Similar Phrases
A syntactically similar expression is "Don't shoot the piano player; he's doing the best he can." It originated around 1860 in the Wild West of the United States. During his 1883 tour of the United States, Oscar Wilde saw this saying on a notice in a Leadville, Colorado, saloon. This phrase (like many witty sayings of that era) is sometimes attributed to Mark Twain, but neither Wilde nor Twain ever claimed authorship.
Alternative expressions:
- "Killing the messenger"
- "Attacking the messenger"
- "Blaming the bearer of bad tidings"
Read more about this topic: Shooting The Messenger
Famous quotes containing the words similar and/or phrases:
“A work of art is an abstract or epitome of the world. It is the result or expression of nature, in miniature. For, although the works of nature are innumerable and all different, the result or the expression of them all is similar and single.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“A man in all the world’s new fashion planted,
That hath a mint of phrases in his brain.
One who the music of his own vain tongue
Doth ravish like enchanting harmony.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)