"A merry heart goes all the day,
Your sad tires in a mile-a."
One man may lead the horse to the water, but fifty can't make him drink.
"You cannot make an ass drink if he is not thirsty" (French).[356] "It is bad coursing with unwilling hounds" (Dutch).[357] "A thing done perforce is not worth a rush" (Italian).[358]
None so deaf as he that will not hear.
Nothing is impossible to a willing mind.
"Madame," said M. de Calonne to a lady who solicited his aid in a certain affair, "if the thing is possible, it is done; and if it is impossible, it shall be done."[359]
Good-will should be taken in part payment.
Take the will for the deed.
"Gifts are as the givers" (German).[360] "The will gives the work its name." "The will is the soul of the work" (German).[361]
Hell is paved with good intentions.
A great moral conveyed in a bold figure. What is the worth of virtuous resolutions that never ripen into action? In the German version of the proverb a slight change greatly improves the metaphor, thus: "The way to perdition is paved with good intentions."[362] A Scotch proverb warns the weak in will, who are always hoping to reform and do well, that