The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (98 page)
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CONFESS and be hanged
1589‘’
De Caede Gallorum Regis
A2
V
Confesse and be hangede man In English some saie.
1604
Othello
IV. i. 37
Handkerchief—confessions—handkerchief! To confess, and be hanged for his labour.
1672
Rehearsal Transprosed
74
After so ample a Confession as he hath made, must he now be hang'd too to make good the Proverb?
1821
Pirate
III. xii.
At the gallows!.. Confess and be hanged is a most reverend proverb.
1951
With all my Heart
vii.
‘People who commit high treason get hanged.’.. ‘Very well, confess and be hanged!’
confession
CONFESSION is good for the soul
c1641
in
D. Fergusson's Scottish Proverbs
(1924) no. 159
Ane open confessione is good for the soul.
1721
Scottish Proverbs
270
Open Confession is good for the Soul. Spoken ironically, to them that boast of their ill Deeds.
1881
Grape from Thorn
III. xxxix.
Confession may be good for the soul; but it is doubtful whether the avowal of incapacity to the parties desirous of securing our services is quite judicious.
1942
Corpse with Eerie Eye
v.
That's open confession, but I don't know that it does my soul any good.
1983
Deadheads
IV. iv.
Confession may be good for the soul but it's pretty lousy for marriages.
1997
Washington Post
10 Feb. D5
Confession is good for the soul, particularly when it comes from journalists, who have a notoriously difficult time admitting error.
confessionCONSCIENCE makes cowards of us all
Quot. 1912 is a humorous perversion of the proverb. Cf.
1594
SHAKESPEARE
Richard III
I. iv. 133 Where's thy conscience now?—I'll not meddle with it—it makes a man a coward.
1600
–
1
Hamlet
III. i. 83
Conscience does make cowards of us all.
1697
Provoked Wife
v. 75
It mayn't be amiss to deferr the Marriage till you are sure they [mortgages] are paid off … Guilty Consciences make Men Cowards.
1912
‘
Chronicles of Clovis
134
The English have a proverb, ‘Conscience makes cowboys of us all.’
1941
You can't be too Careful
viii.
‘Why doesn't he face it out?’.. ‘Conscience makes cowards of us all, Whittaker.’
1976
Poor Old Lady's Dead
iv.
There was something funny here. Bloody funny. So the inspector, who lived, like any other policeman, with the sure knowledge that conscience doth make cowards of us all, began to lean.
conscience
;
cowardice
1594
SHAKESPEARE
Richard III
I. iv. 133 Where's thy conscience now?—I'll not meddle with it—it makes a man a coward.
1600–
1
Hamlet
III. i. 83
Conscience does make cowards of us all.
1697
Provoked Wife
v. 75
It mayn't be amiss to deferr the Marriage till you are sure they [mortgages] are paid off … Guilty Consciences make Men Cowards.
1912
‘
Chronicles of Clovis
134
The English have a proverb, ‘Conscience makes cowboys of us all.’
1941
You can't be too Careful
viii.
‘Why doesn't he face it out?’.. ‘Conscience makes cowards of us all, Whittaker.’
1976
Poor Old Lady's Dead
iv.
There was something funny here. Bloody funny. So the inspector, who lived, like any other policeman, with the sure knowledge that conscience doth make cowards of us all, began to lean.
conscience;
cowardice
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