The alphabet does happy things. The first entry in the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs is able to give unforced priority to some of the most important properties of proverbs. 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder.' First, that it is more recent than you think (c.1850). Second, that nobody has ever heard of the talented person who endowed it with the anonymity of genius (T.H. Bayly). Third, that - divinely wise - it sprang full-grown from its creator's head; perfect, just like that. Fourth, that it evokes what for some is the glory of proverbs and is their ignominy for others. The Observer in 1923 waxed: 'These saws are constantly cutting one another's throats. How can you reconcile the statement that "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" with "Out of sight, out of mind"?' Later in the book, there appears another of the newspaper's rhetorical questions: 'What is the use of saying that "Many hands make light work" when the same copy-book tells you that "Too many cooks spoil the broth"?'

LRB 3 February 1983 | PDF Download