“When the iron is hot, strike.”

— John Heywood

Part I, chapter 3.
Proverbs (1546)

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 "When the iron is hot, strike." by John Heywood?

John Heywood 139

English writer known for plays, poems and a collection of p… 1497–1580

Related quotes

“Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.”

W.B. Yeats (1865–1939) Irish poet and playwright

“4266. Strike, while the Iron is hot.”

Thomas Fuller (writer) (1654–1734) British physician, preacher, and intellectual

Introductio ad prudentiam: Part II (1727), Gnomologia (1732)

“You should hammer your iron when it is glowing hot.”

Publilio Siro Latin writer

Maxim 262
Sentences, The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, a Roman Slave

“God is an iron… and that's a hot one.”

Spider Robinson (1948) Canadian author

Author's Postscript to the story. This story is also the second chapter of his novel Mindkiller (1982) and appears as the title story in the collection God Is An Iron and Other Stories ISBN 0-7862-4162-4 · Cover art for Book http://www.spiderrobinson.com/images/GodIron.jpg
God Is An Iron (1977)

“When Anger rushes, unrestrain'd, to Action,
Like a hot Steed, it stumbles in its way!
The Man of Thought wounds deepest, and strikes safely.”

Richard Savage (1697–1743) English poet

Sir Thomas Overbury (1724), Act II, scene i.

“There are no supreme saviours
Neither God, nor Caesar, nor tribune.
Producers, let us save ourselves,
Decree the common salvation.
So that the thief expires,
So that the spirit be pulled from its prison,
Let us fan our forge ourselves
Strike the iron while it is hot.”

Eugène Edine Pottier (1816–1887) French politician

Il n'est pas de sauveurs suprêmes
Ni Dieu, ni César, ni tribun
Producteurs, sauvons-nous nous-mêmes
Décrétons le salut commun
Pour que le voleur rende gorge
Pour tirer l'esprit du cachot
Soufflons nous-mêmes notre forge
Battons le fer quand il est chaud
The Internationale (1864)

“Evaluate your beliefs first and then arrive at your emotions. Let yourself say: “If the iron is hot, I desire to believe it is hot, and if it is cool, I desire to believe it is cool.””

Eliezer Yudkowsky (1979) American blogger, writer, and artificial intelligence researcher

Twelve Virtues Of Rationality http://yudkowsky.net/rational/virtues
Context: Do not flinch from experiences that might destroy your beliefs. The thought you cannot think controls you more than thoughts you speak aloud. Submit yourself to ordeals and test yourself in fire. Relinquish the emotion which rests upon a mistaken belief, and seek to feel fully that emotion which fits the facts. If the iron approaches your face, and you believe it is hot, and it is cool, the Way opposes your fear. If the iron approaches your face, and you believe it is cool, and it is hot, the Way opposes your calm. Evaluate your beliefs first and then arrive at your emotions. Let yourself say: “If the iron is hot, I desire to believe it is hot, and if it is cool, I desire to believe it is cool.”