Such WELCOME such farewell

Meaning & Analysis

The manner of a person's departure or send-off will mirror the way they were initially received or greeted. A warm reception leads to a fond farewell, while a cold reception results in an indifferent or hostile one.

Insights

Law of Reciprocity

The proverb is a metaphor for karma and reciprocity in social interactions, suggesting that the outcomes of our relationships and endeavors are a direct consequence of how we initiate them. What you give at the beginning, you receive at the end.

Beginnings Predict Endings

It implies that the beginning of any venture—be it a project, relationship, or job—sets the precedent for its conclusion. A strong, positive start is likely to lead to a successful and satisfying end, whereas a poor start foreshadows a negative outcome.

Authenticity and Consistency

The proverb highlights the importance of authenticity. A person's true feelings or intentions, revealed in an initial greeting, cannot be masked indefinitely and will ultimately be reflected in the final parting. It speaks to the consistency of character.

Social Reciprocity

Rooted in the social codes of hospitality, the proverb reflects the deep-seated expectation of reciprocity. The nature of a greeting sets the tone for the entire interaction, and the departure serves as a final judgment on the quality of the relationship established.

Lifecycle of Relationships

The proverb serves as a timeless principle in relationships and business. The way a customer is onboarded ('welcome') directly impacts their loyalty and eventual departure ('farewell'), and the initial phases of a personal relationship often predict its ultimate outcome.

Psychological Consistency

This proverb captures the psychological 'primacy effect', where initial experiences heavily influence overall perception and subsequent behavior. A warm initial reception creates a positive bias that colors the entire interaction, leading to a correspondingly warm conclusion.

Rhetorical Devices

Parallelism

The elegant 'Such X, such Y' construction creates a perfect and memorable parallel structure, reinforcing the cause-and-effect relationship between the two actions with rhythmic balance.

Synecdoche

The proverb uses 'welcome' and 'farewell' as synecdoche, where the specific acts of greeting and parting represent the entire quality and duration of a social interaction or relationship.

Conciseness

Its extreme brevity and aphoristic quality make the proverb impactful and easy to remember, boiling a complex social dynamic down to a simple, powerful formula.

reciprocityhospitalitykarmabeginningsendingsconsequences
Analyzed with gemini-2.5-pro on August 10, 2025

Transcription

Quotations

1546, HEY., II vii, s. 14
1611, GRUT., no. 241
1614, CAM., p. 312
1639, CL., p. 288
1659, HOW., Eng. Prov., p. 9
1659, N.R., p. 91
1664, COD., p. 211
1670, RAY, p. 28

As is the Welcome, so is the Farewell.

1687, MIEGE, s.v. Welcome

Such a Welcome, such a Farewell.

1732, FUL., no. 4278

Original Scan

Such WELCOME such farewell - a scanned entry from Tilley's 1950 Dictionary of Proverbs.
Scan courtesy of HathiTrust Digital Library.
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.

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Last updated: January 27, 2026