“The wrong sow by th' eare.”

— John Heywood

Part II, chapter 9.
Proverbs (1546), Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)

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John Heywood 139

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

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“You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, and you can't change human nature from intelligent self-interest into pure idealism—not in this life; and if you could, what would be left for paradise?”

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“Sow a thought, and you reap an act;
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Samuel Smiles (1812–1904) Scottish author

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Source: Happy Homes and the Hearts That Make Them

“To do him any wrong was to beget
A kindness from him, for his heart was rich—
Of such fine mould that if you sowed therein
The seed of Hate, it blossomed Charity.”

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“The law of harvest is to reap more than you sow. Sow an act, and you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap a destiny.”

James Allen (1864–1912) British philosophical writer

“The wrong sow by th' eare.”

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