John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
Page 906
| Pliny the Elder. (A.D. c. 23–A.D. 79) (continued) |
| 8738 |
| The best plan is, as the common proverb has it, to profit by the folly of others. 1 |
| Natural History. Book xviii. Sect. 31. |
| 8739 |
| Always act in such a way as to secure the love of your neighbour. 2 |
| Natural History. Book xviii. Sect. 44. |
| 8740 |
| It is a maxim universally agreed upon in agriculture, that nothing must be done too late; and again, that everything must be done at its proper season; while there is a third precept which reminds us that opportunities lost can never be regained. |
| Natural History. Book xviii. Sect. 44. |
| 8741 |
| The bird of passage known to us as the cuckoo. |
| Natural History. Book xviii. Sect. 249. |
| 8742 |
| Let not things, because they are common, enjoy for that the less share of our consideration. |
| Natural History. Book xix. Sect. 59. |
| 8743 |
| Why is it that we entertain the belief that for every purpose odd numbers are the most effectual? 3 |
| Natural History. Book xxviii. Sect. 23. |
| 8744 |
| It was a custom with Apelles, to which he most tenaciously adhered, never to let any day pass, however busy he might be, without exercising himself by tracing some outline or other,—a practice which has now passed into a proverb. 4 It was also a practice with him, when he had completed a work, to exhibit it to the view of the passers-by in his studio, while he himself, concealed behind the picture, would listen to the criticisms…. Under these circumstances, they say that he was censured by a shoemaker for having represented the shoes with one latchet too few. The next day, the shoemaker, quite proud at seeing the former error corrected, thanks |
| Note 1. See Publius Syrus, Quotation 11. [back] |
| Note 2. A maxim of Cato. [back] |
| Note 3. See Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Quotation 34. Also Lover, Quotation 4. Numero deus impare gaudet (The god delights in odd numbers).—Virgil: Eclogæ, 8, 75. [back] |
| Note 4. Nulla dies abeat, quin linea ducta supersit.—Erasmus. The form generally quoted, “Nulla dies sine linea” (No day without a line), is not attested. [back] |