“A fool and his money are soon partying”
“A fool and his money are soon parted” is a popular English proverb that dates to the 1500s. An American version is “a fool and his money are soon partying,” meaning that fools part with their money by partying. “A fool and his money are soon partying” has been cited in print since at least 1954 and has been featured on many gift items, such as T-shirts and bumper stickers.
Other sayings from the same proverb include “A fool and his money are lucky enough to get together in the first place,” “A fool and his money are soon audited” and “A fool and his money are soon elected.”
Wikipedia: Thomas Tusser
Thomas Tusser (1524–1580) was an English poet and farmer, best known for his instructional poem Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry, published in 1557. It contains the lines
A foole and his monie be soone at debate,
which after with sorrow repents him too late.
That is an early version of the proverb “A fool and his money are soon parted.”
The Phrase Finder
A fool and his money are soon parted
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The precise wording of the expression comes just a little later, in Dr. John Bridges’ Defence of the Government of the Church of England, 1587:
If they pay a penie or two pence more for the reddinesse of them..let them looke to that, a foole and his money is soone parted.
16 February 1954, Evening World-Herald (Omaha, NE), pg. 12, col. 3:
Old Sayings Revived
A fool and his money are soon partying.
28 July 1958, The Morning Herald (Uniontown, PA), “Dream Street,” pg. 2, col. 2:
A fool and his money are soon partying.
9 May 1965, The Sunday Oregonian (Portland, OR), “Manhandled Metaphors Make More Merriment” by Virgil Smith, pg. F5, col. 2:
Some I remember which may or may not have originated with Sam are, “A watched kettle never boils over,” “If the shoe fits buy it,” and “A fool and his money are soon partying.” I’m sure Sam never spoke that last one. He didn’t know what a party was.
3 November 1990, Milwaukee (WI) Journal Sentinel, “RAF pilot brought down to earth by club that figured it owed little” by Alex Thien:
STEVE LEMMERS’ favorite bumper sticker: “A fool and his money are soon partying.”
1 April 1991, Toronto (Ontario) Star, pg. A4:
Fool and his money are soon partying
By George Gamester
Google Books
The Writer’s Handbook
Edited by Sylvia K. Burack
Boston, MA: The Writer
1993
Pg. 309:
“A fool and his money are soon partying.”
Google Books
The Complete Book of Wacky Wit:
More Than 1500 Sayings to Live By!
By Vernon K. McLellan
Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers
1996
Pg. 81:
A fool and his money are soon partying.