Leave Proverbs to Politicians

Look before you leap when you play with proverbs, lest you find yourself landing on the wrong runway; if that happens you might be like the monkey that landed on the porcupine’s back . . . you’ll leave the runway on the run. A great many proverbs have counterparts which could prove you’re wrong instead of right.

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder” is a common saying, but it’s denied by “Out of sight, out of mind.” The maxim that “Haste makes waste,” contradicts the assertion that “He who hesitates is lost.”

Proverbs are best left with politicians who have mastered the art of being on both sides of the same street. Proverbs being wisecracks that have become venerable with age (and China being steeped in age), the Orientals readily translated ours this way:

“Big oaks from little acorns grow” becomes “Dust amassed makes the mountain.”
“He who hesitates is lost” turns into “The timid planter winnows no rice.”
But “Penny wise, pound foolish” stumped a scholar momentarily until he came up with what he thought was a parallel: He said, “We in China say, ‘He who retires early to economize on candles, begets twins.’”

Confucius Say

A sage remark now and then adds a touch of spice to a speech and for two thousand years politicians have been pouring out analects of their patron saint, Confucius. His literary passages first came to our shores stuffed inside fortune cookies the chop suey houses served for dessert. Politicians picked up these sage sayings from pagoda land to back up their partisan propositions.

As some people frequently point to the Bible to back one side or another of a problem-so also each side of a confusion cited Confucius. The Mings made the most of him. Sun Yat-sen quoted his wisdom. Now the Reds are running them ragged. Confucius was a soothsayer talented with a gift for saying sensible things in a sensible way. His adages were as acceptable in Ancient Athens as they are in Disneyland.

These current “sayings” still carry a sting!

One person with a belief is equal to the force of ninety-nine who only have an interest.
To reply to a nasty remark with another nasty remark is like trying to remove dirt with mud.
Love is always the same old line but some men can spin it better than others.
No life is so hard that you can’t make it easier by the way you take it.
Women can never be as successful as men; they have no wives to advise them.
A wife with good horse sense never becomes a nag. Many people stick to their oars but they refuse to row. A hobo is a migratory shirker.
When small men cast big shadows, it means that the sun is about to set.
A girl who is expecting a ring is quick to answer the phone.
When a rich man’s hair turns to silver, he becomes a young girl’s golden opportunity.
A good way to avoid trouble is to wrong no man and write no woman.
It is not wise to sleep in the bastille-except in a pinch.

Tags: public speaking

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