A dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

prepare see HOPE for the best and prepare for the worst; if you want PEACE, you must prepare for war.
present see no TIME like the present.
preservation see SELF-preservation is the first law of nature.
pressed see one VOLUNTEER is worth two pressed men.
PRETTY is as pretty does
US equivalent to HANDSOME is as handsome does.

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  1853 T. C. HALIBURTON Sam Slick’s Wise Saws i. 136 Avery smart little boy; and Old Hundreth . . tells me you are a very good boy, and that’s better, for pretty is as pretty does. a 1871 A. CARY ‘Pretty is that Pretty Does’ in M. C. Ames Memorial of Alice and Phoebe Cary (1874) 238 My child, who reads this simple lay With eyes down-dropt and tender, Remember the old proverb says That pretty is, which pretty does And that worth does not go nor stay For poverty nor splendor. 1991 H. P. MCADOO in Journal of Negro Education lx. 362 On special occasions a big (and I do mean big) bow was placed on top of my head. As my mother wrestled with my hair she often tossed out little proverbs such as ‘Pretty is as pretty does.’ 2002 Washington Times 23 July B5 There is an old saying, ‘Pretty is as pretty does.’ It’s a wise woman who learns that lesson early. ■ appearance; conduct
  

PREVENTION is better than cure
Cf. c 1240 BRACTON De Legibus v. x. melius & utilius [est] in tempore occurrere, quam post causam vulneratam quaerere remedium, it is better and more useful to meet a problem in time than to seek a remedy after the damage is done.

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  1618 T. ADAMS Happiness of Church 146 Preuention is so much better then healing, because it saues the labour of being sicke. 1732 T. FULLER Gnomologia no. 3962 Prevention is much preferable to Cure. 1826 J. PINTARD Letter 19 Apr. (1940) II. 257 Prevention is better than cure. .. With perseverance we shall save numbers of little Devils from becoming big ones. 1954 R. HAYDN Journal of Edwin Carp 148 ‘Why do you wear those old galoshes when the sun’s shining?’.. ‘Prevention’s better than Cure.’ 1996 ‘C. AIRD’ After Effects iii. 28 ‘Glad to hear it, sir,’ said Sloan, adding prosaically, ‘You could say that prevention’s better than cure in the police world as well as the medical one.’ "foresight and hindsight; prudence