Set a beggar on horseback, and he will ride a gallop.
Set a beggar on horse backe, they saie, and hes will neuer alight.
To get thine ends, lay bashfulnesse aside;
Who feares to aske, doth teach to be deny'd.
Mieux vaut goujat debout qu'empereur enterr£.
Better a living beggar than a buried emperor.
Borgen ist nicht viel besser als betteln.
Borrowing is not much better than begging.
Der wahre Bettler ist
Doch einzig und allein der wahre Konig.
The real beggar is indeed the true and only king.
A beggar through the world am I,
From place to place I wander by.
Fill up my pilgrim's scrip for me,
For Christ's sweet sake and charity.
A pampered menial drove me from the door.
Qui timide rogat,
Docet negare.
He who begs timidly courts a refusal.
Beggar that I am, I am even poor in thanks.
Unless the old adage must be verified,
That beggars mounted, run their horse to death.
Well, whiles I am a beggar I will rail
And say, there is no sin but to be rich;
And being rich, my virtue then shall be
To say, there is no vice but beggary.
I see, Sir, you are liberal in offers:
You taught me first to beg; and now, methinks,
You teach me how a beggar should be answer'd.
BEGINNINGS
Incipe; dimidium facti est ccepisse. Supersit Dimidium: rursum hoc incipe, et efficies.
Begin; to begin is half the work. Let half still remain; again begin this, and thou wilt have finished.
Incipe quidquid agas: pro toto est prima operis pars.
Begin whatever you have to do: the beginning of a work stands for the whole.
Il n'y a que le premier obstacle qui coûte à vaincre la pudeur.
It is only the first obstacle which counts to conquer modesty.
Omnium rerum principia parva sunt.
The beginnings of all things are small.
In omnibus negotiis prius quam aggrediare, adhibenda est praeparatio diligens.
In all matters, before beginning, a diligent preparation should be made.
La distance n'y fait rien; il n'y a que le premier pas qui coûte.
The distance is nothing; it is only the first step that costs.
Et redit in ninilnm quod fuit ante nihil.
It began of nothing and in nothing it ends.
Dimidium facti qui cœpit habet.
What's well begun, is half done.
Coepisti melius quam desinis. Ultima primis cedunt.
Thou beginnest better than thou endest.
The last is inferior to the first.
Principiis obsta: sero medicina paratur,
Cum mala per longas convaluere moras.
Resist beginnings: it is too late to employ medicine when the evil has grown strong by inveterate habit.
Deficit omne quod nascitur.
Everything that has a beginning comes to an end.
