CONCERNING PROVERBS.

What a Proverb Is.

A proverb (according to the definition of Erasmus) is a celebrated saying, distinguished by some sort of clever novelty: such that a saying of a kind, a celebrated point of difference, distinguished by some clever novelty, might take the place of its own property.

What is proper to a Proverb, and to what extent.

Two things pertain particularly to the nature of a proverb: that it be celebrated and tossed about commonly. Then, that it be clever, so that it is distinguished from common speech by some mark, and this will truly be that which is commended by antiquity as well as erudition. The celebrity of adages, however, comes from the oracles of the gods, the sayings of the wise, or from some most ancient poet: from the stage, that is, the plays enacted by tragic and comic writers, the plots of fables, apologues, events, histories, apophthegms, or a word spoken rashly. Finally, the customs, genius, or...