Adages are popular sayings that have gained a reputation for truth over time. They differ from maxims and mottos, and are similar to proverbs. Examples include “nothing ventured, nothing gained” and “good things come in small packages”. Shakespeare referenced adages in his works, and many common adages are still used today.
An adage is an oft-quoted saying that has gained a reputation for truth over a long period of time. This differs from a maxim, which is specifically a rule of conduct, and a motto, which is a guiding principle. An epigram is a witty saying and an aphorism is characterized by conciseness, but some adage definitions also emphasize conciseness. Probably the closest synonym is proverb, which also refers to an ancient and popular saying.
Here are some examples and what they mean:
Nothing ventured nothing gained.
This saying encourages taking a risk in pursuit of a goal.
Good things come in small packages.
This statement urges people not to reject something small because, despite its size, it could prove valuable.
In Macbeth I, vii, Shakespeare causes Lady Macbeth to refer to a contemporary adagio, when she says:
Would you like what you esteem as the ornament of life, and live cowardly in your own esteem, letting ‘I dare not’ wait ‘I would’, like the poor cat that is the adage?
This is reportedly a reference to Proverbs (1566) by John Heywood – a fellow playwright – which included the following saying which Lady Macbeth thought suited her husband:
“The cat would eat the fish, but it wouldn’t get its feet wet”
This suggests that it is a foolish position to desire something but be unwilling to suffer some inconvenience to achieve that goal.
This source is actually a compendium that contains many of the standard adages most Americans are familiar with, including the following, expressed in the familiar language most people know them in, though in many cases it’s a bit different from Heywood’s turns of phrase:
All’s well that ends well. Beggars cannot choose. Better late than never. Haste is wasteful. Keep your nose on the grindstone. Look before you leap. Make hay while the sun is shining. Neither fish nor chicken nor good red herring. The fat is in the fire. Do not look a gift horse in the mouth. Beat while the iron is hot. Time and tide wait for no one. Two heads are better than one.
Readers can see that they share a source of everyday wisdom with Shakespeare, an interesting fact to consider in a world that, on the surface, may appear to have little in common with the Elizabethan age.
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