For thogh we slepe or wake, or rome, or ryde, Ay fleeth the tyme; it nil no [will no] man abyde.
[c 1390 Chaucer Clerk's Tale l. 118]
The Tyde abydeth no man.
[a 1520 Everyman (1961) l. 143]
Tyde nor time tarrieth no man.
[1592 R. Greene Disputation between He Cony-catcher & She Cony-catcher X. 241]
Time and tide tary on no man.
[1639 J. Clarke Parœmiologia Anglo-Latina 233]
Let's step into the state-room, and turn in: Time and tide waits for no one.
[1767 ‘A. Barton’ Disappointment ii. i.]
Come, come, master, let us get afloat. ‥Time and tide wait for no man.
[1822 Scott Nigel III. ii.]
Time and tide wait for no man. ‘And a school bus waits for no boy.’
[2002 Washington Post 10 Mar. SC11 (Family Circus comic strip)]
Related to: opportunity; time
Bibliography of major proverb collections and works cited from modern editions is available here.




