A proverb is one man's wit and all men's wisdom.

Scroundrel maxim.

Among the defects of the bill [Lord Derby's] which are numerous, one provision is conspicuous by its presence and another by its absence.

Much matter decocted into few words.

The maxims of men reveal their characters. [Fr., Les maximes des hommes decelent leur coeur.]

This formal fool, your man, speaks naught but proverbs, And speak men what they can to him he'll answer With some rhyme, rotten sentence, or old saying, Such spokes as ye ancient of ye parish use.