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American proverbs
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| First-class proverbs assist broad overviews and looks. |
Sound, neat and gentle proverbs can be fit for the old and young alike. Without insisting terribly, many proverbs attain to lifting up outlooks to what could be mutually desired ends and goals ahead. And if so, that's not little.
In other cases proverbs tell what rules or half-rules to play by, if any. Or they expose sides of the over-riding give and take deals involved in fair enough living. And there arae many other aspects to them.
Below are several rounds of sifted proverbs of such kinds and some others. At times they can be first-class helpers for building up encounters, but there are limits to the impacts of "the tongue": often more than notions are needed. But here is help for that as well: We suggest you take a look and see if you find it worth while to exercise yourself in (a) the use of proverbs; (b) in how to live on top of some of them. Have a nice try.
Contents
- A Dictionary of American Proverbs
- Bear fun or our fun?
- "A woman is not a buffalo"
- Mature women: A traditional lining-up of aphoristic thinking
- Proverbs from the good old days
- Modest use of well calculated proverbs
- Good all-American proverbs
- The central plot
- Favourable results of learning poignant proverbs at heart
- Say yes to a tidy young man
Supporting "well medleys" are presupposed
throughout:From A Dictionary of American Proverbs
THE COMMON proverbs that are found
in the following essay, were collected by much field research in North America, and next
published by Oxford University Press in 1992.From the history:
Very recently, dozens of North American scholars went into a very large and elaborate project for collecting proverbs that were in actual use all over the United States and parts of Canada, especially Ontario and the Maritime Provinces. They proceeded according to M. Bryant's outstanding guidelines for that sort of collecting work.It took forty years of active collecting to complete the extensive project that at first yielded almost 150 000 citation slips of proverbs, proverbial expressions, wellerisms and much else. And it took many added years to manage the rest and put it into shape.
Close to fifty years of good work went into the total project, many took part in it.
Neat sayings as from a paradise
THE ENTERTAINING dictionary is a fruit of good labour. It contains 15 000 streamlined sayings found in actual use in North America, and some are quotations of Shakespeare, Emerson and other notables. I think I can recommend the work. It's well designed, for one thing. But I would have had it shorter and more concise, for there are very many - thousands of - similar proverbs with only minor differences between them. Examples:Nothing ventured, nothing gained."Never venture, nothing ventured" is not there . . . ;) A basic attitude behind the eight proverbs given is that we should venture things at times - but how to venture is left out, and much depends on who ventures, how, when, and where, and so on. Thoughtless ones can probably flounder by silly ventures.
Never venture, never gain.
Nothing venture, nothing have.
Nothing venture nothing lose.
Nothing venture, nothing win.
Nothing ventured, nothing done.
Nothing ventured, nothing made.
Nothing ventured, nothing won [All: Ap 630].
It could also happen that some venture proverb is used to justify some venture. Be that as it may.
Good proverbs often contrast elements. It may be done in ways that seem humourous and flippant. Even if the educative value of real US proverbs may be doubtful a lot of times, there is much lax irony also. A nice selection for upbringing purposes does well to weed out a lot for the sake of handy rules of the thumb as to how to progress. Much depends on selectivity in this alley. [See Ap ix-x]
One key factor in proverb vitality is the brevity of expression.
Bear fun or our fun?
Constructive
utterances express things that are often valid, but much could depend on
interpretation
IF YOU record the most fit
American proverbs on tape, and listen to the tapes in the evening before going to bed, you
could learn thousands of classy sayings without much effort. This is good!After getting them deeply into your system, you may use them. I think you might like to maim less if you use them, for the scholar work, or classificatory work, is of very high fidelity; and many of the sayings extracted are results of high thinking - although many seem remote for us here in Scandinavia.
All right proverbs often carry an existential profile inside them. Here we find sentences extracted from North America when people thrived in millions. They reflect typical life outlets, and the plots and actors in them, may be metaphoric suggestions only.
But if we have lifted a good-looking saying over to us, or back to us, maybe this motto is valid also: "Don't compare to set ways of grizzly bears where no such bears live."
Good and sober
classifications can help us to build further or go on further
THIS is to say that good classifications often is a basis for further stringent
labour, and if that labour is successful, we may apply them in life, if given the proper way
for it in the first place.
By mere chance
one is not likely to think and express cogently and well. One should study a lot to make
deft use of good proverbs
AS TO the central content of these American expressions, the fidelity and value in real life
obviously varies. Some proverbs seem fit for America, and not here. Some seem fit here quite
often, and if so, they could be useful outside the camp of entertainment. If good proverbs
of the latter type are sorted out and next streamlined in tick tack toe ways, we could get a
series of suggestions on how to handle things much better than by mere chance. Let's hope
that. If that happens, we have ventured further than American scholars into a new discipline: To make very hard-headed, practical use of proverbs to help cultural modes of living. They could for example fit newly married couples better, for there is a major need for loveably streamlined living together both in North America and around here, as reflected in divorce statistics. I just hint at one likeable use.
On the way to some elegant mastery learning through proverbs and extract
You can be conventional without getting coarse or uncouth. We can be served by
typical classifications (good groupings) for conform and good outcome most often. Such
serviceable rules of the thumb were designed to fit for most part, and can be found inside a
lot selected proverbs and maxims. This agreed on, the very best proverbs can be initial and
rough helpers towards a good trade, good routines of handling quite personal things, and
give a lot hints towards a later, good outcome and good living. It could happen. Another
help is to bulwark well.To maintain
interest, rise above common comparisons and count the cost well
To get and maintain interest, see if you can learn to rise above standard (common)
comparisons. Zen staring may be one old way. It helps to focus on oneself to evolve oneself
- within certain well regulated limits. See the HANGSA primer for
that sort of study. It may strengthen identity a lot. A sane person won't compare himself or
herself with set ways of such as sloth bears and poison-giving idolaters, he can be
interested or interesting all the same.
Very good
groupings - and standard classifications are some - help us to handle things a lot better to
get better fartes throughout life
MANY PROVERBS are for that, but there are glass pieces among the potentially
helpful, largely unpolished "jewel words". Helped by good chunks, groupings and other top or
standard classifications, we can rise to apply some of them in life. Let it be the cream,
then.Good sayings
fit likable conclusions
Good old sayings reach likeable conclusions that fit a lot of times.
Some proverbs seem fit for America, and some here. Besides, when it comes to likeable
outlets and outcomes, it's much up to associates we have.
"A woman is not a buffalo"
Welcome. Is the headline above a saying, a proverb fit
for Americans, or a slapstick? It can be hard to determine, very hard. But here is an
altogether fit attitude:He who talks down on woman, forgets his own mother. (Norwegian)
Decent selections
Choice and sound selections should help young boys and girls to fit in with a minimum of pain and discomfort. The "proof of that pudding" is in the jolly artistic handling of many encounters, items and fairness over and over. And that means the chosen items give help to tackle «this and that» in relevant, updated ways most often - well, in fair ways that seem fit.Thus it is possible to:
- To align ourselves with the better outlooks of the past;
- Expand or substantiate further, for example.
- Arrange very strategical bundles of reasonable and fine proverbs for even further help. This is a novelty! And our tick tack toe strategy has been presented on another page. Feel welcome to browse it. Not a little is to be aligned to that one.
Skilled and advanced "laziness" has to fit in as well. That sort of laziness makes some men invent the refrigerator. It saves much work. It makes other men bore holes for ground water, and it works in nine out of ten cases in the hands of good dowsers. Bright and elegant "laziness" could be one of the secret factors - called X if you like - at the bottom of many brilliant inventions.
One needs ample, free time to observe and study and sharpen up. And also, to get into the mood for love - it is so stated, and in proverbs too. We might also need a lot time to calculate and make errors, not only love, inspect and invent something like the cheece slicer (of Norwegian construction), if needs be.
All this suggests that the busy inventor at bottom could be driven by plotting laziness. And if so, a few fine-sounding proverbs could assist it - there are much too many that talk down on the factor behind most modern blessings and tools. We don't carve with stone slabs out in the woods any longer.
Differing variants excluded
American proverbs are fairly haughty versus women. Able fathers should not tolerate evil, condescending attitudes to bombard the slim self-confidence in girls and so on - it's not fair. Fairness is what to be expected, over and above what's inherited. Sayings that form attitudes towards one half of the human race, had better be trustworthy and helpful (constructive). In some ways, careful selections help to adjust matters, but not in all ways. Some scoundrels misuse even the Bible for that, and never stop to think of the high example of Mary Magdalene, for example. She was on the spot when the apostles were not -We selected a few from a list of 166 proverbs with variants on women. Proverbs on wives, mistresses, mothers, daughters and girls were not included - just woman or women. After we sifted out a few of them, we blended some parts of them with each other. It’s much allowable, and it often occurs. It goes many steps further than making slightly differing variants of one proverb folks are fond of, for example.
Let the end result speak for itself. There is a profile inside the selection. And the summary below helps us to see it better - maybe to think a lot too.
Pinpointed, but what are the attitudes?
WE SHALL talk of material ambitions, brave love-making and ugliness - Woman love is
a common, or average, ambition. Further, it's a woman's privilege to bless well-nigh any
man's average ambitions and make a good show out of it. Socrates further insists: "Everyone
should be married. If it is successful, you will become happy. If not, you will become a
philosopher."A much overlooked point could be that a loving woman is no more pretty in the eyes of dogs than smelling dogs. And that shows that even perspectives of what'’s ugly and wotrhwhlie differ.
It may be a
woman's privilege to bless almost any man's average ambitions and make a good show out of
it
SOME SAY a woman's place is in the hay. And right there "a woman fights with her tongue".
All the same, never quarrel with a fair woman who governs the world, and never conceal her
either.*Goodwill, like a kind-hearted woman, often throws out more than a man can bring in with a shovel.* After that, maybe the longest five years in a woman's life is between twenty-nine and thirty. (A cliché or long-lasting lie)
Woman is a mystery to men, but women are wise to each other. They say: There's hardly a strife in which a woman has not been a prime mover. And a man without ambition is like a woman without looks. A woman, a dog, and a walnut tree: the worse you treat them, the better they'll be. [Is that in part how one's ambition-mystery is to be?]
It is a woman's privilege not to know and later change her mind.* Therefore, some women are bring ruin to many a man (It can be shown statistically, but not how far).*
A woman, a dog, and a walnut tree: the more they allow you to hang on beating them, the better their affections or hopelessness needs to be.* On the other hand, a woman's whole life is better lived in the corner of a housetop than on top of a kind man.* And a driving woman should be preoccupied with how she looks, only in the second place.* Woman: God bless her by that name, for she'd rather be pretty than just one more brain.* ¤
Never run after a woman or an calving iceberg solely worth listening to* while they sing: "Two women in the same house can never agree that a woman, a dog, and a walnut tree: the harder you beat them, the better they be."*
A much
overlooked point could be that women are no more pretty in the eyes of dogs than smelling
dogs to them
HOUSE GOES mad when women gad (is about without purpose and plan), while insisting:
"Women will have the last word. And it is to be remembered that brains don't get more
welcome than desultory pets."
If Army women
love with guns in their hands, not roses, or beat you, hate must be at it
BEST WOMEN are to be remembered by both men and women. An Army woman who does right and
fears no man is the joy of her husband, if she doesn't beat the joy out of him.*And if Army women forgive unwelcome, unimportant kissing episodes due to lust, all cats are black. (Irony - New) ¤ Still, as the French love to tell, a woman with no man is a spring without roses. (French proverb) [T+. 2.1]
Homily
- It's a woman's privilege to bless well-nigh any man's average ambitions and make a good show out of it.
- Woman love is a common, i.e. average, ambition. A much overlooked point could be that women are no more pretty in the eyes of dogs than smelling dogs to them.
- If Army women love with guns in their hands, not roses, hate must be at it.
Traditional-looking array of items?
| IT'S a woman's privilege to bless well-nigh any man's average ambitions and make
a good show out of it. A woman’s age is allowed to remain in the dark during the forty best years of her life, those between "twenty-nine and thirty-four", for example. The worse you treat fair women, the better they get at quarrels without end, and that is a shame. To be abnormally pretty is a goal for many dyed tiring women. A woman’s affections can be pretty even after thirty.
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|
WOMAN love is a common, i.e. average, ambition. Females are no more pretty in the eyes of dogs than smelling dogs to them. Woman will have the last three words against desultory pets at the very least. Don’t insist on keeping a smelling dog instead of an endearing woman in the middle of your family.
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TO GET soundly wed, normal and sweet-smelling women use endearment ever so often. If gruff soldier women love with guns in their hands, and not roses, hate must be at it. Natural, sweet women can look pretty even after twenty-one. (Joke) Army women with no men near them, may fear their hands. Best women can be resorted to - is that so bad?
|
Samples from the good old days
Handy rules
of the thumb come down to us as both lovable and entertaining sayings
PROVERBS have been made on the farms on the wide prairie, and thousands have been
recorded. Explanatory comments after obscure places is a regular feature. [Ap xi,
xiii]Also, proverb sources from outside North America are plenteous, and very often shown in a regular, OK designed way. [See Ap xiii-xv]
On top of very amalgamated and fused sources, what makes a proverb "American"? It has to be used "over there" in the first place, and next get included in a dictionary of American proverbs. It's as simple as that.
Further, some look tall, some seem much loveable, and most of them reflect sides of American conditions before Americans got fat, in their high-days of good living ...¤
You can also get into what regions or states given proverbs were found in use. I find that very entertaining. [Ap xiii]
The finest
sayings of farmers get in along with citations from lots of prominent men - they quite often
catch fundamental issues in one way or other
THANKS to known scholars as Ralph Waldo Emerson [Em], and lots of more anonymous farmers,
North Americans of today can boast of their own, particular proverb lore, even if it may not
run so deep as many Europeans might desire, yet "now and then we find gold". Deep, good and
stout proverbs may be gleaned from the writings of the phrase-maker Emerson, one of my
favourites one way or other. A lot selected titbit utterances from that source are already
widely cherished. You'll find many of his works on Internet. You may look up here.In this proverb collection we find citations from books by Benjamin Franklin, and other famous writers of phrases - one is the brilliant humorist Samuel Clemens (1835-1910). By a much identical process - lifting expressions over from good literature into the minds or hearts of men - proverb-sounding sayings or maxims (bon mots) were had in Britain as well in the old days. Some phrases get modified in that process, and therefore we find lots of variants as well. The brisk phrases may get on, may get along further, I guess. [See Ap xii; Dp] ¤
For all this, maxims and sayings that are found in the dictionary, can be regularly misused and they can misguide. This the editors warn against - they've found it pertinent. [Ap xii]
And often we're given neat cross-references for entry words. [See Ap xv]
The frisk
British language is still respect-evoking, like wise-looking sayings and
excerpts
AS HINTED at through the Emerson mentions, quite a lot of the proverbs included, are
lifted out of works by renowned American authors. They may not be light if they're light or
easy to look at. This highlights the tricky questions: "What makes a proverb genuine?"
Nothing as far as I know. The sources may be from other parts of the globe, they may be oral or literal, by known and unknown persons - so what matters is that they eventually struck root in some minds somewhere in the US, and finally were recorded for it. It's much the same with American fairy tales, if we leave such as Frank Baum and stories by Red Indians aside.
'"What makes it American if it's shit, Biblical or English in the first place?"
Let's look into it: Lots of Fins and Swedes who crossed over the Atlantic, took with them their fairy tales and proverb books, or lessons from them. They naturally tried to express much of their basic norms in a new setting, in the English language, and this might lead to variants on top of some remote European sayings, to be fair. Things had to be tailored ad hoc.
Thus, what's now tentatively called an American proverb, might be a hybridised offspring of some European - lightly tailored to fit in. We can't underestimate this process, since there are many American proverbs that are just translated Scandinavian ones - or so it seems. This is not weird at all, for in the middle of the States, we have some millions of Scandinavian descent - and many have stuck to Scandinavian language along with the new English one for them, and this has been quite respect-giving.
Homily - Old proverbs often don't fit in any longer
Old metaphors can nearly maim and save your time
Good
proverbs often reflect standards or mottoes fit for decent living. Some are mere
entertainment
Little ..[strokes? garages?].. fell great oaks [fill in too]."
You may have to
reconsider things too
Some proverbs can lead offenders astray, or take newcomers in, and other can be just-so -
fit for nothing, really. All sorts of proverbs can be used to maim - much depends on the use
and context - the degree of fitness and appropriateness.A very nice saying should be pertinent and full of grace, often reflecting bland humour. Good proverbs are made use of in public schooling, also on a student level.
"Every flow must have its ... [fill in]."
"Any port in a ... [fill in]."
"It is a foolish sheep that makes the ..[bell?].. his betrayer at night [fill
in].*"
"Every .. [parson?].. crows on his own dunghill [fill in]."
"He who has not silver in his purse should have ..[reimbursements].. in his tongue
[fill in]."
Wise proverbs
test your
inherent capacity, and not little
You can get uplifted in thought and mind by slim, yet pregnant proverbs, because
metaphorical expressions often have that inherent capacity. It doesn't matter where a
proverb comes from or where it originates, if it fits in perfectly where you are - that is
locally."A bully is ..[most often in the act of rebounding].. [or fill in yourself]".
Test yourself further:
In for modest use of well calculated proverbs
To the point
should preserve friendships
WE SHOULDN'T let the proverb swell. Immoderate academic reservations help such tedious
swelling.Better let major reservations be presupposed in the first place. I do that. It helps good style most often. It's terse, often much to the point, and may help young newcomers to yodel in warm acceptance of the heritage mankind has got, but risks losing in the next century under and inside the technocracy.
So if we presuppose things like "all in all", "it could happen, even quite often", we can be fairly close to the tenor of proverbial instructions as given at home. They can look sharp, but more than that. They may preserve friendships and hinder getting sacked.
Now, you can look and judge (gauge) much for yourself. If a proverbial saying looks neat and tidy, but hardly portrays or explains trends in a very markedly good way, there's no reason to go into it in the first place. What I say is:
Be aligned with deep trends and talk on top of them. Many proverbs fit in for just that.
Anyway, we should see a lot by our own light inside, and from many angles: they include our own ones.
Judge the
'existential maxim' well, and its fitness too
IT DOESN'T matter what you believe if a staunch and neat proverb is a signpost of a deep or
murky trend. Let's look into it:If one third of marriages break, one can say: "Marriage often breaks," but not "Marriage seldom lasts" and be fair about what happens. You have to judge well. Good schooling was for that where I came from.
Now, if two thirds of marriages rot and break, as in Sweden of today, one can say "Marriage is a reeking thing, after all." But it's not always fair to say it, for there are happy marriages anyhow.
Get the good point: trends may be gauged by both probability statistics and personal grasps at times, and the outcomes of such quests may be expressed so neatly and even metaphorically that it borders on many a common proverb: The circle is thus closed.
Feel free to estimate many deep trends by short viewpoints, and thus get a maxim, bon mot, or a saying that is hard to discern from a traditional proverb.
To do these things can be great fun, and the trend-based instructions that hardly fail in general, comes close to warming the heart, as fairness and studied "uncertainty-truth" - probability - has that capacity. If you judge odds, let's bear in mind that what most often seems to function or describe, may not fit in individual cases, as smooth average-based hint-like odds are not always fit in an individual case or setting. These concerns count.
You can ponder on many a decent proverb: they're existential maxims. Sometimes they fit in, sometimes hardly that. It's hard to say; you have to use your own discretion. And leave plenty of space for a staunch and shaded mid-zone of "don't know, at least not yet". Maybe that attitude is best. ¤
Try to go on
with the unsettled things, and thus risk less dogmatising abuse
I GUESS we have to gauge the degree of usefulness of any decree or maxim by ourselves in
the first place, and not let statisticians take away that man-right. So in cultural settings
at their best we go on, in part based on odds. There are good odds and bad odds. In the long
run, our outcome tends to be settled by the odds at stake, but now and then things happen
that upset that deep trend.Good proverbs often hint at deep trends that abound where we are. There could be a book of proverbs for academics - in fact I've drafted one such already.
If good maxims and carefully chosen proverbs of the constructive type are understood in the light of uncertainty-certainty as more or less inadequate, probability-tallied suggestions, we may arrive at better norms for living by American proverbs.
A maxim can contain a good half-truth (probability) at large, maybe less. There are many sides to proverbs. If modern society that we conform to is sick, the bon mots that deviate from the common, accepted standards of it, could have helped if given a fair share of the public awareness. It often amounts to this: to win the attention war in the sullen marketing age we're in. Good proverbs help, as marketing experts love to use such devises also. That's how it is.
We have to gauge and evaluate much by ourselves, so as not to get molested, smartly exploited or abused. Normal living is for that ...
To accomplish it, we have to sift much evidence, look far and wide and get near to hard cores by wide general ideas. That's how to make short sayings fit for today and even better: for tomorrow. Tomorrow is formed by what enters the ears of your children. If you make terse abstracts snug and easy to learn, there's a better chance for handling this and that.
We find a similar approach inside fables of Aesop [Fo], for that matter.
Let's have a good try and help in saving the world where we have an influence - in our homes and local settings.
Homily - You can ponder on good maxims
Be allied with the best of wit. Your
uncertainty-uncertainty may find new outlets as well. Your buildings may be the best ones.
Good proverbs often come in between. There's often a play on status around them.Looking
sharp should be employed to preserve friendships that count and do good to you
Good sayings and mottoes can look sharp, but more than that. They may preserve
friendships and a fare.
Proverb-like
and proverb-looking may be just as good as proverbial
YOU CAN form a gist of a trend so neatly that it becomes an adage, or maxim - a person's
aphorism of wisdom - whatever. There are many ways of going about.If you accomplish this neatly, with exquisite undertones here and there, or perhaps rise to develop another metaphor, your sayings can be called proverb-like. If so, you have mastered the good art of expression.
To form gist that matters, bland and cultivated fairness and studied "uncertainty-truth" - probability - shouldn't be ignored. You can ponder on many a decent proverb and rise to the occasion on its wings.
All along this road of outlets, it helps to be able to leave plenty of space for a staunch and shaded mid-zone of "don't know, at least not yet". it pertains to the grace of conversation Paul wanted.
Train yourself
to estimate things and sift too
CAREFULLY selected proverbs of the constructive type should be understood in the light of
uncertainty-certainty of quantum logic, as more or less adequate descriptions of phenomena,
or probability-tallied suggestions. Half-standards can be arrived at by them - good rules of
the thumb - that sort of household norms for living.We have to do with probability estimates when it comes to good proverb canon. You have to gauge the possible real value and social fitness of a good saying on your own in the context or setting you find yourself. It's often not easy.
Good all-American proverbs
Thanks to
the tall "contents" of being in a human shape and body, many odd-looking things a man has to
do, follow quite naturally
A young man idle, an old man needy.A man can die just once.
Every man has a fool up his sleeve.
Many a man sees a wolf at the door because his wife saw a mink in the window.
A man is newly married who tells his wife everything.
Men are born the slaves of women.
Praise makes a bad man worse. (Partial)
Every man has one black patch, and some have two. ¤
Man gets and forgets, woman gives and forgives.
Men must work and women must weep.
Man is like a banana: when he leaves the bunch, he gets skinned.
A man never becomes an orator if he has something to say.
Man can't live in this world alone.
Man is [still] greater than the tools he invents.
The man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder.
There are two good men - one dead, the other unborn.
All fools are
not animals without a heart, and some even get applause
A man chases a girl until she catches him.A man without a country is like a man without a soul.
Every man to his own poison.
A man is as big as the things that made him difficult. (Our variant)
A poor man is always behind.
Only an old man has patience enough to plant a [whole] tree.
A man is as big as the things that made him mad. (Our variant)
The man who does not know himself, is a poor judge of the other fellow.
A shrewd man feathers his own nest.
All men are fools, but all fools are not men.
Men apt to promise are apt to forget.
Men build houses, women build homes.
Man is the only animal who can be skinned twice.
One man's meat is another man's poison.
Men seek less to be instructed than applauded.
Impoverishments
of many kinds happen to serve future maiming unless it's bulwarked against, and the servile
goodies had better go against maiming fares while there is time
Don't be a yes-man.Every man should measure himself by his own foot rule.
No man can serve two masters.
When a man marries, his troubles begin.
The last man to admit he is wrong is himself. ¤ Source:
American proverbs [Ap], pp 396-405.
Homily: Filling in some more
The man who doesn't understand his wife or
himself full well, often starts troubling othersWomen must
weep if other women get the praise - is it true at funerals, weddings, etc.?
Praise can make a bad man make still more women weep.Women must weep if left behind by rascals.
Be instructed
where you live
The man who does not know himself, is a poor judge of the other fellow.Try less to be instructed than applauded if that is the finest custom where you live.
First
thoroughly in the wrong, then in troubles if unaided; it often happens
A man's troubles often begin because he has gone wrong.
The central plot in the matter
The plot is often a set of deep-probing, governing ideas, i.e. some "red thread".
To be able to ascertain the value of any maxim, assertion or proverb, you should be good at the art of trade in the first place: be able to sift, probe and ponder on "all" sides of the tricky saying, and get skilled in time - and maybe make a decision. One fit one is to add "maybe" to any maxim or utterance in the first place, just to clear your own back of free will in he matter. It's highly recommended.What could be the deep Ariadne thread involved? You have to guess at it. Ask: Is there any common concern of great interest involved? Such things have to be gauged. You can do it. Common methods of literature analysis help just such skills, if given time to mature.
The deep or central motifs could be called an Ariadne thread
The central motif, some governing idea, or leitmotif shows what's going on, more or less perfectly described by various critics. There can be many angles. Novel ones pop up many times. The motif thread can be much akin to Ariadne's thread - the problem solver device.In Greek mythology, Ariadne is the daughter of the Cretan king Minos. She falls in love with the Athenian hero Theseus who drops by and is put inside the terrible Labyrinth at Knossos to fight the Minotaur, a beast half bull and half man that Minos keeps in the Labyrinth. With a thread or glittering jewels she helps him escape the Labyrinth after slaying the bull-man inside it.
At this points the ancient legends diverge. Let's choose this one: Theseus carries her to Naxos.
Ancient Greek poets and artists liked to portray Ariadne asleep on the shore right there, while god Dionysus gazes at her with love and admiration.
In this series of proverbs, the novel understanding built into the design we often call tick tack toe to make it sound easy, helps us to gauge much in remarkably fast and easy manners. The end results can be luck-bringing to look at.
Homily
Be allied with the best literature and link
up with good men if you can.Ascertain
what's at stake and who's involved before taking action - that's often fair
counsel
After attaining grey hair, there may come a clearer view of this and that. And after
slaying the man-bull inside by sissy lore, options diverge like Greek myths or lots of folk
tales where the hero or heroine rides away on a good bull. Results can seem luck-bringing at
first.To be able to ascertain the value of any maxim, assertion or proverb, we have to think well and know quite a lot about basic phenomena involved or at stake.
Take no credit
for another man's handy insights
Remain fair to yourself inside too.
Be allied with the central plot if you find it serviceable or interesting. (4)
Reckon first,
and gauge probabilities after that
Good literature analysis is allied, and so is probability statistics of the best kind. (6)
Favourable results of learning poignant, staunch proverbs by heart
- We can get many thematic central concerns or Ariadne threads to look at.
- We generate lots of sayings that are just as fit and good-looking as the American ones, if we learn how to. There are strict rules that apply here. They're not divulged.
- The expert that's good at these things, can also "hammer out" a tick tack toe training program. In our case above, it would be "the art of manning" - something like that.
The deep Ariadne's thread - a good guess
- Man can't live in this world alone and unborn.
- He grows up to learn how to feather his own nest as another man's poison as best he can.
- When he marries, real troubles can begin. [See Ams 467-9]
Note that many of the proverbs above, have been fused to form new ones. Thus we have more proverbs in our hands, and not only the American ones. This is what typically happens in all tick tack toe studies: We end up with much more basic-looking material than we started with. It can be fun if we refrain from overdoing it right here.
What's more, because the proverbs we sifted and arranged in the new tick tack toe manner
persist to give us hints on some deep-going chain of action, we also have a hammered-out training plan in our hand, thanks to the tick tack toe system we're into.
We have to discern very well to get at the most central gist and arrange it in a fair way. And this accomplished, often we can have room for one and more leitmotifs on top of that. Here is one:
Leitmotif, or deep or alternative plot of action
- A good man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder: has patience enough not to plant anything.
- But an old man who has lost most life anyhow, has guilt enough to plant a tree and do good without anything in return.
- According to this, well-nigh every man could measure himself by own sets of rules.
Here comes a series of newly derived sayings in harmony with the selected American proverbs above. They're included to document that this new tick tack toe methodology yields a plenteous harvest in many ways. There's nothing like it, and you can't design it!
Homily - Typical results of this sort of staunch proverb study
You can be the expert of enigmas and
cryptic utteances if you have reckoned-with education for that sort of things. Otherwise it
can backfire a lot - be aware of that. Better be bland.Short and
neatly cut utterances may yield good instructions
The central motif can be described in a consecutive series of proverb-like extracts. (2)
Describe well.
There are some handy ways
Be the expert of pertinent descriptions instead of the too readily sacrificed
metaphor-making expert. (4)
Consider
nuances
The expert of extracts may seem silly till he's fairly well understood. It derives from
facets of discarding but naked cores of sentences by peeling off some helping modifiers and
connectives, and next forming dubious-looking metaphors on top of gist. That has to look a
lot cryptic, and poor devils tend to project their bad sides onto makers of good enigmas.
It's quite typical.The expert that's good at these things, can also "hammer out" a tick tack toe training program.
Often the good line of action in fairy tales looks silly. And very often that silly-looking plot (motif-series) help us to regain balance - and the finest jokes can do the same thing. (6)
You can say yes to a tidy young man
The following sayings are mine and new. On a rainy day
they could show how neatly the all-round Jostedal methodology works. They're aligned with
and much derived from the series of American proverbs right above. This is
easy to do for anybody proficient in the fuller use of our Tick Tack Toe system. A tick tack
toe series of sayings on top of extracted kernels, keynotes and gist, lends itself to
braiding in novel, math-governed ways. Maybe the flow from 1 through 2 and 3 opens a gate
for welcoming arms. It could happen if you're lucky. It's one basic or ready-made, suggested
feature of the design. Enjoy.The idling
young one may be a fool and think differently: prepare your future accordingly
ALL FOOLS are not yes-men. (New)Every man who needs applause, has a fool inside his belly. (New)
An idle young man [probably] gets worse if praised for it. (New).
Every man has a fool up his sleeve - some have two. ¤ (New)
Insincere yes-men who serve two masters may wrong them both and themselves in he end. (New)
Man is the only animal who build homes that split without a hurricane. (New)
Learn to study
and measure in front of the important things of life if you reach up to it
MARRIAGE without room for variation must be permanent war. (New)A poor man is always behind those greater than the tools they invent. (New)
He who is without a purpose, often finds room for variations and courtesy. (New)
Every man should measure how his troubles begin a long time before marriage. (New)
Without-Castle, his troubles begin from the start of a misfit marriage without purpose. (New)
Men are born the slaves of women and go on to chases all sorts of applaudable girls anyhow. (New)
There are two good men - Mr. Without-Land is one, and the other can be Mr. Very Difficult after a long time. (New).
A good man without a purpose is like an old man. ¤ (New)
Where half of
all marriages break, the odds of divorced fathers (or 'milk cows') are not so good
WHEN man marries, he's the last to admit his blunder. (New)The man who marries, should find lots of room for blunders. (New)
When man only marries and admits his blunder, there can be plenty of room for courteous variation. (New)
WHEN man marries just one woman, he's [likely to be] the last to admit his blunder, said the Mormon over there, recalling the harems of big patriarchs and King David ...
When man only marries, he's the last to admit how deep his mistake is. (You see there's plenty of room for variation ...)
Homily
The flow for long-lasting success in marriage must deal with very many conflicting
influences or impulses.Who goes
beastly into society, may have a hard time along with losing lots of favours
The fool inside any man is his animal instincts - such drives. Modern society makes it
hard to operate on top of the drives. "First thrive and then wive." (British wisdom) And
yet:"Who goes a beast to Rome, a beast returns." (British wisdom) [Dp 240]
There's no easy fare.
Marriage is not
helped by marihuana
MARRIAGE with ample room for basic ease of living, or "without any tight schedule or such
purpose" often finds room for variations, courtesy and enjoyments. But still, to go on
without a purpose is like being finished with living, like a very old man. You have to
balance these counteragents, is the Norwegian's bet.The British say it in this way:
"Matrimony is a school in which one learns too late." "Marriage is destiny", "- is made in heaven," or "- is the tomb of love." [Dp 153-4 etc.]
General
statistics may have next to nothing to teach the individual! - How true it is
WHEN man marries by interpolated set-ups - maybe according to skilled logic, set-up
fairness or great-looking ideals - he can be the last to admit how deep such a mistake was.
Said in other words:"Love laughs at locksmiths." (British proverb) Or even better:
"Biting and scratching is Scots folk's wooing." [Dp 145, 147]
These were just
hints. They help us in the steering processes from time to time, but factors such as
uniqueness of individuals and "there is no average individual" are to be thanked for! Odds
and probabilities hardly reckon with uniqueness factors, and that's a flaw that easily
enters proverbs too, unless they're carefully ambiguous -
Maybe the purpose of heaven is to route out our loser ideals.
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Adjoined
Ap: Mieder, Wolfgang, main ed: A Dictionary of American Proverbs.
(Paperback) Oxford University, New York, 1996.Dp: Fergusson, Rosalind: The Penguin Dictionary of Proverbs. Penguin. Harmondsworth, 1983.
Em: Atkinson, Brooks, ed: Selected Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Modern Library. New York, 1950.
Fo: Handford, S. tr: Fables of Aesop.New ed. Penguin. London, 1964.
Po: Holm, Pelle: Ordspråk och talesätt. Bonniers. Stockholm, 1973.
Sjun: Allen, Gay: Waldo Emerson: A Biography. Viking. New York, 1981.
Sl: Beyer, Horst & Annelies: Sprichtwörter Lexikon: Sprichwörter und Sprichwörterliche Ausdrücke aus Deutchen Sammlungen vom 16. Jahrhundert bis zus Gegenwart. Seehamer. Weyarn, 1996.
Sx: Beyer, Horst & Annelies: Sprichtwörterlexikon: Bech. München, 1985. (The same book, another edition)
Talw: Rusk, Ralph: The Life of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Columbia University. New York, 1949.
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