hold with the hare and run with the hounds

Meaning: (idiomatic,dated)Toopposeanactionorbehaviorand yetengagein the same action or behavior; to be ahypocrite.Well, if you ask me, Pastor Hawkins is trying tohold with the hare and run with the houndsby opposing casino gambling when his church operates a bingo game every Thursday night.1571,Arthur Golding, “Epistle Dedicatorie”, inThePsalmsof David and others. With M.John CalvinCommentaries‎[1],pagexxix (29):[…]Laddesthatcanneholde with the Hare and hunt with the Hounde, and (as the Scripturetermeththem) time-seruersand menpleasers.1874,Charles Haddon Spurgeon,An Earnest Warning on Lukewarmness‎[2], archived fromthe originalon24 July 2025:Thousands tryto hold with the hare and run with the hounds, they are for God and Mammon, Christ and Belial, truth and error, and so are “neither hot nor cold.”1967March, Robert Brainard Pearsall, “The Vendible Values ofHousman'sSoldiery”, inPMLA, volume82, number 1,Modern Language Association of America,→DOI, pages85–90:Thus Housman's uniformed creations move crookedly; theyrun with the hare and run with the hounds, and their “meaning” is uncertain.; (idiomatic,dated)To remainneutralby attempting toplacatetwofactionsor both sides of acontroversy.Julianna needs to be careful if she keepsholding with the hare and running with the hounds; she might wind up making enemies of both labor and management.1676,John Bunyan,The Strait Gate, or, Great Difficulty of Going to Heaven‎[3], London: Francis Smith,page144:Eleventhly, There is yet another profeſſor ; and he is for God and forBaaltoo, he can beanything, foranycompany : he can throw ſtones with both hands,[…]he'llhold with thehair, and run with thehound, he carriesfireinonehand, andwateri'th t'other[sic– meaninginth'other];[…]1871October,George Webbe Dasent, “Three to One”, inM[ary] E[lizabeth] Braddon, editor,Belgravia, London: Willmer & Rogers,chapter iv. the invitations are accepted.,page406:How happy is the man who knows really how tohold with the hare and run with the hounds! in other words, to be equally agreeable to both husband and wife.

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