*Aide-toi, le ciel t’aidera = God helps those who help themselves.
[La Fontaine, Fables, vi. 18, Le Chartier embourbé, copying Régnier, Sat. xiii.:
“Aydez vous seulement et Dieu vous aydera.”
Lat.: Dii facientes adjuvant.
Æschylus, Persae, 742: Σπεύδοντι σαυτῷ χῶ θεὸς ξυνάψεται.
Sophocles, Camicii, frag. 633, in Dindorf’s edition: Οὐκ ἐστι τοῖς μή δρῶσι σύμμαχος Τύχη.
Another Greek saying was: Σύν, Αθηνᾷ καὶ χείρα κίνει = With Minerva on your side, yet use your own hand.
Cromwell is reported to have said at the battle of Dunbar: “Trust in God, but keep your powder dry.”
The Basques say: “Quoique Dieu soit bon ouvrier, il veut qu’on l’aide.”]
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