E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Simplicity is sine plica,
without a fold; as duplicity is duplex plica, a double fold. Conduct “without a fold” is straightforward, but thought without a fold is mere childishness. It is “tortuity of thought” that constitutes philosophic wisdom, and “simplicity of thought” that prepares the mind for faith.
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“The flat simplicity of that reply was admirable.”—Vanbrugh and Cibber: The Provoked Husband, i.
