The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (318 page)

With allusion to
JEREMIAH
xiii. 23 (AV) Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?
1546
First Examination of Anne Askewe
38
Their olde condycyons wyll they change, when the blackemoreæne change hys skynne, and the catte of the mountayne [leopard] her spottes.
1596
Richard II.
I. i. 174
Rage must be withstood … Lions make leopards tame.—Yea, but not change his spots.
1869
Latin Proverbs
317
Pardus maculas non deponit
, a leopard does not change his spots.
1979
Clutch of Vipers
iv.
He always was a dirty old man .. and the leopard doesn't change his spots.
1997
Washington Times
24 July C16
Although he swears he has changed, leopards don't usually change their spots, especially those who don't cooperate in counseling.
change
;
human nature

 
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1855
Andrea del Sarto
l. 78 in
Poems
(1981) I. 645
Well, less is more, Lucrezia: I am judged.
1947
Mies van der Rohe
49
As in architecture, [Mies] has always been guided by his personal motto, ‘less is more’.
1984
Caravaggio Obsession
III. iii.
Anyway, he spent years furnishing it with precious, ornamental works of art. This was in the twenties and thirties, when ‘less is more’ was the golden rule.
1987
Tidewater Tales
(1988) 55
Steadfastly we have resisted this clear association, reminding ourselves that Less is More antedates our pregnancy.
1989
Time
20 Feb. 108
What Chiat and his associates seem to be betting on is that there is a mass market of low-income, style-conscious people who have grasped the hip message that less is more.
1997
Washington Times
2 June A16
Sometimes, less is indeed more. However, when it comes to national defense, that argument is hard to accept.
moderation

 
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see also
of two EVILS choose the less
;
more HASTE, less speed
.

 
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Well
is normally considered here as a noun (‘what is well’), rather than an adverb. The proverb is also frequently found in the form
leave well alone
.
c
1570
Scoggin's Jests
(1626) 76
The shomaker thought to make his house greater … They pulled downe foure or fiue postes of the house …Why said Scoggin, when it was well you could not let it alone.
1740
Essay on Regimen
p. xxxvi.
When a Person is tolerably well, and is subject to no painful or dangerous Distemper, I think it his Duty .. to
let Well alone
.
1822
Letter
12 Jan. (1971) 317
Joanna quoted to me the other day an excellent proverb applied to health: ‘Let well alone’.
1829
Misfortunes of Elphin
ii.
This immortal work .. will stand for centuries … It is well: it works well: let well alone.
1910
Rewards & Fairies
108
Poor Dad wouldn't let well alone. He kept saying, ‘Philadelphia, what does all this mean?’
1980
Reverse Negative
243
I thought of the vanity of not letting well alone, of not being content with my life.
1985
Ratings are Murder
xx.
I don't think it's ever a good idea to tamper with tradition. Leave well enough alone, I say.
busybodies
;
content and discontent

 
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