Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources. Rev. James Wood
Bête noir—An eyesore; a bugbear (lit. a black beast). Fr.
Beter eens in den hemel dan tienmaal aan de deur—Better once in heaven than ten times at the door. Dut. Pr.
Be thankful for your ennui; it is your last 45 mark of manhood. Carlyle.
Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. Ham., iii. 1.
Be thou assured, if words be made of breath, / And breath of life, I have no life to breathe / What thou hast said to me. Ham., iii. 4.
Be thou faithful unto death. St. John.
Bêtise—Folly; piece of folly. Fr.
Be to her virtues very kind; / Be to her faults 50 a little blind. Prior.
Betrogene Betrüger—The deceiver deceived. Lessing.
Betrügen und betrogen werden, / Nichts ist gewöhnlicher auf Erden—Nothing is more common on earth than to deceive and be deceived. Seume.
Betrug war Alles, Lug, und Schein—All was deception, a lie, and illusion. Goethe.
Bettelsack ist bodenlos—The beggar's bag has no bottom. Ger. Pr.
Better a blush in the face than a blot in the 55 heart. Cervantes.
Better a child should be ignorant of a thousand truths than have consecrated in its heart a single lie. Ruskin.
Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without one. Chinese Pr.
Better a fortune in a wife than with a wife. Pr.
Better a fremit freend than a freend fremit, i.e., a stranger for a friend than a friend turned stranger. Sc. Pr.
Better a living dog than a dead lion. Pr.
Better an egg to-day than a hen to-morrow. Pr.
Better an end with terror than a terror without 5 end. Schill.
Better a toom (empty) house than an ill tenant. Sc. Pr.
Better a witty fool than a foolish wit. Twelfth Night, i. 5.
Better bairns greet (weep) than bearded men. Sc. Pr.
Better be at the end o' a feast than the beginning o' a fray. Sc. Pr.
Better be a nettle in the side of your friend 10 than his echo. Emerson.
Better be a poor fisherman than have to do with the governing of men. Danton.
Better be disagreeable in a sort than altogether insipid. Goethe.
Better be idle than ill employed. Sc. Pr.
Better bend than break. Pr.
Better be persecuted than shunned. Ebers. 15
Better be poor than wicked. Pr.
Better be unborn than untaught. Gael. Pr.
Better buy than borrow. Pr.
Better deny at once than promise long. Pr.
Better far off, than—near, be ne'er the near'. 20 Rich. II., v. 1.
Better far to die in the old harness than to try to put on another. J. G. Holland.
Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay. Tennyson.
Better go back than go wrong. Pr.
Better go to bed supperless than rise in debt. Sc. Pr.
Better haud (hold on) wi' the hound than rin 25 wi' the hare. Sc. Pr.
Better is an ass that carries us than a horse that throws us. J. G. Holland.
Better it is to be envied than pitied. Pr.
Better keep the deil oot than hae to turn him oot. Sc. Pr.
Better keep weel than mak' weel. Sc. Pr.
Better knot straws than do nothing. Gael. Pr. 30
Better lose a jest than a friend. Pr.
Better mad with all the world than wise all alone. Fr. Pr.
Better my freen's think me fremit as fasheous, i.e., strange rather than troublesome. Sc. Pr.
Better never begin than never make an end. Pr.
Better not be at all / Than not be noble. 35 Tennyson.
Better not read books in which you make the acquaintance of the devil. Niebuhr.
Better one-eyed than stone-blind. Pr.
Better one living word than a hundred dead ones. Ger. Pr.
Better rue sit than rue flit, i.e., regret remaining than regret removing. Sc. Pr.
Better say nothing than nothing to the purpose. 40 Pr.
Better sit still than rise and fa'. Sc. Pr.
Better sma' fish than nane. Sc. Pr.
Better suffer for truth than prosper by falsehood. Dan. Pr.
Better ten guilty escape than one innocent man suffer. Pr.
Better that people should laugh at one while 45 they instruct, than that they should praise without benefiting. Goethe.
Better the ill ken'd than the ill unken'd, i.e., the ill we know than the ill we don't know. Sc. Pr.
Better the world know you as a sinner than God as a hypocrite. Dan. Pr.
Better to ask than go astray. Pr.
Better to get wisdom than gold. Bible.
Better to hunt in fields for health unbought, / 50 Than fee the doctor for a nauseous draught. / The wise for cure on exercise depend; / God never made his work for man to mend. Dryden.
Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven. Milton.
Better to say "Here it is" than "Here it was." Pr.
Better understand the world than condemn it. Gael. Pr.
Better untaught than ill taught. Pr.
Better wear out than rust out. Bishop Cumberland. 55
Better wear shoon (shoes) than sheets. Sc. Pr.
Better wrong with