How far this proverb is borne out by fact is certainly open to question. It appears in Ray's collection as English, and as a remark upon it he says, "Beauty and folly do often go hand in hand, and are often matched together."
Fair and softly gangs far.
"Who goes softly goes safely, and he that goes safely goes far."—Italian.
Fair exchange is nae robbery.
Fair fa' gude drink, for it gars folk speak as they think.
"Fair fa'," well betide; good luck to. This is the Scotch version of the common saying, "When the wine is in, the wit is out;" or, "What is in the heart of the sober man is on the tongue of the drunken man."—Latin.
"Leeze me on drink! it gi'es us mair
Than either school or college,
It kindles wit, it waukens lair,
It pangs us fu' o' knowledge:
Be't whisky gill, or penny wheep,
Or ony stronger potion,
It never fails, on drinking deep,
To kittle up our notion,
By night or day."
—Burns.
Fair fa' the wife, and weel may she spin, that counts aye the lawin' wi' a pint to come in.
Literally, good luck to the hostess who includes a pint still to come when the reckoning is called for. This saying, so far as we can discover, is exclusively Scottish.