Than perceive they well, hot love soon cold.
And when hasty witless mirth is mated well,
Good to be merry and wise, they think and feel." - Meaning and context.">
Part I, chapter 2.
“

And once their hasty heat a little controlled,
Than perceive they well, hot love soon cold.
And when hasty witless mirth is mated well,
Good to be merry and wise, they think and feel.

— John Heywood

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "And once their hasty heat a little controlled,
Than perceive they well, hot love soon cold.
And when hasty witless mirth is mated well,
Good to be merry and wise, they think and feel." in the context of "Part I, chapter 2." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "John Heywood" (Quotes, Proverbs (1546): Heywood did not invent what he calls "our common plaine pithie Proverbs olde." Rather, he collected and contextualized them:) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
John Heywood

About John Heywood

John Heywood (1497–1580) was an English writer known for his plays, poems, and collection of proverbs. He fled England for the Low Countries to avoid persecution as a Catholic.