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And a proverb haunts my mind
As a spell is cast,
"The mill cannot grind
With the water that is past."
--
Poem: Lesson of the Water-Mill.

 

Sarah Doudney

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The mill cannot grind with water that's past.

 

George Herbert

 

But the sound of water escaping from mill-dams, &c., willows, old rotten planks, slimy posts, and brickwork, I love such things. Shakespeare could make everything poetical; he tells us of poor Tom's haunts among "sheep cotes and mills." As long as I do paint, I shall never cease to paint such places. They have always been my delight.

 

John Constable

 

Modern derivatives:
The proverb's meaning is changed in many English versions from the 20th and 21st centuries that start with the proverb's first half (through "they") and then end with a phrase that replaces "first make mad" or "make mad." Such versions can be found at Internet search engines by using either of the two keyword phrases that are on Page 2 and Page 4 of the webpage "Pick any Wrong Card." The rest of that webpage is frameworks that induce a reader to compose new variations on this proverb.

 

Euripides

 

Using the proverb frequently in their mouths who enter upon dangerous and bold attempts, "The die is cast," he took the river.

 

Plutarch

 

She said, "Spell 'ant' ", and I wrote out the entire alphabet. She said, "That doesn't spell 'ant' ", and I said, "It's in there somewhere! There's the A, there's the N, there's the T – the rest are silent!"

 

Eddie Izzard