A dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

cattle see HURRY no man’s cattle.
caught see don’t SELL the skin till you have caught the bear.
cause see no one should be JUDGE in his own cause.
cease see WONDERS will never cease.
century see BETTER a century of tyranny than one day of chaos.
certain see CHILDREN are certain cares, but uncertain comforts; NOTHING is certain but death and taxes; NOTHING is certain but the unforeseen.
chaff see you cannot CATCH old birds with chaff; a KING’S chaff is worth more than other men’s corn.
A CHAIN is no stronger than its weakest link
□1856 C. KINGSLEY Letter 1 Dec. (1877) II. 499 The devil is very busy, and no one knows better than he, that ‘nothing is stronger than its weakest part’. 1868 L. STEPHEN in Cornhill Mag. XVII. 295 A chain is no stronger than its weakest link; but if you show how admirably the last few are united.. half the world will forget to test the security of the.. parts which are kept out of sight. 1986 L. J. PETER Peter Pyramid ii. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link; and the longer the chain, the more weak links. "strength and weakness
Don’t CHANGE horses in mid-stream
The proverb is also used in the phrase to change horses in mid-stream.
□1864 A. LINCOLN Collected Works (1953) VII. 384 I am reminded.. of a story of an old Dutch farmer, who remarked to a companion once that ‘it was best not to swap horses when crossing streams’. 1929 R. GRAVES Good-bye to All That xxiii. ‘If ours is the true religion why do you not become a Catholic?’.. ‘Reverend father, we have a proverb in England never to swap horses while crossing a stream’. 1967 RIDOUT & WITTING English Proverbs Explained 41 Don’t change horses in midstream. .. If we think it necessary to make changes, we must choose the right moment to make them. 1979 D. MAY Revenger’s Comedy ix. Changing horses, love? I should look before you leap. ■ decision and indecision