Fools Rush In Where Angels Fear To Tread - Wiktionary

Jump to content

Contents

move to sidebar hide

• Beginning
• 1 English Toggle English subsection
  • 1.1 Etymology
  • 1.2 Proverb
    • 1.2.1 Usage notes
  • 1.3 See also
  • 1.4 References
  • 1.5 Further reading

• Entry
• Discussion

English

• Read
• Edit
• View history

Tools Tools move to sidebar hide Actions

• Read
• Edit
• View history

General

• What links here
• Related changes
• Upload file
• Permanent link
• Page information
• Cite this page
• Get shortened URL
• Download QR code

Print/export

• Create a book
• Download as PDF
• Printable version

In other projects Appearance move to sidebar hide From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From An Essay on Criticism (1711) by Alexander Pope.[1]

Proverb

[edit]

fools rush in where angels fear to tread

1. A person who does not plan ahead and think matters through becomes involved in risky or unfavorable situations which prudent people avoid. Synonym: look before you leap Antonym: he who hesitates is lost
   • 1915, Thomas Dixon, The Foolish Virgin‎[1]:“It's the first article of your creed—that marriage is a holy sacrament, that no power on earth or in hell can ever dissolve its bonds? Fools rush in where angels fear to tread, my dear! They always have—they always will, I suppose.
   • 1921, William T. Tilden, The Art of Lawn Tennis‎[2]:The year following my graduation the new Captain of my Alma Mater's team asked me if I would aid him in developing the squad for next year. Well, "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread," so I said Yes.
   • 1922, Henry Ford, Samuel Crowther, chapter 5, in My Life and Work, Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Company, Inc., →OCLC:Then, too, a record of failures—particularly if it is a dignified and well-authenticated record—deters a young man from trying. We get some of our best results from letting fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

Usage notes

[edit]

• Often abbreviated as fools rush in.

See also

[edit]

• don't drive faster than your guardian angel can fly

References

[edit]

1. ^ Alexander Pope (1711), An Essay on Criticism: “Nor is Paul's Church more safe than Paul's Church-yard: / Nay, run to Altars; there they'll talk you dead; / For Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread.”

Further reading

[edit]

• fools rush in where angels fear to tread on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Gary Martin (1997–), “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread”, in The Phrase Finder.
• Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, →ISBN, p. 104.

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=fools_rush_in_where_angels_fear_to_tread&oldid=88143724" Categories:

• English lemmas
• English proverbs
• English multiword terms
• English terms with quotations

Hidden categories:

• Pages with entries
• Pages with 1 entry

Search Search Toggle the table of contents fools rush in where angels fear to tread 4 languages Add topic