WOLF IN SHEEPS CLOTHING The phrase originates in

WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING The phrase originates in a sermon by Jesus recorded in the Christian New Testament: Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. The sermon then suggests that their true nature will be revealed by their actions. In the centuries following, the phrase was used many times in the Latin writings of the Church Fathers and later on in European vernacular literature. Although the story of a wolf disguised as a sheep has been counted as one of Aesop's Fables in modern times, there is no record of a fable with this precise theme before the Middle Ages, although there are earlier fables of Aesop in Greek sources to which the Gospel parable might allude.

STILL WATERS RUN DEEP Still waters run deep is a proverb of Latin origin now commonly taken to mean that a placid exterior hides a passionate or subtle nature. Formerly it also carried the warning that silent people are dangerous, as in Caesar's summing up of Cassius in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar I. 2. 195– 6: Yon Cassius hath a lean and hungry look. He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous. This interpretation was also given currency in the commentaries of those who based a fable on the saying.

HAVE AN AXE TO GRIND Ax or axe? The spelling more commonly used in America is ax and, in Britain, axe, although in neither nation is there consistency. The phrase, in its having private ends to serve meaning, is commonly attributed to Benjamin Franklin. Other opinions point to another author who, like Franklin, lived in Pennsylvania, USA - Charles Miner. It is difficult to trace the origin, as both men wrote and printed cautionary metaphorical tales concerning the sharpening of axes.