“Spare the rod, spoil the child” is not in the Bible. The rhyme comes from a 1664 comic poem. The real verse, Proverbs 13:24, says something different – and it turns on love.
0
0
“Christ Has No Body Now but Yours”: Not Teresa of Avila
There is no evidence Teresa of Avila wrote it. The prayer grew from an 1888 London sermon by Mark Guy Pearse and an 1892 opening line by Quaker Sarah Eliza Rowntree.
0
0
“I Think, Therefore I Am”: What Descartes Was Really Saying
Descartes reached “I think, therefore I am” at the bottom of an attempt to doubt everything – and the question he asked right after it is the part almost nobody quotes.
0
0
Is “Pride Comes Before a Fall” in the Bible? Almost
Not word for word, but close. “Pride comes before a fall” shortens Proverbs 16:18 (KJV): “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
0
0
Who Said “The Only Thing Necessary for the Triumph of Evil”?
The line is not in Edmund Burke’s writings. It grew from Burke’s 1770 call for good men to “associate” and Mill’s 1867 speech, and got Burke’s name in 1920.
0
0
“This Too Shall Pass”: The Ring Was Made for Good Days Too
This too shall pass meaning: the old ring story was meant to humble the happy as much as comfort the sad – and Lincoln, who told it in 1859, argued with it.
0
0
Is “The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways” in the Bible?
No – “the Lord works in mysterious ways” is not a Bible verse. It is a line from a 1770s English hymn, and the famous story behind that hymn is doubted too.
0
0
Who Said “A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand”?
Abraham Lincoln said “a house divided against itself cannot stand” in 1858 – but he put it in quotation marks. He was quoting Jesus, and in 1843 he said so.
0
0
“To Thine Own Self Be True” Has Two More Lines
Shakespeare gave “to thine own self be true” to Polonius, and two more lines finish the thought. One act later he sends a servant to lie about his own son.
0
0
Is “Money Is the Root of All Evil” in the Bible? Not Quite
Not quite. 1 Timothy 6:10 says the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. Here is the missing word, and why the oldest English Bibles never said money at all.