“A Wolf eats sheep but now and then;
Ten thousands are devour'd by men.
An open foe may prove a curse,
but a pretend friend is worse.”
Fable XVII, "The Shepherd's Dog and the Wolf"
Fables (1727)
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John Gay 56
English poet and playwright 1685–1732Related quotes
“[ Hee that makes himself a sheep shall be eat by the wolfe. ]”
Jacula Prudentum (1651)
“[ The wolfe eats oft of the sheep that have been warn'd. ]”
Jacula Prudentum (1651)
“Which is worse? the wolf who cries before eating the lamb or the wolf who does not.”
“You are worse than twenty foes, you poisonous friend!”
Isabella Linton to Catherine Earnshaw (Ch. X).
Wuthering Heights (1847)
“But keep the wolf far thence, that's foe to men,
For with his nails he'll dig them up again.”
Act V, scene iv.
The White Devil (1612)
“An open foe I much prefer
To a dear friend that scratches.”
Volume I., 5. — "Le Chien et le Chat".
Translation reported in Harbottle's Dictionary of quotations French and Italian (1904), p. 74.
Fables (1802)
“Beware the wolf in sheep's clothing.”
The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing.
“One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives.”