The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (68 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs

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broken

see
PROMISES, like pie-crust, are made to be broken
;
RULES are made to be broken
.

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broom

see
NEW brooms sweep clean
;
SWEEP the house with broom in May, you sweep the head of the house away
.

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broth

see
TOO many cooks spoil the broth
.

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build

see
FOOLS build houses and wise men live in them
;
where GOD builds a church, the Devil will build a chapel
;
it is easier to PULL down than to build up
.

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built

see
ROME was not built in a day
.

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Every BULLET has its billet

Fate determines who shall be killed; quot. 1922 implies more generally that fate plays a part in all human affairs.

1575
Fruits of War
I. 155
Suffiseth this to proove my theame withall, That every bullet hath a lighting place.
1765
Journal
6 June (1912) V. 130
He never received one wound. So true is the odd saying of King William [III], that ‘every bullet has its billet’.
1846
Romance of War
II.iii.
'Tis the fortune of war:—every bullet has its billet,—their fate to-day may be ours tomorrow.
1922
Ulysses
366
The ball rolled down to her as if it understood. Every bullet has its billet.
1932
Public School Murder
xi. iv. 237
It is said that every bullet finds its billet. I am afraid this is yet another instance of a shaft at random sent finding a mark the archer never meant.