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| Pages in the Language Threes series | |||||
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Note: While I give an indication of the relative appearance of the expression in English, it is necessary to appreciate that the basic ideas may be much older and much more widely occurring in variations, to the extent of pre-dating the written language, and escaping the acknowledgment of those recording such comments.
3-part divisions may exist as three words, three phrases, three items, etc., as well as more subtle caricatures that I have tried to avoid in the following examples, except for the expression of Frances Parkman, while clear to me, may not be easily identifiable to other readers. Because there are many expressions that seem to have parallels in other cultures, we must consider the possibility that there exists a commonality of brain structure functioning which predisposes us to not only perceive similarly but also accept particular references as generalized indicators of that which is acknowledged through awareness, if not also having had a personal experience with a particular event.
If we conclude that there is some validity to such an assumption, we should also consider the possibility that history repeats itself due to the recurrence of similarly accepted expressions of experiences that may or may not be the same, but are nonetheless labeled with a referential saying that perpetuates not only the saying, but also the insistent acceptance of commonality of perception that may in fact be changing due to an evolutionary development of human cognition. Thus, it may be possible to encourage the development of an evolutionary progress in human brain functioning if we were to change the old expressions by improving upon them. How else will the social acceptance of brain evolution take place if we don't try to see things differently by improving upon those labels we continue to perpetuate generation after generation, or developing new labels?... though some may even want to question the need for such expressions at all.
Similarly, though we may agree to label such expressions as a global form of "common sense", we should refrain from further definitions which claim such ideas as God given universal laws. An extra-terrestrial's brain may view such common sense as irrational when it is primarily based on mentally derived physiological responses to a planet's environmental conditions. Hence, human physiology subjected to different environmental conditions might well design "common sense" according to such experiences. While the "common" may be factual, the "sense" may not be a rationality of wide-spread applicability.
| 3-part Expression | (approx.) Date of 1st appearance |
| For want of a nail the shoe was lost; For want of a shoe the horse was lost; and For want of a horse the man was lost. |
Early 17th Century- English Late 15th Century- French |
| Forewarned is Forearmed | Early 16th Century |
| Fortune Favors Fools | Mid 16th Century |
| Fools for luck | Mid 19th Century |
| From clogs to clogs is only 3 generations. | Late 19th Century |
| From shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves in 3 generations. | Early 20th Century- attributed to Andrew Carnegie but not found in his writings. |
| Haste Makes Waste | Late 14th Century |
| Make haste slowly | Late 16th Century |
| Slow but sure. | Late 17th Century |
| He who can, does, he who cannot, teaches. | Early 20th Century (2-patterned) |
| Those who can, do Those who can't, teach Those who can't teach, teach teachers. |
Late 20th Century (3-patterned) |
| Hear all, see all, say nowt, Tak'all, keep all, gie nowt, and if tha ever does owt for nowt, do it for thysen. |
Early 15th Century |
| See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil. | Early 20th Century |
| Hear no evil, see no
evil, speak no evil is an ancient Buddhist proverb from Japan. It
might not have come to your ears until the 20th Century but it is far
older than that. (E-mail message from Brice Particelli, 10-26-02) | |
| Seeing is Believing | Early 17th Century |
| Heaven protects children, sailors, and drunken men. | Mid 19th Century |
| History Repeats Itself | Mid 19th Century |
| Homer sometimes nods | Late 14th Century |
| Hope Springs Eternal | Early 18th Century |
| Horses for courses | Late 19th Century |
| If at first you don't succeed, try, try try again. | Mid 19th Century |
| If you would be happy for a week take a wife; if you would be happy for a month kill a pig; but if you would be happy all your life plant a garden. |
Mid 17th Century |
| It takes 3 generations to make a gentleman. | Early 19th Century |
| Jam tomorrow and Jam yesterday, but never jam today. | Late 19th Century- Lewis Carroll (Through the looking glass) |
| Killing no murder | Mid 17th Century |
| Murder will out. | Early 14th Century |
| Truth will out. | Mid 15th Century |
| Knowledge is power | Late 16th Century |
| Might is right | Early 14th Century |
| Money is power | Mid 18th Century |
| Money isn't everything. | Early 20th Century |
| Money makes money | Late 16th Century |
| Nothing for nothing | Early 18th Century |
| Length begets loathing | Mid 18th Century |
| Less is more | Mid 19th Century- often associated with Mies van der Rohe |
| Let well alone | Late 16th Century |
| Like breeds Like | Mid 16th Century |
| Live and Learn | Early 17th Century |
| Love begets Love | Mid 17th Century |
| Love is blind | Late 14th Century |
| Manners maketh man | Mid 14th Century- motto of William of Wykeham (1324- 1404) |
| Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead. | Mid 16th Century |
| The third time pays for all. | Mid 16th Century |
| Third time lucky | Mid 19th Century |
| Thought is free | Late 14th Century |
| Three removals are as bad as a fire. | Mid 18th Century |
| Three things are not to be trusted; a cow's horn, a dog's tooth, and a horse's hoof. | Late 14th Century |
| Time is money | Late 16th Century |
| Time will tell | Mid 16th Century |
| Time works wonders | Late 16th Century |
| Tomorrow never comes | Early 16th Century |
| Tommorrow's another day. | First appeared??? |
| Two boys are half a boy, and three boys are no boy at all. | Early 20th Century |
| Two is company, but three is more. | Early 18th Century |
| Two's company, three's a crowd. | Mid 20th Century? |
| Walls have ears | Late 16th Century |
| Blood will tell | Mid 19th Century |
| Cheats never prosper | Early 19th Century |
| Circumstances alter cases | Late 17th Century |
| Diamond cuts diamond | Early 17th Century |
| Divide and Rule | Early 17th Century |
| Divide and Conquer | First appeared??? |
| Early to bed, Early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. | Late 15th Century |
| East, west, Home's best. | Mid 19th Century |
| Easy does it. | Mid 19th Century |
| England is the paradise of women, the hell of horses, and the purgatory of servants. | Late 16th Century- there is also a similar French version for the same era. |
| Every little helps (also known as Every bit helps or Every little bit helps) |
Early 17th Century |
| Familiarity breeds contempt | Late 14th Century- English 5th Century A.D.- Latin |
| First things First | Late 19th Century |
| Fish and guests stink after 3 days. | Late 16th Century |
| (I've) Been there. | Pre 1980's- 3-word 1-patterned |
| Been there, done that. | 1980's- 2-patterned |
| Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. | 1990's- 3-patterned |
| Crime Doesn't Pay | Slogan of F.B.I. and the Dick Tracy Cartoon character. |
| A committee is a group of the unwilling, chosen from the unfit, to do the unnecessary. (Variations exist) | Late 20th Century- Origin is unknown, but is commonly seen in various forms posted by employees in different kinds of businesses. |
| Misery loves company | Late 16th Century |
| Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me. | Late 19th Century |
| Sticks and stones may break my bones, but whips & chains excite me. | Late 20th Century |
| Night brings counsel | Late 16th Century |
| Offenders neve pardon | Mid 17th Century |
| One Englishman can beat three Frenchmen. | Late 16th Century |
| 3 to 1 ratio: One white foot, buy him two white feet, try him three white feet, look well about him four white feet, go without him. |
Late 19th Century- on horse dealing |
| Physician, heal thyself. | Early 15th Century |
| Like cures Like | Motto of Homeopathic medicine |
| Practice Makes Perfect | Mid 16th Century |
| Revenge is Sweet | Mid 16th Century |
| Silence is Golden | Mid 19th Century |
| Silence means Consent | Late 14th Century |
| Six hours sleep for a man, Seven for a woman, and Eight for a fool. |
Early 17th Century |
| Small is beautiful | Late 20th Century |
| Softly, Softly, Catchee monkey | Early 20th Century |
| A swarm in May is worth a load of hay; a swarm in June is worth a silver spoon; but a swarm in July is not worth a fly. |
Mid 17th Century- Beekeeper's saying (there is also a nursery rhyme that is an adaptation of this: A swarm of bees) |
| Talk is cheap. | Mid 19th Century |
| Union is strength | Mid 17th Century |
| United We Stand | 1768- John Dickinson (The Liberty Song) American Political slogan sometimes including: Divided We Fall |
| God Bless America | 1938- Irving Berlin Song, American Political/Media slogan |
| Who loves not woman, wine, and
song remains a fool his whole life long. |
Late 15th Early 16th Centuries- sometimes ascribed to Martin Luther (1493-1546) without proof of authorship. |
| A book of verses underneath the bough, A jug of wine, a loaf of Bread---and thou Beside me singing in the wilderness--- Oh, wilderness were paradise enow! |
Mid 19th Century- Edward Fitzgerald (1809- 1883) |
| A pizza, a beer, and the old lady. or: A beer, the old lady, and TV. |
Late 20th Century |
| While two dogs are fighting for a bone, a third runs away with it. | Late 14th Century |
| Keep on Truckin' | 1972 America- used by Robert Crumb in cartoons |
| What's up doc? | 1940 America- used by Tex Avery (1907-1980) for the Bugs Bunny cartoon character. |
| Anyone for Tennis? | Early to Mid 20th Century- Typical of drawing-room comedies, and much associated with Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957). |
| 3 oldest professions: Pretending (Actors, etc...)~ Preaching (Religion, Law, Politics)~ Prostitution (the latter is a way of life adopted by those who have been used, abused and excused from a normal life by the other two professions.) |
2001- H.O.B. (Oct. 24th, 3:50 P.M) |
| I shall return. | 1942- Douglas MacArthur (on arriving in Australia from the Philippines, March 30th). |
| The three great elemental sounds in
nature: Are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primal wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach. |
Early to Mid 20th Century- Henry Beston |
| In a real dark night of the soul it is always three O'clock in the morning. | 1936- Esquire (March publication) |
| A woman, a dog, and a walnut tree, the more you beat them the better they be. | Late 16th Century |
| The three O'clock in the morning courage, which Bonaparte thought was the rarest. | 1854- Walden |
| Three merry boys, and three merry boys, And three merry boys are we, As ever did sing in a hempen string under the gallows tree. |
Late 16th to Early 17th Century- John Fletcher (1579- 1625) (Bloody Brother act 2, scene 2 song.) |
| 3 to 1 ratio: In war, three-quarters turns on personal character and relations. The balance of manpower and materials counts only for the remaining quarter. |
Late 18th Early 19th Century- Napoleon 1st (1769- 1821) |
| The way of the superior man is
threefold, But I have not been able to attain it. The man of wisdom has not perplexities; The man of humanity has no worry; The man of courage has no fear. |
Mid 6th to Late 5th centuries- Confucius (551- 479 BC) |
| There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded. | 1995- Princess Diana of Wales (1961- 1997) Interview on Panorama, BBCi TV, 20th November. |
| It is quite a three-pipe problem, and I beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes. | 1892- Sherlock Holmes (The case of The Red-Headed League) |
| There were three ravens sat on a tree, They were as black as they might be. The one of them said to his make, 'where shall we our breakfast take?' |
Late 19th to Early 20th Centuries- Arthur James Balfour (1848- 1930) The Three Ravens |
| Out upon it I have loved Three whole days together; And am like to love three more, If it prove fair weather. |
Late 17th Century- John Suckling (1609- 1642) A poem with the answer |
| The first hole in a stone is revelation. The second hole is an inspiration. The third, perspiration. |
Early 20th Century- Henry Moore (1898- 1986) 1st line. 2001- H.O.B Oct. 23, 3 O'clock PM 2nd and 3rd lines. |
| Earth! render back from out thy breast a remnant of our spartan dead! of the three hundred grant but three, to make a new thermopylae! |
Late 18th to Early 19th Centuries- Lord Byron (1788- 1824) Don Juan canto 3, stanza 91. Written 1819- 1924. |
| 3 to 1 ratio:Of every four words I write, I strike out three. | Early 17th to Early 18th Centuries- Nicolas Boileau (1636- 1711) |
| Ever the Same. | Motto of Elizabeth 1st |
| If the triangles were to make a god they would give him three sides. | Late 17th to Mid 18th Centuries- Montesquieu (Charles- Louis de Secondat) 1689- 1755 |
| On the contrary | Last words of Henrik Ibsen 1828- 1926 |
| Strike the tent | Last words of Robert E. Lee 1807- 1870 |
| I die happy | Last words of Charles James Fox 1749- 1806 |
| Who dares wins | Motto of the British Special Air Service regiment, from 1942 |
| Elementary- My Dear Watson- Elementary | Attributed to Sherlock Holmes, but not found in this form in any book by Arthur Conan Doyle. |
| Gaul as a whole is divided into three parts. | Julius Caesar- 100- 44 B.C. |
| Today I put on a terrible strength invoking the Trinity, confessing the three with faith in the One as I face my maker. | 5th Century- St. Patrick (On his breast plate.) |
| Every man at three years old is half his height. | Leonardo da Vinci 1452- 1519 |
| Three acres and a cow. | Regarded as the requirement for English self-sufficiency. Associated with the radical politician Jesse Collings (1831- 1920) and his land reform campaign begun in 1885, although used earlier by Joseph Chamberlain in a speech at Evesham and published in the Time, Nov. 17, 1885. |
| Burn Your Bra | 1970's U.S. Feminist Slogan |
| You are not like cerebus, three gentlemen at once, are you? | Richard Brinsley Sheridan- (1751- 1816) |
| Three hours a day will produce as much as a man ought to write. | Anthony Trollope (1815- 1882) |
| Man has but three events in his
life: To be born, to live, and to die. He is not conscious of his birth, he suffers at his death and he forgets to live. |
Jean de la Bruyère (1645- 1696) |
| Good life be now my task: my doubts are done: (What more could fright my faith than three in one?) | John Dryden (1631- 1700) in the Hind and the Panther 1687. |
| This England never did, nor never shall, lie at the proud foot of a conqueror, But when it first did help to wound itself. Now these her princes are come home again, come the three corners of the world in arms, And we shall sock them; nought shall make us rue, If England to itself dod rest but true. |
William Shakespeare (1564- 1616) King John act 5, scene 7, line 112. |
| People can be divided into three
groups: Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened. |
Nicholas Murray Butler |
The following items are from: --- "Three-pointed" Quotations ---
| Einstein's Three Rules of Work: 1. Out of clutter find simplicity. 2.
From discord find harmony. 3. In the middle of difficulty lies
opportunity.
Albert Einstein |
| There are three kinds of people in the world: Those who can't stand
Picasso, Those who can't stand Raphael, and Those who've never heard of
either of them.
John White |
| There are three things I always forget. Names, faces -- the third I
can't remember.
Italo Svevo |
| A writer needs three things, experience, observation, and imagination,
any two of which, at times any one of which, can supply the lack of the
others.
William Faulkner |
| There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows
what they are.
William Somerset Maugham |
| There are three kinds of intelligence: One kind understands things for
itself, The other appreciates what others can understand, The third
understands neither for itself nor through others. This first is
excellent, the second good, and the third useless.
Niccolo Machiavelli |
| All mankind is divided into three classes: Those that are immovable,
those that are movable, and those that move.
Arabian Proverb |
| There are three ingredients in the good life: Learning, Earning, and
Yearning.
Christopher Morley |
| Turn yourself not away from three best things: Good Thought, Good
Word, and Good Deed.
Zoroaster |
| There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned lies and Statistics.
Benjamin Disraeli |
| Every scientific truth goes through three states: First, people say it
conflicts with the Bible; Next, they say it has been discovered before;
Lastly, they say they always believed it.
Louis Agassiz |
| There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge . . .
observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation
collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the
result of that combination.
Denis Diderot |
| There are only three things to be done with a woman. You can love her,
suffer for her, or turn her into literature.
Lawrence Durell |
| There are three questions which in life we have over and over again to
answer: Is it right or wrong? Is it true or false? Is it beautiful or
ugly? Our education ought to help us to answer these questions.
John Lubbock |
| Every truth passes through three stages before it is recognized. In
the first it is ridiculed; In the second it is opposed; In the third it is
regarded as self-evident.
Arthur Schopenhauer |
| There are three reasons why lawyers are being used more and more in
scientific experiments. First, every year there are more of them around.
Second, lab assistants don't get attached to them. And, third, there are
some things that rats just won't do.
Unknown |
| Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts: 1. The
book of their deeds. 2. The book of their words. 3. And the book of their
art.
John Ruskin |
| There are three roads to ruin; women, gambling and technicians. The
most pleasant is with women, the quickest is with gambling, but the surest
is with technicians.
Georges Pompidou |
| Inanimate objects are classified scientifically into three major
categories: Those that don't work, Those that break down, And those that
get lost.
Russell Baker |
| There are three categories of people in industry: 1. The few who make
things happen. 2. The many who watch things happen. 3. And the
overwhelming majority who have no idea what happened.
O. A. Battista |
| To me there are three things everyone should do every day. Number one
is laugh. Number two is think, spend some time in thought. Number three,
you should have your emotions move you to tears. If you laugh, think and
cry, that's a heck of a day.
Jim Valvano |
| The three signs of great men are: 1. Generosity in the design. 2.
Humanity in the execution. 3. Moderation in success.
Otto von Bismarck |
| Three things can happen when you put a [foot]ball in the air, and two
of them are bad.
Duffy Daugherty |
| There are three things extremely hard: Steel, a Diamond, and To know
one's self.
Benjamin Franklin |
| There are three things which are real: God, Human folly, Land
laughter. Since the first two pass our comprehension, we must do
what we can with the third.
Aubrey Menen |
| There are three wants which never can be satisfied: 1. That of the
rich, who wants something more; 2. That of the sick, who wants something
different; and 3. That of the traveler, who says, "Anywhere but here."
Ralph Waldo Emerson |
| There are three ways to get something done: 1. Do it yourself. 2. Hire
someone to do it. 3. Or ask your kids not to do it.
Malcolm L. Kushner |
| Three outstanding qualities make for success: Judgment, Industry,
Health. And the greatest of these is judgment.
William Maxwell Aitken |
| Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my
life: The longing for love, The search for knowledge, And unbearable pity
for the suffering of mankind.
Bertrand Russell |
| Bear Bryant's Three Rules for coaching: 1. Surround yourself with
people who can't live without football. 2. Recognize winners. (They come
In all forms.) 3. Have a plan for everything.
"Bear" Bryant |
| 3 to 1 ratio: There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: 1 of 3. The way of an eagle in the air. 2 of 3. The way of a serpent upon a rock. 3 of 3. The way of a ship in the midst of the sea. 1 of 1. The way of a man with a maid. Proverbs 30:18-19 |
3 subtle parts to one expression by the historian Francis Parkman (1823-1893):
[1] He who would do some great things in this short life must apply himself to work with such a concentration of force as,
[2] to idle spectators who live only to amuse themselves,
[3] looks like insanity.
3 subtle parts to analogy:
[1] Back to the Crib & Bottle
[2] though you call it Bar & Booze,
[3] get Drunk so you can Toddle and the unknowing will excuse.
(I had made these correlations back in the 1970's. H.O.B.)
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with Sense, Reason and Intellect, has intended us to forgo their use." Galileo Galilei
Comedian Don Rickles, is said to have become famous for insulting members of his audience by yelling: "Ya hockey puck!"
3-part rhymed expression attributed to Benjamin Franklin: Snug as a bug in a rug..
Page Created: Thursday, 13-November-2014... 5:42:19 AM
Former Update: Wednesday, 19-July-2017... 6:49 AM
Latest Update: Tuesday, 3rd December, 2019... 2:51 AM
Herb O. Buckland
herbobuckland@hotmail.com