Never let 'em see you sweat. Never bring a knife to a gun fight. Never underestimate the power of a woman. Never trust someone who tells you to never trust someone. This title tells the backstories behind some of history's best-known pieces of advice.

"Never let 'em see you sweat."
"Never change diapers in mid-stream."
"Never let a crisis go to waste."
"Never ruin an apology with an excuse."
"Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died."

When we strongly encourage people to do something, it's called an exhortation. But what is the proper term for strongly discouraging people? One candidate is admonition. Another is dehortation, the opposite of exhortation. But perhaps the best term for an emphatic piece of dissuasive advice is neverism. You won't find the term in any dictionary (at least not yet) because quotation anthologist Dr. Mardy Grothe coined it himself for this collection of nearly two thousand quotable cautionary warnings. With the whimsical and witty intermixed with the serious and profound, contributors range from Aesop and Marcus Aurelius to John Wayne and Mae West. Grothe also tells the fascinating "back stories" of scores of classic quotations as well as the history of hundreds more that have never before appeared in a quotation anthology. Organized by topics such as Wit & Wordplay, Politics & Government, Sports, Stage & Screen, and The Literary Life, this is a book about quotations as well as a book of them. Neverisms is sure to delight quotation lovers and language aficionados everywhere.

Never let 'em see you sweat. Never bring a knife to a gun fight. Never underestimate the power of a woman. Never trust someone who tells you to never trust someone. Quotation anthologist Dr. Mardy Grothe has coined the term neverisms for emphatic warnings about things people should never do. Neverisms go by many other terms: admonitions, cautionary warnings, rules of living, negative persuasion (or dissuasion) and dehortation (the opposite of exhortation). All are related to a classical figure of speech called dehortatio, dissuasive advice given with authority. "Neverisms" are among history's most fascinating quotations, and Grothe has assembled nearly 2,000 of them, organizing them into eighteen chapters on such topics as sex, marriage, sports, politics, business, stage and screen, and the literary life. In this new collection, the bestselling author also tells the backstories behind some of history's best-known pieces of advice. "Neverisms" is sure to make a delightful gift for quotation lovers and language aficionados.