“I hold a mouses wit not worth a leke,
That hath but on hole for to sterten to.”
The Wife of Bath's Tale, l. 6154
The Canterbury Tales
“Ther nis no werkman, whatsoevere he be,
That may bothe werke wel and hastily.”
The Merchant's Tale, l. 1832-1833
The Canterbury Tales
The Merchant's Tale, l. 585
The Canterbury Tales
“This noble ensample to his shepe he yaf, —
That first he wrought, and afterwards he taught.”
General Prologue, l. 498
The Canterbury Tales
General Prologue, l. 1044
The Canterbury Tales
“For iii may keep a counsel if twain be away.”
The Ten Commandments of Love
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)
Book 3, line 1625-1628
Troilus and Criseyde (1380s)
“But Cristes lore, and his apostles twelve,
He taught; but first he folwed it himselve.”
General Prologue, l. 529
The Canterbury Tales
General Prologue, l. 295-300
The Canterbury Tales
“For gold in phisike is a cordial;
Therefore he loved gold in special.”
General Prologue, l. 445
The Canterbury Tales
Book 5, line 1793-1798
Troilus and Criseyde (1380s)
“For thogh we slepe, or wake, or rome, or ryde,
Ay fleeth the tyme; it nyl no man abyde.”
The Clerk's Tale, l. 62-63
The Canterbury Tales
“But all thing which that shineth as the gold
Ne is no gold, as I have herd it told.”
The Chanones Yemannes Tale, l. 16430
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919), Canterbury Tales