The Best laid schemes of mice and menThe Best laid schemes of mice and men : PhrasesMeaning: The most carefully prepared plans may go wrong. Example: Origin: From Robert Burns' poem To a Mouse, 1786. It tells of how he, while ploughing a field, upturned a mouse's nest. The resulting poem is an apology to the mouse: ... But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane In proving foresight may be vain: The best laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft a-gley, An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, For promised joy. ... The poem is of course the source for the title of John Steinbeck's 1936 novel - Of Mice and Men. Phrases Index
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