
“5451. We never know the Worth of Water, till the Well is dry.”
Introductio ad prudentiam: Part II (1727), Gnomologia (1732)
Source: Walk Two Moons
“5451. We never know the Worth of Water, till the Well is dry.”
Introductio ad prudentiam: Part II (1727), Gnomologia (1732)
“Women are like tea bags. You never know how strong they are until you put them in hot water.”
Another quote often attributed to her without an original source in her writings, as in The Wit and Wisdom of Eleanor Roosevelt (1996), p. 199. But once again archivists have not been able to find the quote in any of her writings, see the comment from Ralph Keyes in The Quote Verifier above.
A very similar remark was attributed to Nancy Reagan, in The Observer (29 March 1981): "A woman is like a teabag — only in hot water do you realize how strong she is."
Variants:
A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.
A woman is like a tea bag, you can not tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.
A woman is like a tea bag; you can't tell how strong she is and how much to trust her until you put her in hot water.
Disputed
“Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly--until you can learn to do it well.”
“A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water. ”
“We seem never to know what any thing means or is worth until we have lost it.”
Source: Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (1871), Ch. XXII : Grand Master Architect, p. 190
The River, written by Victoria Shaw and G. Brooks.
Song lyrics, Ropin' the Wind (1991)
“A sincere diplomat is like dry water or wooden iron.”
Speech "The Elections in St. Petersburg" (January 1913) http://marx2mao.com/Stalin/ESP13.html
Stalin's speeches, writings and authorised interviews