What’s the origin of the phrase ‘The course of true love never did run smooth’?
This expression derives from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Nights Dream, 1598:
LYSANDER:
Ay me! for aught that I could ever read,
Could ever hear by tale or history,
The course of true love never did run smooth;
But, either it was different in blood.
See also: the List of Proverbs.