A dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

A FAULT confessed is half redressed

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  1558 Interlude of Wealth & Health D2V Yf thou haue doone amisse, and be sory therfore, Then helfe a mendes is made. 1592 Arden of Feversham H1^V A fault confessed is more than half amends, but men of such ill spirite as your selfe Worke crosses [arguments] and debates twixt man and wife. 1732 T. FULLER Gnomologia no. 1140 Confession of a Fault makes half amends. 1822 SCOTT Nigel III. v. Come, my Lord, remember your promise to confess; and indeed, to confess is, in this case, in some slight sort to redress. 1855 H. G. BOHN Handbook of Proverbs 285 A fault confessed is half redressed. 1981 P. O’DONNELL Xanadu Talisman X. A fault confessed is half redressed, so I hope he will forgive us. ■ confession; error
  

favour see (noun) KISSING goes by favour; (verb) FORTUNE favours fools; FORTUNE favours the brave.
FEAR the Greeks bearing gifts
The saying is often used allusively. The original Latin version is also quoted: VIRGIL Aeneid II. 49 timeo Danaos, et dona ferentes, I fear the Greeks, even when bringing gifts (said by Laocoon as a warning to the Trojans not to admit the wooden horse); thus 1777 S. JOHNSON Letter 3 May (1952) II. 515 Tell Mrs. Boswell that I shall taste her marmalade cautiously at first. Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes. Beware, says the Italian proverb, of a reconciled enemy.

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  1873 TROLLOPE Phineas Redux I. xxxiii. The right honourable gentleman had prided himself on his generosity as a Greek. He would remind the right honourable gentleman that presents from Greeks had ever been considered dangerous. 1929 Times 26 Oct. 13 Mr. Moses.. must now be reflecting on the wisdom of the advice to ‘fear the Greeks even when they bring gifts’. 1943 E. S. GARDNER Case of Drowsy Mosquito vi. ‘It wasn’t a trap, I tell you.’ Nell Sims said.. ‘Fear the Greeks when they bear olive branches.’ 1980 J. GERSON Assassination Run iv. Fear the Greeks bearing gifts was the maxim to be drummed into every novice in the department. ■deception; giving and receiving
  

fear see also the man who has once been BITTEN by the snake fears every piece of rope; DO right and fear no man; FOOLS rush in where angels fear to tread; man fears TIME, but time fears the pyramids.