My advanced age, plus staying pretty much cooped up due to the COVID pandemic, has had me reflecting on the past. And in some ways, longing for it. I’ve been writing down adages as they’ve come to mind and have developed quite a list.
An adage is a saying or proverb-like statement often denoting a basic truth, memorable over time and usually serving as good advice. However, some offer warnings of what not to do. Many come from ordinary folk wisdom accumulated and passed down from generation to generation:
A penny saved is a penny earned.
Money is the root of all evil.
Penny wise, pound foolish.
A stitch in time saves nine.
Many hands make light work.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Waste not, want not.
Better late than never.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Too many cooks spoil the broth.
A watched pot never boils.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Where there’s a will there’s a way.
Better late than never.
Birds of a feather flock together.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
If wishes were horses, poor beggars would ride.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Spare the rod, spoil the child.
Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.
A place for everything and everything in its place.
Good, better, best – never let it rest until the good is better and the better is best.
What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.
Two wrongs don’t make a right.
Justice delayed is justice denied (applicable to Trump and most all he has pardoned).
Never bite the hand that feeds you.
Take all you can eat, but eat all you take.
The best thing since sliced bread.
All signs fail in a drought.
Pray for good harvest, but continue to hoe.
Rain in May, plenty hay. Rain in June, change of tune.
As the days begin to lengthen, the cold begins to strengthen.
Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.
Loose lips sink ships.
Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
Don’t burn your bridges.
Don’t try to fix what ain’t broken.
A pessimist is an optimist with experience.
It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission.
When you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.
A fine beer may be judged with only one sip, but it’s better to be thoroughly sure. (Czech)
Hasten slowly, and you will soon arrive. (Tibet)
A frog in a well cannot be talked to about the sea. (Chinese)
You cannot travel the path until you have become the path. (Buddha)
There are no obstacles to the path. The obstacles are the path. (Zen saying)
Be like the bamboo. The higher you grow, the deeper you bow. (Chinese)
If I keep a green bough in my heart, then the singing bird will come. (Chinese)
They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds. (Mexican)
Most listed are common in the Western world, and thousands are passed down from other cultures. I’m sure there are scads more than those I’ve recalled and some listed have slight variations in wording. Most have stood the test of time.
(Paul Nichols lives in Loudon.)