“Brag’s a good dog, but Hold-fast is a better.” This proverb is alluded to in “Henry V.” (ii. 3), by Pistol:
“Hold-fast is the only dog, my duck.”[866]
“Bush natural, more hair than wit.” Ray’s Proverbs. So in “Two Gentlemen of Verona” (iii. 1), it is said, “She hath more hair than wit.”
“By chance but not by truth”[867] (“King John,” i. 1).
“Care will kill a cat; yet there’s no living without it.” So in “Much Ado About Nothing” (v. 1), Claudio says to Don Pedro: “What though care killed a cat, thou hast mettle enough in thee to kill care.”
“Come cut and long-tail” (“Merry Wives of Windsor,” iii. 4). This proverb means, “Let any come that may, good or bad;” and was, no doubt, says Staunton, originally applied to dogs or horses.
“Comparisons are odious.” So, in “Much Ado About Nothing” (iii. 5), Dogberry tells Verges: “Comparisons are odorous.”
“Confess and be hanged.” This well-known proverb is probably alluded to in the “Merchant of Venice” (iii. 2):
“Bassanio. Promise me life, and I’ll confess the truth.
Portia. Well then, confess, and live.”