FAULTS. EXCUSES. UNEASY CONSCIOUSNESS.
Lifeless, faultless.
It is a good horse that never stumbles.
To which some add, "And a good wife that never grumbles." None are immaculate. "Are there not spots on the very sun?" (French.)[444] A member of the parliament of Toulouse, apologising to the king or his minister for the judicial murder of Calas perpetrated by that body, quoted the proverb, "Il n'y a si bon cheval qui ne bronche" ("It is a good horse," &c.). He was answered, "Passe pour un cheval, mais toute l'écurie!" ("A horse, granted; but the whole stable!")
He that shoots always right forfeits his arrow.—Welsh.
But in no instance was the forfeit ever exacted, for the best archer will sometimes miss the mark, just as "The best driver will sometimes upset" (French).[445] "A good fisherman may let an eel slip from him" (French);[446] and "A good swimmer is not safe from all chance of drowning" (French).[447] "The priest errs at the altar" (Italian).[448]
They ne'er beuk [baked] a gude cake but may bake an ill.—Scotch.
He rode sicker [sure] that ne'er fell.—Scotch.
It is a sound head that has not a soft piece in it.
Every rose has its prickles.
Every bean has its black.
Every path has its puddle.
There never was a good town but had a mire at one end of it.
"He who wants a mule without fault may go afoot" (Spanish).[449]