A dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

1745 E. HAYWOOD Female Spectator II. VII. 35 There is, I think, an old saying, that we ‘ought to be just before we are generous’. 1780 SHERIDAN School for Scandal IV.i. Be just before you are generous. 1834 MARRYAT Peter Simple I. xi. I owe every farthing of my money. .. There’s an old proverb—be just before you’re generous. 1908 Spectator 4 Apr. 529 A likeable man is tempted to be generous before he is just. 1922 JOYCE Ulysses 521 Bloom—You had better hand over that cash to me to take care of. Why pay more? Stephen—Be just before you are generous. "fair dealing

JUSTICE delayed is justice denied
The idea of a link between delay and denial of justice is an old one (cf. 1215 MAGNA CARTA To no man will we sell, or deny, or delay right or justice), but this formulation appears to be modern and mainly US.
□1999 Daily Nation (Nairobi) 9 Dec. 6/1 As they say, justice delayed is justice denied, an expression that obtains especially in situations where a person may languish in remand prison for three years only to be found innocent of any charge. 2000 Washington Times 31 Dec. B4 Apparently, Mr. Jackson got no satisfaction from his call to Mr. Bush. A few days later, in Los Angeles, Mr. Jackson pronounced Mr. Bush’s presidency ‘a coup d’etat,’ noting ‘justice delayed is justice denied.’ 2001 Washington Times 13 Dec. B1 The inscription on the front of the Alexandria Courthouse, next to the depiction of the tortoise and the hare, reads simply. ‘Justice Delayed is Justice Denied.’ That’s the motto at the ‘rocket docket,’ the federal court known for speed, spies and a winning record for government prosecutors. "justice and injustice
justify see the END justifies the means.
Why KEEP a dog and bark yourself?
□1583 B. MELBANCKE Philotimus 119 It is smal reason you should kepe a dog, and barke your selfe. 1670 J. RAY English Proverbs 81 What? keep a dog and bark my self. That is, must I keep servants, and do my work my self. 1738 SWIFT Polite Conversation i. 17 ‘Good Miss, stir the Fire’... ‘Indeed your Ladyship could have stirr’d it much better.’.. ‘I won’t keep a Dog and bark myself.’ 1933 A. CHRISTIE Thirteen at Dinner xviii. Why keep a dog and bark yourself? 1999 S. PAWSON Some by Fire vii. 153 ‘I think you want me to start all over again at Edinburgh University and the Sorbonne, but you want me to volunteer because you daren’t ask me yourself.’ ‘That’s about it,’ I admitted. ‘Man with dog never has to bark. ’ ■ employers and employees; work