You're as welcome as the flowers in May.
2013
Dig a well before you are thirsty. (Be prepared against contingencies.)
—Chinese.
2014
A RECOMMENDATION.
The following verses were sent to a graduate of Wheaton Seminary of the class of 1866 by John G. Whittier, on the receipt of two pairs of long stockings, which the young woman had knit. She was a frequent visitor in the Whittier home, and often assisted in the entertainment of guests of honor. Mr. Whittier regarded the verses as doggerel, and expressed his intention of writing something worth while for his youthful admirer. But the poem reveals a humorous side of his character, differing from what one finds in his published poetry, and it is probable that neither Mr. Whittier nor his young friend, who died in her early womanhood, would have objected to the publication of the verses.
—Editors of Youth's Companion.
My neighbor Acres said to me,
"I lead a lonesome life.
There's something lacking all the time,
I think I need a wife.