Agues come on horseback, but go away on foot.
Agues come on horseback, but go away on foot.
Meaning in plain English
The saying pictures agues arriving on horseback and departing on foot. It contrasts a rapid onset with a slower imagined recovery through two ways of travelling.
Example
A team recognises that an error occurred quickly but that repairing its effects will take several steps.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
Horseback and foot give the illness different speeds without a numerical timescale. As an explicit analogy, trouble may arise faster than it can be resolved. The older fever term does not establish a particular diagnosis here, and the verse cannot predict recovery. Its useful image distinguishes the beginning of a difficulty from the work or time needed afterward.
When to use it
Use it as a stated analogy about unequal speeds of onset and resolution.
Keep in mind
The verse is not a diagnosis, prognosis or universal recovery pattern.
Edsverb editorial interpretation · agent reviewed · 2026-10-05. This explains the saying; it does not establish its historical origin.
- Source
- A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases
Entry 19 · Agues
Read the original context ↗ - Attribution confidence
- traditional · historical anthology
Preserved as printed; independently unverified. - Historical coordinate
- Undated
No reliable date supplied by the collection. - Rights & edition
- Public domain (United States)
Translations and rights may differ elsewhere.
Provenance and licences ↗