A dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

lazy see LONG and lazy, little and loud.
If you are not the LEAD dog, the view never changes
Canadian saying.

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  1990 Reauthorization of the Export Administration Act: Hearings before the Subcommittee on International Finance and Monetary Policy (United States Congress) (online) None of us should relish the hardly comic prospect of the US crying from the back of the cocom pack, ‘Follow me.’ As any dog-sledder will tell you, if you’re not the lead dog, the scene never changes. 1999 Discount Store News 22 Feb. (online) He makes his point perfectly clear with a distinctly Canadian metaphor. ‘If you’re not the lead dog of a sled, the view never changes.’ 2007 New York Times 11 Feb. (online) But Mr. Rau said action in Suffolk to stem scrap thefts could be a national model. ‘If you are not the lead dog, the view is always the same,’ he said. ‘Let’s take the problem on.’ "ambition
  

lead see when the BLIND lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch; CROSSES are ladders that lead to heaven; all ROADS lead to Rome.
leak see LITTLE leaks sink the ship.
lean see the FAT man knoweth not what the lean thinketh.
leap see LOOK before you leap.
learn see LIVE and learn; it is NEVER too late to learn; NEVER too old to learn; we must learn to WALK before we can run; don’t go near the WATER until you learn how to swim.
LEARNING is better than house and land
Similar in sentiment to when HOUSE and land are gone and spent, then learning is most excellent.

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  1773 D. GARRICK in Goldsmith She stoops to Conquer A3V When ign’rance enters, folly is at hand; Learning is better far than house and land. 1800 M. EDGEWORTH Castle Rackrent 191.. thanked my stars I was not born a gentleman to so much toil and trouble—but Sir Murtagh took me up short with his old proverb, ‘learning is better than house or land.’ 1859 J. R. PLANCHE Love & Fortune 8 ‘Learning is better than house and land.’ A fact that I never could understand. 1939 Daily Mail (Hagerstown, Maryland) 16 Mar. 19 (advertisement) Learning is better than house and land. And learning about the offers among the Classified Ads will show you where to save money in buying house and land. ■learning; property
  

learning see also when HOUSE and land are gone and spent, then learning is most excellent; a LITTLE knowledge is a dangerous thing; there is no ROYAL road to learning.