Proverb Question
Baker, John
JMB at STRADLEY.COM
Sun Nov 13 18:09:45 UTC 2005
I'm not sure what distinction you are making here. "[A] chain .
. . is never stronger than its weakest link" doesn't work for you? Is
the problem the words interjected between "chain" and "is," or the use
of "never" rather than "no"?
John Baker
-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Fred Shapiro
Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2005 7:25 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Proverb Question
On Thu, 10 Nov 2005, Baker, John wrote:
> "The mutual dependence of merchants is so great, that their
> engagements like a chain, which, according to the Law of Physics is
> never stronger than its weakest link, are oftener broke through the
> weakness of others than their own." Edwin Freedley, A Practical
> Treatise on Business 196 (1852 copyright, 1853 on title page) (via
> Making of America).
Thanks very much for this, but what I was looking for was pre-1861
evidence for the exact wording "a chain is no stronger than its weakest
link."
Fred Shapiro
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Fred R. Shapiro Editor
Associate Librarian for Collections and YALE DICTIONARY OF
QUOTATIONS
Access and Lecturer in Legal Research Yale University Press,
Yale Law School forthcoming
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu
http://quotationdictionary.com
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