Better soon as syne.
"I tell'd your honour a while syne, that it was lang that I hae been thinking o' flitting, may be as lang as frae the first year I came to Osbaldistone Hall; and now I'm o' the mind to gang in gude earnest—better soon as syne—better a finger aff as aye wagging."—Rob Roy.
Better spared than ill spent.
Better speak bauldly out than aye be grumphin'.
If a complaint requires to be made, make it openly and straightforwardly, instead of continuing to fret about it in an indirect manner.
Better the barn filled than the bed.
Because a full barn denotes prosperity, a full bed trouble.
Better the end o' a feast than the beginning o' a fray.
Better the mother wi' the pock, than the faither wi' the sack.
"The mother, though in a low condition, will be more kindly to, and more careful of, orphans, than the father can be, though in a better."—Kelly.