John Bartlett (18201905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
Page 172
Thomas Middleton. (15801627)
1992 As the case stands. 1
The Old Law. Act ii. Sc. 1.
1993 On his last legs.
The Old Law. Act v. Sc. 1.
1994 Hold their noses to the grindstone. 2
Blurt, Master-Constable. Act iii. Sc. 3.
1995 I smell a rat. 3
Blurt, Master-Constable. Act iii. Sc. 3.
1996 A little too wise, they say, do neer live long. 4
The Phnix. Act i. Sc. 1.
1997 The better day, the better deed. 5
The Phnix. Act iii. Sc. 1.
1998 The worst comes to the worst. 6
The Phnix. Act iii. Sc. 1.
1999 T is slight, not strength, that gives the greatest lift. 7
Michaelmas Term. Act iv. Sc. 1.
2000 From thousands of our undone widows One may derive some wit. 8
A Trick to catch the Old One. Act i. Sc. 2.
2001 Ground not upon dreams; you know they are ever contrary. 9
The Family of Love. Act iv. Sc. 3.
2002 Spick and span new. 10
The Family of Love. Act iv. Sc. 3.
2003 A flat case as plain as a pack-staff. 11
The Family of Love. Act v. Sc. 3.
Note 1. As the case stands.Mathew Henry : Commentaries, Psalm cxix. [back ]Note 2. See Heywood, Quotation 30 . [back ]Note 3. I smell a rat.Ben Jonson : Tale of a Tub, act iv. Sc. 3. Samuel Butler : Hudibras, part i. canto i. line 281. I begin to smell a rat.Cervantes : Don Quixote, book iv. chap. x. [back ]Note 4. See Shakespeare, King Richard III, Quotation 10 . [back ]Note 5. The better day, the worse deed.Mathew Henry : Commentaries, Genesis iii. [back ]Note 6. Worst comes to the worst.Cervantes : Don Quixote, part i. book iii. chap. v. Marston: The Dutch Courtezan, act iii. sc. 1. [back ]Note 7. It is not strength, but art, obtains the prize.Alexander Pope : The Iliad, book xxiii. line 383. [back ]Note 8. Some undone widow sits upon mine arm.Philip Massinger : A New Way to pay Old Debts, act v. sc. 1. [back ]Note 9. For drames always go by contraries.Samuel Lover : The Angels Whisper. [back ]Note 10. Spick and span new.FORD: The Lovers Melancholy, act i. sc. 1. George Farquhar : Preface to his Works. [back ]Note 11. Plain as a pike-staff.Terence in English (1641). Buckingham: Speech in the House of Lords, 1675. Gil Blas (Smolletts translation), book xii. chap. viii. John Byrom : Epistle to a Friend. [back ]