe lackyng her Caulfe, leaueth Loweyng within three or foure daies at the
farthest.
1895 S. O. ADDY Household Tales 142 In the East Riding they say, ‘A bletherin’
coo soon forgets her calf,’ meaning that excessive grief does not last long. 1928 London
Mercury Feb. 439 Common proverb in the West Country is ‘A belving cow soon forgets
her calf. 1945 F. THOMPSON Lark Rise xxxiv. When a woman, newly widowed, had
tried to throw herself into her husband’s grave at his funeral.. some one.. said drily.. ‘Ah,
you wait. The bellowing cow’s always the first to forget its calf.’ forgetfulness; words
and deedsbelly see what is GOT over the Devil’s back is spent under his belly.bent see as the TWIG is bent, so is the tree inclined.All’s for the BEST in the best of all possible worldsThis saying translates Voltaire’s Tout est pour le mieux dans le meilleur des mondes
possibles, the observation which the philosophical optimist Dr Pangloss in Candide (1759)
persists in making, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
1911 G. B. SHAW Shewing-up of Blanco Posnet 299 The administrative departments
were consuming miles of red tape in the correctest forms of activity, and everything was
for the best in the best of all possible worlds. 1943 A. CHRISTIE Moving Finger XV. I
agreed with happy Miss Emily that everything was for the best in the best of possible
worlds. 1961 WODEHOUSE Ice in Bedroom ii. Fate had handed him the most stupendous
bit of goose [luck] and.. all was for the best in this best of all possible worlds. content
and discontent; optimismThe BEST is the enemy of the goodAl so the GOOD is the enemy of the best. Cf. 1770 VOLTAIRE Questions sur
L’Encyclopédie II. 250 c’est bien ici qu’on peut dire Il meglio e l’inimico del bene, and 1772
La Béguele in Œuvres Complétes (1877) X. 50 le mieux est l’ennemi du bien.