I am listening to a delightful interview by Tom Ashbrook on his show On Point on WBUR radio with David Crystal about his new book As They Say in Zanzibar, a compendium of proverbs from around the world. It is worth hearing right now or when it is repeated tonight or on the WBUR website.
Just yesterday, I heard a good one from China: "You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps."
If you would like to post your favorite proverb, please submit it as a comment. Let's see what people come up with.
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16 comments:
I don't know if it qualifies as a proverb, but a friend of mine, when faced with an unsolvable situation, used to say "well, if a frog had wings, he wouldn't bump his ass a-hoppin'."
My father had a similar one, but it is unsuitable for such a highbrow blog as this one.
i always liked "if you're not living on the edge... you're taking up too much room."
There's no place like your homepage." And your homepage is eloquent.
My favorite southern proverb is, "You can't polish a turd."
Often we just have to recognize something for what it is and move on.
Given enough thrust, pigs fly just fine.
No rice, one problem. Much rice, many problems.
"People who do more, do more" Yogi Berra
Better to teach a man how to fish than to give him a fish.
If you give him a fish, he will eat for a day. If you teach him how to fish, he will eat for a lifetime. Or so.
"A shortcut is the longest distance between two points."
"If it's not one thing, it's two"--husband's grandmother
"Beware rascals in paradise"--father-in-law
"Take your eyes in your hands and look"--my grandmother
The crossing a chasm in two jumps proverb is a favorite. I often combine it with my other favorite to convey the challenge of being bold while also respecting that some things take time to develop: "Nine women can't have a baby in a month".
My favorite is "those who say it can't be done are usually surpassed by those already doing it"..I have found this to be true on many occasions, there is always a way to make something work with enough ingenuity!
"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand."
~ Chinese proverb
An old Welsh proverb: "Many a blow will break the stone".
Bonus proverb: "Red sky at night, shepherd's delight. Red sky at morning, shepherd's warning. Red sky in afternoon, shepherd's on fire".
Well one that helped my sister and me when her boyfriend died of cancer was "we may not have it all together but together we have it all."
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