A dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

He who PAYS the piper calls the tune
Reversing the emphasis of they that DANCE must pay the fiddler.
□1895 Daily News 18 Dec. 9 Londoners had paid the piper, and should choose the tune. 1910 Spectator 22 Oct. 643 Until British electors know that the dollars have been returned they will be wise in placing little trust in Nationalist ‘loyalty’. He who pays the piper calls the tune. 2002 Times 2 Jan. 14 In no profession is the saying ‘He who pays the piper, calls the tune’ more apt than government. ■ action and consequence; money
You PAYS your money and you takes your choice
Both pays and takes are non-standard, colloquial forms.
□1846 Punch X. 16 ‘Which is the Prime Minister?’.. ‘Which ever you please, my little dear. You pays your money, and you takes your choice.’ 1904 v. s. LEAN Collectanea IV. 205 You pays your money and you takes your choice. You pays your money and what you sees is A cow or a donkey just as you pleases. 2001 Washington Post Book World 23 Dec. 11 Which is the right answer? You pays your money, as another saying goes, and you takes your choice. ■ choices; money
If you want PEACE, you must prepare for war
Translating the 4th-cent. AD Roman military writer FLAVIUS VEGETIUS Epitoma Rei Militaris III. (Introd.) qui desideratpacem, praeparet bellum, he who desires peace must prepare for war.

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  a 1547 E. HALL Chronicle (1548) Edw. IV 209 He forgat the olde adage, saynge in tyme of peace prouyde for warre. 1593 M. SUTCLIFFE Practice of Arms A2^V He that desireth peace, he must prepare for warres. 1624 BURTON Anatomy of Melancholy (ed. 2) II. iii. The Commonwealth of Venice in their Armory haue this inscription, Happy is that Citty which in time of peace thinkes of warre, a fit Motto for euery mans priuate house. 1885 C. LOWE Prince Bismarck II. x. Lord Beaconsfield had acted on the maxim that ‘if you want peace, you must prepare for war’. 1929 Listener 28 Aug. 278 ‘If you want peace, prepare for peace.’ This is the reverse of the old motto, ‘If you want peace, prepare for war’. 2001 Washington Times 13 July A17 Peace is pro-family, pro-economy and—hear this environmentalists—pro-turtle. Do you want peace? Scipio Africanus, the Roman who defeated Hannibal, put it this way: ‘If you want peace, prepare for war.’ ■ peace; prudence