A dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

1762 GOLDSMITH Citizen of World I. xlix. There are but the two ways; the door must either be shut, or it must be open. 1896 G. SAINTSBURY Hist. Nineteenth-Century Literature vii. Fiction.. pleads in vain for detailed treatment. For all doors must be shut or open; and this door must now be shut. 1953 S. BEDFORD Sudden View I. ix. We.. returned to France, the land of good sense.. where a door has got to be either open or shut. ■choices

door see also a CREAKING door hangs longest; a GOLDEN key can open any door; when ONE door shuts, another opens; OPPORTUNITY never knocks twice at any man’s door; a POSTERN door makes a thief; when POVERTY comes in at the door, love flies out of the window; it is too late to shut the STABLE-door after the horse has bolted.
doorstep see if every man would SWEEP his own doorstep the city would soon be clean.
When in DOUBT, do nowt
Nowt is a dialect form of ‘nought’ = ‘nothing’, here used for the rhyme.

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  1874 G. J. WHYTE-MELVILLE Uncle John xx. I should wait. When in doubt what to do, he is a wise man who does nothing. 1884 G. WEATHERLY ’Little Folks’ Proverb Painting Book 64 Err ever on the side that’s safe, And when in doubt, abstain. 1917 J. C. BRIDGE Cheshire Proverbs 155 When in doubt, do nowt. This shows the cautious Cheshireman at his best. 1952 H. CECIL Ways & Means ii. I don’t know. I think it’s one of those occasions where it’s best to follow the maxim: When in doubt, don’t. 1972 E. GRIERSON Confessions of Country Magistrate vii. ‘When in doubt say nowt’ is a precept enshrined over most magistrates’ courts. 1981 E. AGRY Assault Force i. What to do?.. ‘When in doubt, do nowt,’ had always been my grandfather’s advice. ■ action and inaction; decision and indecision