A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

BETTER to marry than to burn

With allusion to I CORINTHIANS vii. 8–9 (AV) I say therefore to the unmarried and
widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry:
for it is better to marry than to burn.

1911 G. B. SHAW Getting Married 116 St Paul’s reluctant sanction of marriage; ..

his contemptuous ‘better to marry than to burn’ is only out of date in respect of his belief

that the end of the world was at hand and that there was therefore no longer any

population question. 1973 J. PORTER Murder with Dover 58 ‘You didn’t approve?’ Miss

Marsh pursed her lips. ‘We are told it is better to marry than to burn,’ she said. ‘And he

could have done worse, I suppose.’ 2000 Washington Times 15 Nov. E12 (Herb & Jamaal

comic strip) [T]hey say,.. ‘It is better to marry than to burn’.. But I’ll tell ya, among the

things they say, what I’m most curious about is.. who are ‘they’? marriage

It is BETTER to travel hopefully than to arrive

1881 R. L. STEVENSON Virginibus Puerisque IV. 190 To travel hopefully is a

better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labour. 1918 D. H. LAWRENCE in

English Review Jan. 29 Love is strictly a travelling. ‘It is better to travel than to arrive,’

somebody has said. 1959 ‘J. DUNCAN’ My Friend Muriel II. 83 Remember,.. it is better

to travel hopefully than to arrive. The satisfaction lies mainly in the travelling. 2002

Rough News Spring 2 (comic strip)‘They say it’s better to travel than to arrive.’ ‘“They”

have obviously never been on this bus!’ expectation; optimism; travel

BETTER to wear out than to rust out

It is better to remain active than to succumb to idleness: used particularly with reference to
elderly people. Frequently attributed in its current form to Bishop Richard Cumberland (d.
1718). Cf. 1557 R. EDGEWORTH Sermons A1V Better it is to shine with laboure, then to
rouste for idlenes; 1598 SHAKESPEARE Henry IV, Pt. 2 I. ii. 206 I were better to be eaten to
death with a rust than to be scoured to nothing with perpetual motion.

1820 in Southey Life of Wesley II. xxv. I had rather wear out than rust out. 1834 M.

EDGEWORTH Helen II. xiii. Helen.. trembled for her health.. but she repeated her

favourite maxim—’Better to wear out, than to rust out.’ 1947 S. BELLOW Victim xvii. It

was better to wear out than to rust out, as was often quoted. He was a hard worker

himself. 1972 Times 24 May 16 ‘A man will rust out sooner’n he’ll wear out’ is one of his

oft-repeated maxims. action and inaction; old age