It was a custom with Apelles, to which he most tenaciously adhered, never to let any day pass, however busy he might be, without exercising himself by tracing some outline or other,—a practice which has now passed into a proverb. It was also a practice with him, when he had completed a work, to exhibit it to the view of the passers-by in his studio, while he himself, concealed behind the picture, would listen to the criticisms. . . . Under these circumstances, they say that he was censured by a shoemaker for having represented the shoes with one latchet too few. The next day, the shoemaker, quite proud at seeing the former error corrected, thanks to his advice, began to criticise the leg; upon which Apelles, full of indignation, popped his head out and reminded him that a shoemaker should give no opinion beyond the shoes,—a piece of advice which has equally passed into a proverbial saying.

Pliny The Elder (23-79 a d): Natural History. Book xxxv. Sect. 84.

  Rom.  Courage, man; the hurt cannot be much.

  Mer.  No, 't is not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church-door; but 't is enough, 't will serve.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Romeo and Juliet. Act iii. Sc. 1.

  No sooner met but they looked; no sooner looked but they loved; no sooner loved but they sighed; no sooner sighed but they asked one another the reason; no sooner knew the reason but they sought the remedy.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): As You Like It. Act v. Sc. 2.

  No sooner met but they looked; no sooner looked but they loved; no sooner loved but they sighed; no sooner sighed but they asked one another the reason; no sooner knew the reason but they sought the remedy.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): As You Like It. Act v. Sc. 2.

  No sooner met but they looked; no sooner looked but they loved; no sooner loved but they sighed; no sooner sighed but they asked one another the reason; no sooner knew the reason but they sought the remedy.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): As You Like It. Act v. Sc. 2.