“You are seeking a knot in a bulrush.”

— Plautus , Menaechmi

Menæchmi, Act II, sc. 1, line 22; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919). A proverbial expression implying a desire to create doubts and difficulties where there really were none. It occurs in Terence, the "Andria", act v. sc. 4, 38; also in Ennius, "Saturæ", 46.
Menaechmi (The Brothers Menaechmus)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "You are seeking a knot in a bulrush." by Plautus?

Plautus 54

Roman comic playwright of the Old Latin period -254–-184 BC

Related quotes

“Moderate Republicans are reverse Houdinis. They tie themselves up in knots and then tell you they can't do anything because they're tied up in knots.”

Barney Frank (1940) American politician, former member of the House of Representatives for Massachusetts

Quoted in Dionne, E. J., The Washington Post, (16 November 2004)]

“In a knot of eight crossings, which is about the average-size knot, there are 256 different 'over-and-under' arrangements possible… Make only one change in this 'over and under' sequence and either an entirely different knot is made or no knot at all may result.”

Annie Proulx book The Shipping News

Intro
The Shipping News (1993)

“When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) 16th President of the United States

“When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.”

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) 32nd President of the United States

The earliest citation yet found does not attribute this to Roosevelt, but presents it as a piece of anonymous piece folk-wisdom: "When one reaches the end of his rope, he should tie a knot in it and hang on" ( LIFE magazine (3 April 1919), p. 585 http://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89063018576?urlappend=%3Bseq=65).
Misattributed
Variant: When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.

“Philosophy unravels the knots in our thinking; hence its results must be simple, but its activity is as complicated as the knots that it unravels.”

Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) Austrian-British philosopher

Source: 1930s-1951, Philosophical Occasions 1912-1951 (1993), Ch. 9 : Philosophy, p. 183

“Up from Earth's Centre through the Seventh Gate
rose, and on the Throne of Saturn sate;
And many a Knot unravel'd by the Road;
But not the Master-knot of Human Fate.”

Omar Khayyám (1048–1131) Persian poet, philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer

The Rubaiyat (1120)

“How you die out in me:

down to the last
worn-out
knot of breath
you're there, with a
splinter
of life.”

Paul Celan (1920–1970) Romanian poet and translator

Source: Poems of Paul Celan

“("No one on the corner") Got a bop like this
Can't wear skinny jeans cause my knots don't fit
No one on the corner got a pocket like this
So I rock Roc jeans cause my knots so thick
You can pay for school, but you can't buy class”

Jay-Z (1969) American rapper, businessman, entrepreneur, record executive, songwriter, record producer and investor

Swagga Like Us
Paper Trail (2008)

“He took a duck in the face at 250 knots.”

William Gibson book Pattern Recognition

Source: Pattern Recognition

“Strongest of Oak is the gallows
Tighest of knots is the noose”

Hoyt Axton (1938–1999) American country singer

"Strongest of Oak" (1965) · Performance on Bonanza http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OXY6rsAIDk
Context: Strongest of Oak is the gallows
Tighest of knots is the noose
Why oh why did I kill that man
Now I'll never get loose

“You are seeking a knot in a bulrush.”

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Plautus 54

Related quotes

Related topics