The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (608 page)

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A WILFUL man must have his way
1816
Antiquary
I. vi.
A wilful man must have his way.
1907
Alice-for-Short
xxxvii.
‘A wilful man will have his way,’ says Peggy, laughing … Alice replies: ‘Never mind!’
1931
Blanket of Dark
xii.
‘Take one of my men with you.’ He shook his head … ‘A wilful man must have his way,’ she said.
obstinacy
WILFUL waste makes woeful want
The connection between
waste
and
want
predates the present form of this proverb, e.g.
1576
R. EDWARDS
Paradise of Dainty Devices
88 For want is nexte to waste, and shame doeth synne ensue.
1721
Scottish Proverbs
353
Wilful waste makes woeful want.
1866
Wives & Daughters
II. xxix.
Now young folks go off to Paris, and think nothing of the cost: and it's well if wilful waste don't make woeful want before they die.
1946
Lying Ladies
vi.
‘Well, do you want the drink or not?’ .. Regan .. emptied his glass and shoved forward. ‘Willful waste makes woeful want,’ he declared.
action and consequence
;
waste
He that WILL not when he may, when he will he shall have nay
a
1000
in
Anglia
(1889) XI. 388
Nu sceal ælc man efsten, thæt he to gode gecerre tha hwile the he muge, thelæste, gyfhe nu nelle tha hwile the he muge, eft thone he wyle, he ne mæig [now shall each man hasten to turn to God while he may, lest if he will not now while he may, later when he will, he may not].
1303
Handlyng Synne
(EETS) 1. 4795
He that wyl nat when he may, He shal nat, when he wyl.
c
1450
in
Index of Middle English Verse
(1943) 186
He that will not when he may, When he will he shall have nay [denial].
1624
Anatomy of Melancholy
(ed. 2)
III
. ii.
They omit oportunities … He
that will not when he may
,
When he will he shall haue nay
.
1893
Catriona
xix.
That young lady, with whom I so much desired to be alone again, sang… ‘He that will not when he may, When he will he shall have nay.’
1935
We have been Warned
III
. 297
‘She that will not when she may, When she will she shall have nay.’ Aren't you feeling a bit like that?
1958
Glass of Blessings
xi.
‘It was a rather pretty little box, just the kind of thing you like …’ ‘I know,’ I said. ‘“If you will not when you may, when you will you shall have nay.”’
opportunity, missed

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