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‘The best-laid schemes of mice and men’ is one of those literary quotations which have slipped free of their origins and taken on a whole new, proverbial meaning.
Now thou’s turn’d out, for a’ thy trouble, But house or hald, To thole the Winter’s sleety dribble, An’ cranreuch cauld! But Mousie, thou art no thy-lane, In proving foresight may be vain: The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men. Gang aft agley,
The phrase “the best laid plans of mice and men” essentially means that no matter how well prepared one may feel, their plans may still fall apart due to circumstances outside of their control. It can be used in both formal and informal contexts.
Aug 27, 2024 · Final word. So, to sum up, the phrase ‘‘the best laid plans of mice and men’, is a partial idiom derived from a poem by Robert Burns in the 1700s. The phrase refers to how, no matter how well you plan and prepare for something, something can go wrong unexpectedly at any point in time. This theme was used in John Steinbeck’s classic ...
John Steinbeck’s 1937 novel Of Mice and Men revolves around the notion that, whatever careful plans are made, things don’t always go as expected. It took both its title and its theme from Burns’ poem.
John Steinbeck took the title of his 1937 novel Of Mice and Men from a line contained in the penultimate stanza. The 1997 novel The Best Laid Plans by Sidney Sheldon also draws its title from this line, and so do the novel of the same name by Canadian author Terry Fallis and the film series based on it.
The best-laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men Gang aft agley, An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, For promis’d joy! Still thou are blest, compared wi’ me! The present only toucheth thee: But Och! I backward cast my e’e, On prospects drear! An’ forward, tho’ I cannot see, I guess an’ fear!
