Important India

Origin of the proverb This proverb was coined by the poet Robert Browning. Browning wrote 'less is more' in his poem 'Andrea del Sarto', which was published in 1855. Meaning 'Less is more' means that very often doing a something small well is better than doing a lot. This proverb sounds like a … [Read more...]

Origin This proverb was coined by the playwright William Shakespeare. In his work, 'Hamlet, Prince of Denmark' (usually dated around 1599), the courtier Polonius says in Act II 'brevity is the soul of wit'. Polonius' character is that of a pedantic person who likes to talk at length and use … [Read more...]

Origin The origin of this proverb is unclear, however the first written instances of 'home is where the heart is' appear in the mid nineteenth century. Perhaps the earliest of all is in a work by Joseph Neal in 1847. However, some people believe that the phrase was said earlier, in the mid … [Read more...]

Origin of the proverb. 'Out of sight out of mind' is a proverb that has existed since at least the medieval times. It was first committed to print in the works of John Heywood in the mid sixteenth century. Heywood was a collector of proverbs, and this is one of the proverbs that he … [Read more...]

Origin of the proverb. This proverb 'let bygones be bygones' first appeared in print in 1562 in a collection of proverbs compiled by the British author John Heywood. However, as Heywood himself noted, the proverbs in his book were already in existence in oral culture: Heywood was merely noting … [Read more...]

Origin of this proverb. This is a very common proverb which dates back to the late sixteenth century. It is difficult to say who first coined the proverb as it appeared in several different books of proverbs all at the same time! However, it is likely that 'practice makes perfect' existed in … [Read more...]