Similar in form to truth will out.
For-thi [therefore] men sais into this tyde [time], Is no man that murthir may hide.
[c 1325 Cursor Mundi (EETS) l. 1084]
Mordre wol out that se we day by day.
[c 1390 Chaucer Nun's Priest's Tale l. 4242]
Truth will come to light; murder cannot be hid long.
[1596 Shakespeare Merchant of Venice ii. ii. 73]
Crimes cause their own detection, do they? And murder will out (another moral epigram), will it?
[1860 W. Collins Woman in White ii. 64]
‘Murder will out,’ Berman announced, smiling fatuously.
[1978 F. Neumann Seclusion Room ix.]
Related to: concealment; violence
Bibliography of major proverb collections and works cited from modern editions is available here.
