"in advertising, often in slightly modified form. Ford once advertised its Thunderbird with, ""One drive is worth a thousand words"" (Mieder 2004b: 84). This is doubly interesting since the underlying proverb behind this, ""One picture is worth a thousand words,"" was originally introduced into the English proverb repertoire in an ad for televisions (Mieder 2004b: 83). A few of the many proverbs adapted and used in advertising include: The GEICO company has created a series of television ads that are built around proverbs, such as ""A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"", and ""The pen is"
"fable was given further currency in La Fontaine's Fables(V.3). The popularity of the fable in England was eventually overtaken by the similar story ""The Hawk and the Nightingale"", which had the advantage of being reinforced by the proverb ""A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"". La Fontaine had no such proverb in French to which to appeal and ends on the reflection that one possession is better than two promises (""Un 'tiens' vaut mieux que deux 'tu l'auras""'). However, his English translator Charles Denis adapts the line to the circumstances and renders it as ""A fish"
"Ages that sentiment had been encapsulated in the proverb 'A bird in the hand is worth two in the woods', which is translated in a 13th-century Latin work dealing with current proverbs. Other versions have 'ten in the wood', 'three in the sky' and 'two in the bush'. The conclusion of ""The fisherman and the little fish"" then appears to have been transferred to ""The Hawk and the Nightingale"" as if it were illustrating the popular proverb with its references to birds. It is for this reason that Roger L'Estrange closes his rendering of Abstemius' fable by quoting the proverb,"
"""Pancatantra"" is a simpler compilation of ancient moral-filled fables. These, states Olivelle, teach messages such as ""a bird in hand is worth two in the bush"". They caution the reader to avoid succumbing to peer pressure and cunning intent wrapped in soothing words. The book is different from the first three, in that the earlier books give positive examples of ethical behavior offering examples and actions ""to do"". In contrast, book four presents negative examples with consequences, offering examples and actions ""to avoid, to watch out for"". The fourth book contains thirteen fables in Ryder translation: Loss of Gains, The"
"moss as a positive thing, such as profit; others see the proverb as praising people that keep moving and developing, seeing moss as a negative thing, such as negative habits. Similarly, among Tajik speakers, the proverb ""One hand cannot clap"" has two significantly different interpretations. Most see the proverb as promoting teamwork. Others understand it to mean that an argument requires two people. In an extreme example, one researcher working in Ghana found that for a single Akan proverb, twelve different interpretations were given. Children will sometimes interpret proverbs in a literal sense, not yet knowing how to understand the"
"forest demonstrated that he had earned the right by service. Symbolically, the grain of an axe handle must be ""set square in the eye of the head."" The steel head must have the proper temper and be kept sharp. To be useful in the hands of a skilled freeman, an axe also needed to be well-balanced, otherwise the handle might break, endangering its user. The axe represented skilled laborers who had proven themselves through service. Lastly, the axe in the wood reminds those who have completed Wood Badge that they have committed themselves to be an example of service and"
"that a frequently replanted plant or tree (respectively) yields little fruit. It appears that the original intent of the proverb saw the growth of moss as desirable, and that the intent was to condemn mobility as unprofitable. The contemporary interpretation of equating moss to undesirable stagnation has turned the traditional understanding on its head. Erasmus's proverb gave the name ""rolling stone"" to people who are agile (mobile) and never get rusty due to constant motion. ""A day in the moss"" refers to cutting peat in bogs or mosses. Metaphorically, this refers to the hard work in preparation for winter. An"
"The Two Pots The Two Pots is one of Aesop's Fables and numbered 378 in the Perry Index. The fable may stem from proverbial sources. There is a short Greek version of the fable and a longer, more circumstantial late Latin poem by Avianus. It concerns two pots, one of earthenware and the other of metal, that are being swept along a river. While the metal pot is willing that they should journey together, the clay pot hopes it will keep its distance for ‘Whether the wave crashes me into you or you into me, in either case I will"
"would be useless. Among them is the accusation that 'Thou hast been to me like the tree that said to its woodcutters, ""If something of me were not in your hands, ye had not fallen upon me”.' This refers to the fact that the axes of the woodmen have wooden shafts and the trees have therefore contributed to their own doom. A number of proverbs derive from the story, with the general meaning of being to blame for one's own misfortune. They include the Hebrew 'the axe goes to the wood from whence it borrowed its helve, of which there"
"A kobold can bring wealth to his household in the form of grain and gold. A legend from Saterland and East Friesland, recorded by Thorpe in 1852, tells of a kobold called the Alrûn. Despite standing only about a foot tall, the creature could carry a load of rye in his mouth for the people with whom he lived and did so daily as long as he received a meal of biscuits and milk. The saying ""to have an Alrûn in one's pocket"" means ""to have luck at play"". However, kobold gifts may be stolen from the neighbours; accordingly, some"
"of humor contrasts the two central characters. Aubrey is direct and forthright while Stephen is subtle and cunning, mirroring the overall personality of each man, especially regarding warfare tactics (ships, cannons and swords compared to intelligence gathering). O'Brian has Aubrey speaking many proverbs, but usually in mangled form, such as ""There's a great deal to be said for making hay while the iron is hot"" (from ""Treason's Harbour"" and similarly in ""Desolation Island""). In ""HMS Surprise"" (Chapter 6), Aubrey says that ""A bird in the hand is worth any amount of beating about the bush"". Sometimes Aubrey gets in a"
"verified. The first publication of the poem can be traced only to 1910. For unknown reasons, in 1937 ""Bartlett's Familiar Quotations"" attributed the poem to Henry Wheeler Shaw, whose pen name was Josh Billings. Culturally, the adage contrasts with that of the Japanese proverb, ""The stake that sticks up gets hammered down"", or ""The nail that stands out gets pounded down,"" (出る釘は打たれる, ""deru kugi wa utareru""), or the Dutch proverbs ""Tall trees catch loads of wind"" (""Hoge bomen vangen veel wind"", implying they're the first to go down) and ""[The wheat that's growing] above the mowing line [gets cut down]"""
"""""Thol Ulagil Nallaar Oruvar Ularael Avar Poruttu Ellarkum Peiyum Mazhai"""" – The rain falls on behalf of the virtuous, benefitting everyone in the world. """"Nandri Oruvarukku Seithakkal An Nandri Endru tharum kol ena vaenda nindru Thalara valar thengu Thaanunda Neerai Thalaiyaalae Thaan Tharuthalal"""" -Don't wait for a return benefit as to when a good deed done will pay back, but be just like that tall and erect coconut tree that drank water from its feet gives the benefit of giving that sweet water by its head."" Her quote """"கற்றது கைமண் அளவு, கல்லாதது உலகளவு"""" has been translated as """"What you have"
"a fool, contact with evil woman and by resorting to the company of the wicked. 45. Save wealth for difficult times; how can the wealthy have difficulties? If one squanders wealth, one will eventually lose all the accumulated wealth. 46. One's physical body, wealth and other resources are transitory. Death is always at hand. Knowing this, a wise man should strive to do righteous actions. 47. One who plants a holy fig tree, a neem tree, an Indian fig tree, ten tamarind trees; three trees each of pomegranate, wood-apple and Emblic Myrobalan and five trees each of mango and coconut"
"agrees with this second interpretation, and believes that bears it out. Lewis takes a third approach, arguing the proverb is a metaphor for secrecy, and that it was earlier used as such by the Stoics. By this interpretation the left hand not knowing what the right is doing is a metaphor for how covert the proper donor should be. Harrington believes that the verse is based on an ancient proverb whose exact meaning is not known. His guess is that it referred to close friendship, and that this verse implies that friends that are even as close as one's left"
"soil, one to build houses and one for good fields. Two virtues are in the water, one for drinking and one for irrigation. There are two in the stone, one for building and one for milling. The timber has two virtues, one for building and one for firewood. Other stories talk about the original inhabitants of the Amdo region. These consist of the forest-dwellers (nags-pa), the mountain-dwellers (ri-pa), the plains-dwellers (thang-pa), the grass-men (rtsa-mi), and the woodsmen (shing-mi). The grass men were famous for their horses. Gewasel is a monk that helped resurrect Tibetan Buddhism. He was taught as a"
"all important. A common tradition is that if a horseshoe is hung on a door with the two ends pointing up (as shown here) then good luck will occur. However, if the two ends point downwards then bad luck will occur. Traditions do differ on this point, though. In some cultures, the horseshoe is hung ""points down"" (so the luck pours onto you); in others, it is hung ""points up"" (so the luck does not fall out); still in others it does not matter so long as the horseshoe has been used (not new), was found (not purchased), and can"
"two small coins, i.e. her two cents, into the offering. She finds greater favor with Jesus than do the wealthy patrons, seeing that the widow gave all of her money to the Temple in Jerusalem while the wealthy patrons made little investment, leaving much money for themselves. Some believe that the phrase originates in betting card games, such as poker. In these games, one must make a small bet, or ante, before beginning play. Thus, the phrase makes an analogy between entering the game and entering a conversation. However, there is no documentary evidence of this being the origin of"
"are Kannada and Urdu equivalents, and the Turkish ‘When the axe came into the Forest, the trees said ""The handle is one of us"".' In the Greek cultural area, which at one time included all of West Asia, there were three fables dealing with the relations between trees and woodcutters. In one of these, numbered 302 in the Perry Index, the oaks complain about their treatment to Zeus, the king of the gods, who answers that they have only themselves to blame for supplying the wood for their axe staves. Yet another fable of similar meaning is numbered 303 in"
"gave him gifts. Rabbi Hama likened this to a king who had an orchard, which he entrusted to a steward. The orchard contained two trees that were intertwined, and one of which yielded life-giving fruit and the other a deadly poison. The steward thought that if he watered the life-bearing tree, the death-bearing one would flourish with it; while if he did not water the death-bearing tree, the life-bearing could not survive. On reflection, the steward decided that his position required him to do his duty, and whatever the owner of the orchard wished to do, he could do. In"
"as ""A stitch in time saves nine"" at the beginning of ""Kitty's Class Day"", one of Louisa May Alcott's ""Proverb Stories"". Other times, a proverb appears at the end of a story, summing up a moral to the story, frequently found in Aesop's Fables, such as ""Heaven helps those who help themselves"" from ""Hercules and the Wagoner"". Proverbs have also been used strategically by poets. Sometimes proverbs (or portions of them or anti-proverbs) are used for titles, such as ""A bird in the bush"" by Lord Kennet and his stepson Peter Scott and ""The blind leading the blind"" by Lisa"
"to a synagogue. Rabbi Johanan interpreted the words, ""And blessed shall you be in the field,"" to mean that your estate would be divided into three equal portions of cereals, olives, and vines. Rabbi Isaac interpreted the words of ""Blessed shall you be in the city,"" to mean that God will reward people for the commandments that they fulfil in the city — the dough offering (, ""challah""), the fringes (, ""tzitzit""), the sukkah, and the kindling of Shabbat candles. And the continuation of “And blessed shall you be in the field,” means that God will reward for the precepts"
"The Walnut Tree The fable of The Walnut Tree is one of Aesop's and numbered 250 in the Perry Index. It later served as foundation for a different fable based on a proverb about three things that are the better for beating, a misogynistic saying widespread in Europe that has many variants worldwide. There are two related Greek versions of the fable. Illustrating the ingratitude of those who requite good deeds with cruelty, it concerns a walnut tree (καρυα) standing by the roadside whose nuts the passersby used to knock off by throwing sticks and stones. It then complained, 'People"
"in the pan is worth two in the pond"", while in his verse retelling in the following century, Guy Wetmore Carryl concludes that ""a trout on a plate/ Beats several in the aquarium"". English illustrations in books have almost invariably pictured an angler sitting on the river bank and peering at the fish. The same theme is found on tiles and china from the 18th and 19th centuries in both England and France. The fable was also among the miniatures commissioned from the Punjabi court painter Imam Baksh Lahori in 1837 by a French enthusiast but shows no originality of"
"The Horse that Lost its Liberty The fable of how the horse lost its liberty in the course of settling a petty conflict exists in two versions involving either a stag or a boar and is numbered 269 in the Perry Index. When the story is told in a political context, it warns against seeking a remedy that leaves one worse off than before. Where economic circumstances are involved, it teaches that independence is always better than compromised plenty. A horse disputes ownership of a meadow with a stag but cannot drive it off by force. It therefore calls in"
"audience. This turns the analogy into one that exposes one's self-superiority in thinking the other needs the unbidden advice. All those points aside, one might usefully read through Matthew 13 when interpreting the phrase. The ""pearls"" may be like the seed sown by the farmer. If the farmer continues to sow on the rocky places, path or among thorns he may be foolish. The farmer may be wiser to sow in the good soil; or suffer weaker harvests (albeit the crops that do grow among weeds and/or thorns or in other, harder, places may prove more hardy: having survived and"
"wise."" [John Clarke's Paroemiologia Anglo-Latina, 1639] Benjamin Franklin is quoted to have said: ""Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise"". It is a saying that is viewed as a commonsensical proverb, which was included in ""A Method of Prayer"" by Mathew Henry who also listed it as a phrase ""long said."" Franklin is also quoted as saying: ""The early morning has gold in its mouth"", a translation of the German proverb ""Morgenstund hat Gold im Mund"". ""The early bird gets the worm"" is a proverb that suggests that getting up early will lead"
"unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits ye shall know"
"on how the rich get richer and the poor keep losing even the little they have. He later denounces the saying in the next parable in Mark, which alludes to Joel 3:13 in assuring that God's judgment on the ruling powers will come and holds out revolutionary hope to those resigned to thinking that nothing will ever change. The parable is the source of the English proverb ""to hide one's light under a bushel"", the use of the word ""bushel"", an obsolete word for bowl (now relegated to usage as a unit of measure), appearing in William Tyndale's translation of"
"Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (also called the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard or the Parable of the Generous Employer) is a parable of Jesus which appears in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. In Matthew , Jesus says that any ""laborer"" who accepts the invitation to the work in the vineyard (said by Jesus to represent the Kingdom of Heaven), no matter how late in the day, will receive an equal reward with those who have been faithful the longest. The word translated ""penny"" in"
"first elder they present their argument to is an old withering apricot tree. The tree relates its own experience to the two on how when it was young, children used to pick its fruits from its branches and the tree would tell them to eat their fill. Now it was about to be chopped down to provide firewood. The tree sides with the wolf. The wolf is very pleased. The second elder they present their argument to was an elderly water buffalo. The buffalo tells its story of how it served its masters for many years dutifully providing him with"
"The Honest Woodcutter The Honest Woodcutter, also known as Mercury and the Woodman and The Golden Axe, is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 173 in the Perry Index. It serves as a cautionary tale on the need for cultivating honesty, even at the price of self-interest. The Greek version of the story tells of a woodcutter who accidentally dropped his axe into a river and, because this was his only means of livelihood, sat down and wept. Taking pity on him, the god Hermes (also known as Mercury) dived into the water and returned with a golden axe. ""Was this"
"Reap the whirlwind (phrase) Reap the whirlwind is a term derived from the proverbial phrase, ""They that sow the wind, shall reap the whirlwind"", which in turn comes from the ""Book of Hosea"" in the ""Old Testament"" (""Hosea"" 8-7). Its idiomatic meaning is to suffer the consequences of one's actions. The phrase was famously used by Arthur ""Bomber"" Harris in response to the Blitz of 1940 when he said: The phrase was also used by Norman Tebbit in a 1985 lecture when he condemned the permissive society, saying: After the U.S. Senate passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act allowing the expansion of"