A dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

earned see a PENNY saved is a penny earned.
easier see it is easier to PULL down than to build up; it is easier to RAISE the Devil than to lay him; also EASY.
EAST is east, and west is west

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  1892 R. KIPLING Barrack-room Ballads 75 Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet. 1909 M. BARING Orpheus in Mayfair 271 Sledge said ‘Goodnight’ again, but when he was on the stairs he called back: ‘In any case remember one thing, that East is East and West is West. Don’t mix your deities.’ 1994 English Today Oct. 19/2 East is east and west is west, and it will be a long time before fishermen from the bookends of Canada agree on delicate matters of taste over a plate of oysters. ■ familiarity; harmony and disharmony; opposites
  

EAST, west, home’s best

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  1859 W. K. KELLY Proverbs of all Nations 36 ‘East and west, at home the best’ (German). .. Ost und West, daheim das Best. 1869 C. H. SPURGEON John Ploughman’s Talk xiii. East and west, Home is best. 1920 E. V. LUCAS Verena in Midst cxiii. None the less I don’t envy the traveller. ‘East, west, home’s best.’ 1949 ‘C. MACKENZIE’ Hunting Fairies xviii. I thought what a bully time I’d had in Scotland but all the same I was glad to be going home because East West home’s best. 1994 ‘C. AIRD’ ‘Fair Cop’ in Injury Time (1995) 27 As the police professional in Calleshire most involved with murder, Detective Inspector Sloan would have been the last man in the world to subscribe to the view that ‘East or West, Home’s Best’ since home was where most victims of murder met their end. "home
  

east see also when the WIND is in the east, ‘tis neither good for man nor beast.
EASY come, easy go
LIGHT come, light go and QUICKLY come, quickly go are less commonly found expressions of the same concept. Cf. early 15th-cent. Fr. tost acquis tost se despens, soon acquired, soon spent.

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