A dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

medicine see LAUGHTER is the best medicine.
meddler see LAY-OVERS for meddlers.
Do not MEET troubles halfway
There are a number of sayings along similar lines, e.g. never TROUBLE trouble till trouble troubles you. Cf. SENECA Epistle XIII.X. quid iuvat dolori suo occurrere? what help is it to run out to meet your troubles?; 1598-9 SHAKESPEARE Much Ado about Nothing I. i. 82 Are you come to meet your trouble? The fashion of the world is to avoid cost, and you encounter it.
□1896 J. C. HUTCHESON Crown & Anchor xvi. I can’t see the use of anticipating the worst and trying to meet troubles halfway. 1940 M. SADLEIR Fanny by Gaslight III. ii. What happens when she goes?.. Do not meet troubles half way. .. When need arises we will see what can be done. 1980 G. THOMPSON Murder Mystery xx. Don’t go meeting trouble half-way. There might just be something we can do. ■ misfortune
meet see also never BID the Devil good morrow until you meet him; EXTREMES meet; when GREEK meets Greek then comes the tug of war.
melts see the same FIRE that melts the butter hardens the egg.
memory see a LIAR ought to have a good memory.
So many MEN, so many opinions
Cf. TERENCE Phormio II. iv. quot homines tot sententiae, so many men, so many opinions; mid 14th-cent. Fr. que tant de testes, tant de sens, so many heads, so many opinions.
□c 1390 CHAUCER Squire’s Tale 1. 203 As many heddes, as manye wittes ther been. 1483 Vulgaria abs Terencio Q3^V Many men many opinyons. Euery man has his guyse. 1692 R. L’ESTRANGE Fables of Aesop ccclviii. So many Men, so many Minds; and this Diversity of Thought must necessarily be attended with Folly, Vanity, and Error. 1754 RICHARDSON Grandison VI. xx. Doctors differ. So many persons, so many minds. 1924 ‘A. CARP’ Augustus Carp, Esq. xii. They were all those things, and they would remember the old saying, so many men, so many opinions. ■idiosyncrasy; opinions
men see also the BEST-laid schemes of mice and men gang aft agley; the BEST of men are but men at best; BRAVE men lived before Agamemnon; the BUSIEST men have the most leisure; DEAD men don’t bite; DEAD men tell no tales; GOOD men are scarce; when THIEVES fall out, honest men come by their own; THREATENED men live long; one VOLUNTEER is worth two pressed men; YOUNG men may die, but old men must die.