See Also: ENERGY, EXCITEMENT

1. (Parisians) applaud like pugilists —Janet Flanner
2. As full of spirit as the month of May —William Shakespeare
3. Drinking in every conceivable impression and experience like wine —George Garrett
4. Eager as a deb waiting for the grand march —John MacDonald
5. Eager as a horse player waiting for the 6th race —John MacDonald
6. Eager as a hostess forcing leftovers on departing guests —Ira Wood
7. Eager as a leashed terrier quivering to meet every challenge —Hallie Burnett
8. (Looked as) eager as a morning hawk —Carlos Baker
9. Eager as an understudy —Louis Monta Bell
10. Eager as a sprinter at the starting gate —Donald McCaig
11. Eager as bears for honey —David R. Slavitt
12. Eager [to buy] … like a starving man at a banquet —Aaron Goldberg
13. Enthusiasm flows from X like light from a bulb —Anon
14. Enthusiasm is a volcano on whose top never grows the grass of hesitation —Kahlil Gibran
15. (About as) enthusiastic as a guy going to the chair —H. C. Witwer
16. Enthusiastic as a sommelier rhapsodizing about wine —Amal Kumar Naj, Wall Street Journal, November 25, 1986

    Naj used the sommelier simile in an article about chili to describe the enthusiasm of a man who grows chilis as a pastime.

17. Fervor, whipping around … like the flags in the stiff breeze —Sumner Locke Elliott
18. Follow [theatre’s artistic steps] with the joy of a Mets fan checking the morning box scores —Jack Viertel, New York Times, June 1, 1986
19. Hearty as a friendly handshake —Anon
20. Hearty … like a trombone thoroughly impregnated with cheerful views of life —Charles Reade
21. Hot with haste —William Shakespeare
22. Like a racehorse in the gate; I was mad to go —Irving Feldman
23. Loved anatomy … as a mother her child —Dr. David W. Cheever

    The anatomy enthusiast described by Dr. Cheever is Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes.

24. Stand like greyhounds in the slips straining upon the start —William Shakespeare
25. Talked about it [business prospects] the way a man dying of thirst might talk about a cold beer —Mike Fredman
26. With the avidity and determination of a housewife at a Macy’s white sale —T. Coraghessan Boyle
27. With the fervor of castaways grasping at a smudge of smoke on the horizon —Ellery Queen
28. Zeal without humanity is like a ship without a rudder, liable to be stranded at any moment —Owen Feltham
29. Zeal without judgment is like gunpowder in the hands of a child —Ben Jonson
30. Zeal without knowledge is a runaway horse —W. G. Benham
31. Zeal without knowledge is like a fire without light —John Ray’s Proverbs
32. Zeal without knowledge is like fire without a grate to contain it; like a sword without a hilt to wield it by; like a high-bred horse without a bridle to guide him —Julius Bate
33. Zeal without knowledge is like expedition to a man in the dark —John Newton