A dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

A PROPHET is not without honour save in his own country
With allusion to MATTHEW xiii. 57 (AV) A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.

• 
  a 1485 CAXTON in Malory Works (1967) I. p. cxlv. The word of God.. sayth that no man is accept for a prophete in his owne contreye. 1603 J. FLORIO tr. Montaigne’s Essays III. ii. No man hath beene a Prophet..in his owne country, saith the experience of histories. 1771 SMOLLETT Humphry Clinker III. 92 The captain, like the prophets of old, is but little honoured in his own country. 1946 W. S. MAUGHAM Then & Now xxx. In Florence.. they had no great confidence in his judgment and never followed his advice. ‘A prophet is not without honour save in his own country.’ 2002 Spectator 2 Feb. 48 ‘I hope you don’t mind, but my wife is in love with your Prime Minister.’ ‘Mind? Not I,’ I coughed. ‘A prophet is not without honour save in his own country,’ another quoted. ■ familiarity; honour
  

propose see MAN proposes, God disposes.
prosper see CHEATS never prosper.
protect see HEAVEN protects children, sailors, and drunken men.
prove see the EXCEPTION proves the rule. provide see TAKE the goods the gods provide.
PROVIDENCE is always on the side of the big battalions
Cf. 1673 MME DE SEVIGNE Letter 22 Dec. la fortune est toujours, comme disait le pauvre M. de Turenne, pour les gros bataillons, fortune is always, as poor Mr. de Turenne used to say, for the big battalions.

• 
  1822 A. GRAYDON Memoirs v. Heaven was ever found favourable to strong battalions. 1842 A. ALLISON Hist. Europe X. lxxviii. Providence was always on the side of dense battalions. 1904 ‘SAKI’ Reginald 63 Someone has observed that Providence is always on the side of the big dividends. 1943 R. A. J. WALLING Corpse by any Other Name iii. Our statesmen.. ought to have learned years ago that Providence is always on the side of the big battalions. 1979 Guardian 9 July 9 Many thousands more voices now are raised in the name of sanity. But I dare say God is still on the side of the big battalions. "great and small; providence