PBOVEKBS, SAYINGS, ETC., ABOUT THE CHILD AND
CHILDHOOD.
1. A beltless bairn cannot lie.--_Scotch._
2. A burnt child dreads the fire.
3. A child is a Cupid become visible.--_Novalis._
4. A daft nurse makes a wise wean.--_Scotch._
5. A growing youth has a wolf in his belly.
6. A hungry belly has no ears.
7. A lisping lass is good to kiss.
8. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
9 An infant crying in the night,
An infant crying for the light;
And with no language but a cry.--_Tennyson._
10. A pet lamb makes a cross ram.
11. A reasonable word should be received even from a child or a
parrot.--_Sanskrit._
12. A simple child
That lightly draws its breath,
And feels its life in every limb,
What should it know of death?--_Wordsworth._
13. As sair greets [as much weeps] the bairn that's paid at e'en as he
that gets his whawks in the morning.--_Scotch._
14. A tarrowing bairn was never fat.--_Scotch._
15. Auld men are twice bairns.--_Scotch._
16. Auld wives and bairns make fools of physicians.--_Scotch._
17. Bairns are certain care, but nae sure joy.--_Scotch._
18. Be born neither wise nor fair, but lucky.--_Russian._
19. Behold the child, by Nature's kindly law,
Pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw.--_Pope._
20. Better be unborn than untaught.--_Gaelic_.
21. Birth's good, but breeding's better.--_Scotch_.
22. Bon sang ne peut mentir. Qui naquit chat court après les souris.
[Good blood cannot lie. The kitten will chase the
mouse.]--_French_.
23. Broken bread makes hale bairns.--_Scotch_.
24. By sports like these are all their cares beguil'd, The sports of
children satisfy the child.--_Goldsmith_.
25. Çe que l'enfant entend au foyer, est bientôt connu jusqu'au Moistre.
[What children hear at the fireside is soon known as far as Moistre (a
town in Savoy).]--_French_.
26. Che nasce bella nasce maritata. [A beautiful girl is born
married.]--_Italian_.
27. Childhood and youth see the world in persons.--_Emerson_.
28. Childhood is the sleep of Reason.--_Rousseau_.
29. Children and chickens are always a-picking.
30. Children and drunken people tell the truth.
31. Children and fools speak the truth.--_Greek_.
32. Children and fools have many lives.
33. Children are certain sorrows, but uncertain joys.--_Danish_.
34. Children are the poor man's wealth.--_Danish_.
35. Children are very nice observers, and they will often
perceive your slightest defects.--_Fénelon_.
36. Children cry for nuts and apples, and old men for gold and silver.
37. Children have more need of models than of critics.--_Jouberi_.
38. Children have wide ears and long tongues.
38a. Children increase the cares of life, but they mitigate the
remembrance of death.
39. Children, like dogs, have so sharp and fine a scent, that they
detect and hunt out everything--the bad before all the
rest.--_Goethe_.
40. Children of wealth, or want, to each is given One spot of green, and
all the blue of heaven.--_Holmes_.
41. Children pick up words as chickens peas, And utter them again as God
shall please.
42. Children should have their times of being off duty, like
soldiers.--_Ruskin_.
43. Children to bed, and the goose to the fire.
44. Children should laugh, but not mock; and when they laugh, it should
not be at the weaknesses and faults of others.--_Buskin._
45. Children sweeten labours, but they make misfortunes more
bitter.--Bacon. 46. Children tell in the streets what they hear round
the hearth.--_Portuguese._
47. Das kann ein Kind machen. [A child can do that--that
is very easy.]--_German._
48. Das Kind mit dem Bade verschutten. [To throw away the child with the
bath--to reject the good along with the bad.]--_German._
49. Dat is en kinnerspil. [That's child's play--very easy.]
--_Frisian._
50. Dat lutjeste un lefste. [The youngest and dearest.]
--_Frisian._
51. Dawted [i.e. petted] bairns dow bear little.--_Scotch._
52. Dawted dochters mak' dawly [slovenly] wives.--_Scotch._
53. Delightful task! to rear the tender thought, To teach the young idea
how to shoot.--_Thomson._
54. De wesen wil bemint, de nem sin naver kind. [Who would be loved, let
him take his neighbour's child.]--Frisian.
55. Die Kinder sind mein liebster Zeitvertreib. [Children are my dearest
pastime.]--_Chamisso._
56. Dochders zijn broze waaren. [Daughters are brittle
ware.]--_Dutch._
57. Do not meddle wi' the de'il and the laird's bairns.--_Scotch._
58. Do not talk of a rape [rope] to a chiel whose father was
hangit.--_Scotch._
59. Do not train boys to learning by force or harshness; but direct them
to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be the better able to
discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of
each.--_Plato._
60. Education begins its work with the first breath of life.
--_Jean Paul._
61. Education commences at the mother's knee, and every word spoken
within the hearing of little children tends towards the formation of
character.--_Ballou._
62. Eet maar Brod, dann wardst du grôt. [Eat bread and you'll
grow.]--_Frisian_.
63. Ein Kind, kein Kind, zwei Kind, Spielkind, drei Kind, viel Kind,
vier Kind, ein ganzes Hausvoll Kinder. [One child, no child; two
children, playing children; three children, many children; four
children, a whole house full of children.]--_German_ (with numerous
variants).
64. Ein Laster kostet mehr als zwei Kinder. [One crime costs more than
two children.]--_German_.
65. Es ist besser zehn Kinder gemacht, als ein einziges umgebracht. [It
is better to have made ten children than to have destroyed
one.]--_German_.
66. Fools and bairns shouldna see things half done.--_Scotch_.
67. Fools with bookish learning are children with edged tools; they hurt
themselves, and put others in pain.--_Zimmermann_.
68. Fremde Kinder, wir lieben sie nie so sehr als die eignen. [We never
love the children of others so well as our own.]--_Goethe_.
69. Fremde Kinder werden wohl erzogen. [Other people's children are well
brought up.]--_German_.
70. Gie a bairn his will,
And a whelp his fill,
Nane o' them will e'er do well.--_Scotch_.
71. Give a child till he craves, and a dog while his tail doth wag, and
you'll have a fair dog, but a foul knave.
72. Gie a dog an ill name and he'll soon be hanged.--_Scotch_.
73. God is kind to fou [_i.e._ drunken] folk and
bairns.--_Scotch_.
74. God ne'er sent the mouth but He sent the meat wi't.--_Scotch_.
75. God watches over little children and drunkards.--_Russian_.
76. Gude bairns are eith [easy] to lear [teach].--_Scotch_.
77. Happy is he that is happy in his children.
78. He who sends mouths will send meat.
79. Heimerzogen Kind ist bei den Leuten wie ein Rind. [A home-bred child
acts like a cow.]--_German_.
80. He that's born to be hanged will never be drowned.
81. He that is born under a tippeny [two-penny] planet will ne'er be
worth a groat.--_Scotch_.
82. I cuori fanciulli non veston a bruno. [A child's heart puts on no
mourning.]--_Zendrini._
83. If our child squints, our neighbour's has a cast in both eyes.
84. Ill bairns are best heard at hame.--_Scotch._
85. It is the squalling child that gets the milk.--_Turkish._
86. Je lieberes Kind, je scharfere Rute. [The dearer the child, the
sharper the rod.]--_German._
87. Kinder hat man, Kinder kriegt man. [Children bring
children.]--_German._
88. Kinder kommen von Herzen und gehen zu Herzen. [Children come from
the heart, and go to the heart.]--_German._
89. Kinder und Bienstocke nehmen bald ab bald zu. [Children and
bee-hives now decrease, now increase.]--_German._
90. Kind's hand is ball fullt,
Kind's zurn is ball stillt.
[A child's hand is soon filled,
A child's anger is soon stilled.]--_Low German._
91. Late children are early orphans.--_Spanish._
92. Les enfants sont ce qu'on les fait. [Children are what we make
them.]--_French._
93. Let thy child's first lesson be obedience, and the second will be
what thou wilt.--_Franklin._
94. Liebe Kinder haben viele Namen. [Dear children have many
names.]--_German._
95. Lieber ungezogene, als verzogene Kinder. [Better unbred children
than ill-bred ones.]--_German._
96. Like the wife wi' the mony daughters, the best comes
hindmost.--_Scotch._
97. Little pitchers have big ears.
98. Little ones are taught to be proud of their clothes before they can
put them on.--_LocJce._
99. Lutze potten hebben ok oren [i.e. little children have
ears].--_Low German._
100. Man is wholly man only when he plays.--_Schiller._
101. Maxima debetur pueris reverentia. [The greatest respect is due to
boys (youth).]--_Juvenal._
102. Men are generally more careful of the breed of their horses and
dogs than of their children.--_William Penn._
103. Mony a ane kisses the bairn for love of the nurice.--_Scotch._
104. More children, more luck.--_German._
105. Nessuno nasce maestro. [No one is born master.]--_Italian._
106. 'N gôd Kind, wen't slöpt. [A good child, when it sleeps.]
--_Frisian._
107. O banish the tears of children! Continual rains upon the blossoms
are hurtful.--_Jean Paul._
108. O formose puer, nimium ne crede colori. [Oh, beauteous boy, trust
not too much to thy rosy cheeks.]--_Virgil._
109. Of bairns' gifts ne'er be fain, Nae sooner they give but they seek
them again.--_Scotch._
110. One chick keeps a hen busy.
111. Our young men are terribly alike.--_Alex. Smith._
112. Pars minima est ipsa puella sui. [The girl herself is the smallest
part of herself.]--_Ovid._
113. Parvum parva decent. [Small things become the small.]
--_Horace._
114. Play is the first poetry of the human being.--_Jean Paul._
115. Qui aime bien, châtie bien. [Who loves well chastises
well.]--_French._
116. Qui parcit virgæ odit filium. [Who spareth the rod
hateth his child.]--_Latin._
117. Reckless youth maks ruefu' eild [age].--_Scotch._
118. Royet [wild] lads may make sober men.--_Scotch._
119. Rule youth well, for eild will rule itself.--_Scotch._
120. Salt and bread make the cheeks red.--_German._
121. Seven nurses cost the child an eye.--_Russian._
122. Small birds [_i.e._ children] must have meat.
123. Sores are not to be shown to flies, and children are not to be
taught to lie.--_Malay._
124. Spare the rod and spoil the child.
125. Teach your children poetry; it opens the mind, lends grace to
wisdom, and makes the heroic virtues hereditary.--_Mahomet._
126. Tenez la bride haute à votre fils. [Keep a tight rein over your
son.]--_French._
127. That's the piece a step-bairn never gat.--_Scotch._
128. The bairn speaks in the field what he hears at the fireside.
--_Scotch._
129. The bearing and the training of a child is woman's wisdom.
--_Tennyson._
130. The best horse needs breeding and the aptest child needs
teaching.--_Arabic._
131. The boy's will is the wind's will.--_Lapp._
132. The chief art is to make all that children have to do sport
and play.--_Locke._
133. The child says nothing but what he heard at the fireside.
--_Spanish._
134. The de'il's bairns hae the de'il's luck.--_Scotch._
135. The heart is a child; it desires what it sees.--_Turkish._
136. The heart of childhood is all mirth.--_Keble._
137. The king is the strength of the weak; crying is the strength of
children.--_Sanskrit._
138. The right law of education is that you take the best pains with the
best material.--_Ruskin._
139. The spring is the youth of trees, wealth is the youth of men,
beauty is the youth of women, intelligence is the youth of the
young.--_Sanskrit._
140. The plays of children are the germinal leaves of all later
life.--_Froebel._
141. The time of breeding is the time of doing children good.
--_George Herbert._
142. They were scant o' bairns that brought you up.--_Scotch._
143. The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the
moon, or perchance a palace on the earth; at length middle-aged, he
concludes to build a woodshed with them.--_Thoreau._
144. They who educate children well are more to be honoured than they
who produce them; these gave them life only, those the art of
well-living.--_Aristotle._
145. To a child all weather is cold.
146. To endure is the first and most necessary lesson a child has to
learn.--_Rousseau._
147. To write down to children's understandings is a mistake; set them
on the scent, and let them puzzle it out.--_Scott._
148. Un enfant brûlé craint le feu. [A burnt child dreads the
fire.]--_French._
149. Ungezogene Kinder gehen zu Werk wie Binder. [Unbred children go to
work like cattle.]--_German._
150. Viel Kinder viel Vaterunser, viel Vaterunser viel Segen. [Many
children, many Paternosters; many Paternosters, many
blessings.]--_German_.
151. We ought not to teach the children the sciences, but give them a
taste for them.--_Rousseau_.
152. Wen de gôsen wâter sên, dan willen se drinken. [When the geese
(_i.e._ children) see water, they want to drink.]--_Frisian_.
153. Wenn das Kind ertrunken ist, deckt man den Brunnen. [When the child
is drowned, the well is covered.]--_German_.
154. Wenn Kinder und Narren zu Markte gehen, lösen die Krämer Geld.
[When children and fools go to market, the dealers make
money.]--_German_.
155. Wenn Kinder wohl schreien, so lebeu sie lange. [When children cry
well, they live long.]--_German_.
156. Wer wil diu kint vraget, der wil si liegen leren. [Who asks
children many questions teaches them to lie.]--_Old High German_.
157. What children hear at home soon flies abroad.
158. When children remain quiet, they have done something wrong.
159. Women and bairns lein [hide] what they ken not.--_Scotch_.
160. Women and children should retire when the sun does.
--_Portuguese_.
161. You should lecture neither child nor woman.--_Russian_.
_Index to Proverbs, etc._
Following is an index of peoples and authors for the foregoing proverbs
and sayings (the references are to pages):--
_A, PEOPLES._
Afghan, 377,379,385,389.
Angolese, 385,386,387,391.
Arabic, 388,400.
Badaga, 384.
Basque, 382,387.
Bulgarian, 393.
Chinese, 377.
Danish, 377,378,395.
Dutch, 391,392,396.
Egyptian, 381.
English, 376,377,380,382,383,384,385,387,388,390,392,393,394,
395,396,397,398,399,400,401.
French, 379,380,383,385,388,395,398,399,400.
Frisian, 380,385,392,396,397,399,401.
Gaelic, 376,395.
German,378,380,382,383,384,385,387,388,390,392,393,396,397,398,
399,400,401.
Greek, 393,395.
Hebrew, 383.
Hindu, 377.
Italian, 383,385,387,388,391,393,395,399.
Lapp, 400.
Latin, 380, 385, 388, 399.
Low German, 377, 382, 389, 392, 398.
Malay, 399.
Oriental, 377.
Persian, 382.
Portuguese, 383,396, 401.
Roman, 378.
Russian, 376, 380, 383, 384, 385, 387, 394, 397, 399, 401.
Sanskrit, 377, 382, 394, 400.
Scotch, 380, 382, 383, 385, 388, 390, 391, 392, 393, 394, 395,
396, 397, 398, 399, 400, 401.
Spanish, 377, 384, 388, 398.
Telugu, 386.
Turkish, 377, 398, 400.
B, AUTHORS, ETC.
Alcibiades, 383.
Aristotle, 400.
Auerbach, 378, 389.
Bacon, 377, 379, 380, 388, 396.
Ballon, 396.
Barrie, 392, 393.
Beecher, 377, 383.
Bible, 377, 378, 388.
Blake, 391.
Burns, 381.
Carlyle, 380.
Chamisso, 396.
Chapman, 393.
Cicero, 380.
Coleridge, 379, 380.
Cornelia, 378.
Cowper, 380.
Dante, 379.
Dickens, 381.
Disraeli, 393.
Dryden, 379, 380.
Emerson, 379, 380, 381, 390, 393, 395.
Eötvös, 376.
Euripides, 389.
Fénelon, 395.
Franklin, 398.
Froebel, 400.
Goethe, 378, 379, 380, 381, 385, 389, 390, 392, 393, 395, 397.
Goldsmith, 395.
Haliburton, 383.
Hare, 379, 383.
Hazlitt, 381.
Herbert, 387, 400.
Hitopadesa, 377, 385.
Holmes, 395.
Horace, 376, 399.
Hugo, 384.
Hunt, 378, 381.
Jean Paul, 376, 380, 384, 385, 386, 389, 392, 393, 396, 399.
Jesus, 377, 379, 381.
Johnson, 377.
Joubert, 395.
Juvenal, 398.
Keble, 384, 385, 400.
La Bruyère, 377.
Lacretelle, 383.
Landor, 393.
Langdale, 383.
La Rochefoucauld, 392.
Lessing, 392.
Locke, 398, 400.
Mahomet, 399.
Manu, 377.
Menander, 380.
Milton, 381, 390.
Napoleon, 385.
Novalis, 394.
Ovid, 391, 399.
Penn, 398.
Pfeffel, 391.
Phædrus, 377.
Pistorius, 376.
Plato, 396.
Pope, 394.
Raghuvansa, 388.
Rousseau, 395, 400, 401.
Rückert, 391.
Ruskin, 378, 379, 381, 390, 395, 396, 400.
Schiller, 381, 391, 398.
Schopenhauer, 379.
Scott, 400.
Shakespeare, 381, 387, 388, 392, 393.
Shirley, 387.
Sidney, 391.
Simons, 381.
Smith, 399.
Socrates, 392.
Southey, 376.
Spurgeon, 388.
Svetchin, 392.
Swift, 392.
Talmud, 389, 392.
Tennyson, 384, 394, 400.
Terence, 390.
Thomson, 396.
Thoreau, 400.
Veda, 388.
Virgil, 399.
Weber, 376.
West, 382.
Wordsworth, 380, 381, 388, 394.
Young, 387.
Zachari, 380.
Zendrini, 398.
Zimmermann, 397.
For the collection of proverbs and sayings here given, the writer
acknowledges his indebtedness to the numerous dictionaries of quotations
and proverbs, of which he has been able to avail himself.