God made the country, and man made the town

God made the country, and man made the town
Cf. VARRO De Re Rustica III. i. divina natura dedit agros, ars humana aedificavit urbes, divine nature gave us the fields, human art built the cities.

1667 A. COWLEY in J. Wells Poems 2 My father said... God the first Garden made, & the first City, Cain.

1785 COWPER Task I. 40 God made the country, and man made the town.

1870 H. TENNYSON Memoir 25 Jan. (1897) II. 96 There is a saying that if God made the country, and man the town, the devil made the little country town.

1941 H. MACINNES Above Suspicion x. God made the country, man made the town. Pity men couldn’t learn better.

1977 G. TINDALL Field & Beneath i. It has been said that ‘God made the country and man made the town’, but..the town is simply disguised countryside.


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