A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

the way, and hastie climers quicklie catch a fall. 1616 N. BRETON Crossing of Proverbs

II. A4 Hasty climbers haue sodaine falls...Not if they sit fast. 1869 C. H. SPURGEON

John Ploughman’s Talk xix. Hints as to thriving. .. Hasty climbers have sudden falls.

1987 Daily Telegraph 27 Apr. 12 The ambition to send spaceships to the red planet

reminds me of the old saying: ‘Hasty climbers quickly catch a fall.’ ambition

From CLOGS to clogs is only three generations

Said to be a Lancashire proverb. Similar to from SHIRTSLEEVES to shirtsleeves in three
generations. The clog, a shoe with a thick wooden sole, was commonly used by factory and
other manual workers in the north of England. Cf. 1700 DRYDEN Wife of Bath in Fables
Ancient & Modern 493 Seldom three descents continue good. 1721 J. KELLY Scottish
Proverbs 312 The Father buys, the Son biggs [builds], The Grandchild sells, and his Son thiggs
[begs].

1871 Notes & Queries 4th Ser. VII. 472 ‘From clogs to clogs is only three

generations.’ A Lancashire proverb, implying that, however rich a poor man may

eventually become, his great-grandson will certainly fall back to poverty and ‘clogs’.

1938 R. G. COLLINGWOOD Principles of Art v. But the poor, who are always the last

guardians of a tradition, knew that the curse of God rested on idleness, and spoke of three

generations from clogs to clogs. 1993 ‘C. AIRD’ Going Concern (1994) vii. 51 Claude

Miller, Chairman and Managing Director of Chern-woods’ Dyestuffs, was a living

exemplification of the old saw about it being ‘only three generations from clogs to clogs.’

His father hadn’t been the man his father was and, worse still, Claude Miller wasn’t even

the man his father had been. family; proverty

close see when ONE door shuts, another opens. cloth see CUT your coat according to your
cloth.

CLOTHES make the man

Cf. Gk. the man is his clothing; ERASMUS Adages ‘Divitiae’ vestis virum
facit.

a 1400 Prov. Wisdom 1. 59 in Archiv (1893) XC. 245 Euer maner and clothyng

makyth man. c 1445 Peter Idley’s Instructions to his Son (1935) I. 82 Ffor clothyng oft

maketh man. 1591 J. FLORIO Second Fruits 115 Though manners makes, yet apparell

shapes. 1617 R. GREENE Alcida B3 The Hood makes not the Monke, nor the apparrell

the man. 1836 CARLYLE Sartor I. V. Clothes gave us individuality, distinctions, social