Care Quote by John Heywood
“A fig for a care, a fig for a woe!”
About This Quote
Source Book: Proverbs and Sayings, John Heywood, 1546
A playful twist on “a fig for a fig” showing a contrast between care and woe.
In simple terms: Fig metaphor contrasts care and woe.
Key Takeaway
Notice how language can invert meanings.
Themes
language
metaphor
contradiction
playfulness
Mood
thoughtful
curious
Type
literary
educational
When to use this quote
- poetry analysis
- creative writing
- teaching idioms
- literary critique
Key Concepts
figurative speech
poetic inversion
literary device
Questions to Reflect On
- What does the fig symbolize?
- How does inversion affect meaning?
A Different Perspective
Historical context may be obscure to modern readers.
![“From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, [...] and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another…” quote by Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/117/sylvia-plath-149_happy-home_from-the-tip-of-every-branch-like-a-fat_1685424.jpg)
