A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

1589 ‘MISOPHONUS’ De Caede Gallorum Regis A2V Confesse and be hangede

man In English some saie. 1604 SHAKESPEARE Othello IV. i. 37 Handkerchief—

confessions—handkerchief! To confess, and be hanged for his labour. 1672 MARVELL

Rehearsal Transprosed 74 After so ample a Confession as he hath made, must he now be

hang’d too to make good the Proverb? 1821 SCOTT Pirate III. xii. At the gallows!..

Confess and be hanged is a most reverend proverb. 1951 M. C. BARNES With all my

Heart vii. ‘People who commit high treason get hanged.’.. ‘Very well, confess and be

hanged!’ confession

confessed see a FAULT confessed is half redressed.

CONFESSION is good for the soul

c 1641 in E. Beveridge D. Fergusson’s Scottish Proverbs (1924) no. 159 Ane open

confessione is good for the soul. 1721 J. KELLY Scottish Proverbs 270 Open Confession

is good for the Soul. Spoken ironically, to them that boast of their ill Deeds. 1881 J.

PAYN Grape from Thorn III. xxxix. Confession maybe good for the soul; but it is

doubtful whether the avowal of incapacity to the parties desirous of securing our services

is quite judicious. 1942 R. A. J. WALLING Corpse with Eerie Eye v. That’s open

confession, but I don’t know that it does my soul any good. 1983 R. HILL Deadheads IV.

iv. Confession may be good for the soul but it’s pretty lousy for marriages. 2002

Washington Times 1 Sept. D7 Confession may be good for the soul but not if it’s being

broadcast. confession

A clean CONSCIENCE is a good pillow

There are a number of traditional ways of expressing the notion that a clear conscience
enables its possessor to sleep soundly, even, as a well-attested variant claims, through a
thunderstorm—as in c 1605 SHAKESPEARE Macbeth IV. i. 85 I may tell pale-hearted fear it
lies, And sleep in spite of thunder. Cf. Ger. Gut Gewissen ist ein sanftes Ruhekissen; Fr. Une
conscience pure est un bon oreiller.

1721 J. KELLY Scottish Proverbs 14 A safe Conscience makes a sound Sleep. 1747

B. FRANKLIN Poor Richard’s Almanack (July) A quiet conscience sleeps in thunder.

1902 F. E. HULME Proverb Lore 216 A good conscience makes an easy couch. 1929 ‘P.

OLDFELD’ Alchemy Murder ii. 18 [The bed] was hard and cold, and he found poor

comfort in a copybook maxim which came back vaguely to him—something about a good

conscience providing the softest pillow for a weary head. 1992 MIEDER Dict. American