A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

Tenacity and quietness of manner are preferable to ostentation. Cf. 1580 A. MUNDAY
Zelauto 146 Brag is a good Dogge, whyle he will holde out: but at last he may chaunce to
meete with his matche; 1599 SHAKESPEARE Henry V II. iii. 52 And Holdfast is the only dog,
my duck.

1709 O. DYKES English Proverbs 123 Brag is a good Dog, but Hold-fast is a Better.

.. Nothing edifies less in an ingenuous Conversation, than Boasting and Rattle. 1752 S.

JOHNSON Rambler 4 Feb. VIII. 92 When I envied the finery of any of my neighbours,

[my mother] told me, that ‘brag was a good dog, but holdfast was a better’. 1889

Pictorial Proverbs for Little People 11 Brag’s a good dog, but Holdfast is better. 1937 R.

W. WINSTON It’s Far Cry xxi. In golf, as in life.. the exceptional has no staying

qualities. To quote a Southern [US] saying, ‘Brag is a good dog, but Holdfast is better’.

1952 J. F. DOBIE Some Part of Myself vii. I remember my mother’s repeating once after

he left an old proverb: ‘Brag’s a good dog, but Hold Fast is a better.’ boasting; words

and deeds

brain see an IDLE brain is the Devil’s workshop.

brass see where there’s MUCK there’s brass.

None but the BRAVE deserve the fair

The pair referred to in Dryden’s poem (Alexander’s Feast) are Alexander the Great and the
Athenian courtesan Thais.

1697 DRYDEN Poems (1958) III. 148 Happy, happy, happy Pair!.. None but the

Brave deserves the Fair. 1829 P. EGAN Boxiana 2nd Ser. II. 354 The tender sex.. feeling

the good old notion that ‘none but the brave deserve the fair’, were sadly out of temper.

1873 TROLLOPE Phineas Redux II. xiii. All the proverbs were on his side. ‘None but the

brave deserve the fair,’ said his cousin. 1978 F. WELDON Praxis xii. She frequented the

cafe where the Rugger set hung out, and on a Saturday, after closing hours, could be seen

making for the downs, laughing heartily and noisily in the company of one or other of the

brave, who clearly deserved the fair. courage; just deserts

BRAVE men lived before Agamemnon

The exploits of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, in the Trojan War were celebrated by
Homer and by the tragic poets of ancient Greece. The point, made first by Horace, was that