tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-220245342010-03-27T17:30:30.946ZProverbs store the refined wisdom of ages in short, memorable lines. Often they have several layers of understanding. This blog features a weekly proverb and explores its meaning. Sir Winston Churchill, the former British Prime Minister, war leader, writer, painter, historian, bon viveur, and very good bricklayer, recommended that people who lacked formal education should acquire a good stock of proverbs. "The Wisdom of Nations lies in their Proverbs... Collect and learn them". William PennWilliam Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.comBlogger334125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-72428812039601438032010-03-27T05:28:00.001Z2010-03-27T17:30:30.955Z

In days gone by people believed in something called "the doctrine of signatures". This stated that a plant had some relationship to its use, and that could be determined from its shape or the location in which it grew. The 17th-century herbalist, William Coles, believed walnuts were good for head ailments because, "they Have the perfect Signatures of the Head". The modern scientist might

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-77884719179569435802010-03-21T07:29:00.000Z2010-03-21T07:29:31.495Z

There are times in everyone's life when all the negatives crowd in - the extreme example being depression, when life seems devoid of all meaning and purpose. Experiencing the downside of life is part of the springboard to the upside so has to be understood as a natural phenomenon and not feared too much. We all know that nothing is constant, everything evolves and changes. There are trend

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-40400601897692433842010-03-07T07:59:00.001Z2010-03-07T07:59:59.043Z

An amusing play on the difference in meaning of sovereign as a monarch or sovereign as a gold piece incorporates a truth: cash is the king of kings. Without money to pay their supporters, rulers, be they ancient kings or modern democratic governments, all fail. Another meaning might refer to gold as a store of wealth that governments can not debase by printing money. Over time, gold tends

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-36004208409631529202010-02-28T07:02:00.001Z2010-02-28T07:02:00.420Z

Gurus abound with good advice on staying positive, banishing negative thoughts and promising everlasting happiness. So why did the sage who coined this saying think being sad was a good thing? It raises the question what is sadness, and what is it for? A spell of melancholy is a time for reflection on the bad things in your life. You could simply try to ignore them, suppressing all thoughts.

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-1902898058412172732010-02-21T06:04:00.001Z2010-02-21T06:04:00.258Z

Whitesmoke's free trial "Beauty is but skin deep" is also said but anyone who has known true love is aware that a meeting of minds, if not souls, is the greatest part. We tend to recognise our natural matching type by sight but it is in exploring the deeper self that we fathom the depths of one of life's greatest mysteries: love. As a lady ages, her prettiness begins to fade but the beauty of

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-20990861704610095462010-02-14T18:09:00.000Z2010-02-14T18:09:16.538Z

Here we have a philosopher, Plato, visualizing Virtue as a beautiful lady. What is virtue and why should we love her personification? Moral excellence, goodness, conformity with morality or duty especially chastity in women is the nature of virtue. It appears to involve the discipline of the mind over the basic passions of the body. This was something that through the ages had strong appeal as

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-91298387632401200042010-02-07T02:55:00.005Z2010-02-07T02:55:00.539Z

Unless you are a professional hunter with a good territory you will likely spend so much of your time trying to hunt down your dinner that it would be better to buy it with the returns of your everyday job. This saying might also have been coined at a time when poaching was a serious offense with hapless Brits sent to Botany Bay. Applied to today's conditions the underlying truth is telling us

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-78559879581217686362010-02-03T08:45:00.000Z2010-02-03T08:45:50.878Z

What others think of us is important. Only the very wealthy and the hermit can afford to ignore public opinion. In the hurly burly of life it is often not possible to get to know someone in the time available so we make snap judgments. This is often influenced by their way of dressing. The most obvious case of this is a person in uniform: we regard a man in a sailor's suit to be a sailor;

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-11896542949892200582010-01-24T00:59:00.001Z2010-01-24T00:59:00.539Z

Hard times means economy with the victuals, parsimony in the plate and pared down portions. A plain meal can be a wholesome dish and saving the pennies need not mean your food won't be doing you good. In fact, the need to tighten your belt might be the best thing ever for your health. The quality of food can be high even if it costs little. A good vegetable broth is filling and full of

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-5879922433658998222010-01-16T08:29:00.000Z2010-01-16T08:29:36.770Z

Regular readers of this blog will know that I have an interest in Limerick writing. Currently, I am acting as a judge in a Valentine Day verse competition run by Hallmark Cards UK. http://www.hallmark.co.uk This is great fun as people send in their entries by Twitter. The 140 character limit makes it pretty difficult to write a traditionally structured limerick, and it is necessary to use

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-71343624661100828682010-01-10T08:30:00.001Z2010-01-10T08:30:00.285Z

Or as the French say, "neige qui tombe, engraisse". This saying probably grew from observation by experienced peasants who saw a connection between years of high snow fall and subsequent good crop yields. Modern scientists tell us that the snow contains nitrogen from the air, and as we all know, this is an important fertilizer. Cold also helps to kill off harmful pests. Proverbs often have

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-90655386637359794312010-01-03T08:19:00.000Z2010-01-03T08:19:03.003Z

The person who thinks only of themselves and wants everyone else to know how great they are have provoked sayings like: empty vessels make the most noise. The truly great person is too busy doing things to be singing their own praises. Another apt saying is: by their fruits shall ye know them. A person is best judged by their deeds and accomplishments rather than their boasts. In the modern

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-13701306665484236152010-01-01T12:53:00.000Z2010-01-01T12:53:10.123Z

Here are a couple of limericks to mark the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010 The Old Year has come to an end Solutions to next we have penned. But try as we may Most soon go astray And it's back to the boring old trend. A really good New Year to all I'm hoping your troubles are small. The year that's to be Surprises will see, But wherever you are have a ball! Proverbs are often

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-660340883545404092009-12-29T18:52:00.000Z2009-12-29T18:52:04.078Z

In the Middle Ages alchemists puzzle long into the night trying to figure out how to take a lump of lead and convert it by a mixture of magic and science into a valuable piece of gold. They did not, could not, know that all their efforts were doomed to failure. However, in their quest many interesting discoveries that led on to vast fortunes for someone were uncovered. This saying is telling

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-24346011644816341202009-12-19T08:25:00.002Z2009-12-19T08:28:08.241Z

Put bluntly: being well off makes you big headed. If you have plenty of spending power you feel powerful and, subconsciously at least, start assuming you must be an important person whose opinions and ideas are good. Alas, pride comes before a fall and we can become so convinced of our wisdom and invulnerability that we prefer whatever ideas comes from our own minds and will tend to ignore

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-68304936708357808322009-12-13T08:47:00.000Z2009-12-13T08:47:17.346Z

Many people believe that there is something that guides them beyond reason that intuitively leads them to avoid danger - an extra sense. Ideas like guardian angels and spirit guides are quoted. But could it be much simpler. This saying seems to be suggesting that our best guide and adviser might be a deep fear of poverty. At the back of your mind this worry could lead you to be a model

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-58409047787051669072009-12-06T07:58:00.001Z2009-12-06T07:58:00.262Z

The scourge of the Internet Age is information overload. We all have too many irons in the fire and that fire sometimes seems to be your brain. Everyone wants your attention trying to sell you a product or an idea and the more information you have the more confusing it gets. The only answer is to find a few trusty sources and shut out the rest. The problem is how do you find the best sources.

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-64570747293019392482009-11-29T05:28:00.004Z2009-12-05T09:02:53.404Z

We have heard quite a lot in recent years about the "wisdom of crowds" where the average opinion of a group can be surprisingly accurate. Proverbs undergo a kind of evolution - people are making remarks and observations continually, and every now and again something that someone says or writes is picked up and repeated. Due to its wisdom and/or aptnes of phrase, over time it gains the status of

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-42074398118801594002009-11-22T08:50:00.000Z2009-11-22T08:50:39.133Z

This is similar to "never put off till tomorrow what you can do today". Procrastination is the habit of delaying and avoiding things you know ought to be done. Work study experts will tell you that double handling is a waste of time. Putting tools and materials away only to be brought out again to do a bit more means a lot of dead time; so it is better to finish a job if possible rather than do

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-28035078947453743322009-11-15T08:03:00.000Z2009-11-15T08:03:53.960Z

Is there anyone who has never been involved in an argument or row? I am sure all the readers of this blog will have had their fair share no matter what their temperament or inclination to aggression might be. It is unavoidable and part of normal life to come across situations that will potentially give rise to conflict. When we are young we react according to our natural defensive or aggressive

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-65719449946609217172009-11-08T16:44:00.004Z2009-11-08T16:44:00.768Z

There are two sides to every question. If you only read one book on a subject you are likely to get only that author's opinions, and therefore have a biased view. To have a balanced understanding of a topic it is usually necessary to consider other peoples' opinions, even though you might disagree with them. For example the present debate on global warming strongly divides opinion. Some

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-55278224608796049642009-11-01T05:27:00.001Z2009-11-01T05:27:01.013Z

A medal is given to commemorate a glorious deed, notable achievement, or worthy conduct. It often has a front with a king or other top person's head to give it authority. The reverse side is usually plainer, and is not seen when it is worn at parades and grand occasions. This saying suggests that the wearers of medals might not be quite as virtuous as the decoration implies. We all have our good

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-63694386148594666232009-10-25T07:33:00.000Z2009-10-25T07:33:38.235Z

We all like to get a bargain or even something for nothing but it is worth remembering that other people must live too. If you were able to take advantage of difficult times to squeeze your local shop to the bone you might turn up there one day with need for an urgent purchase only to find the shopkeeper has gone out of business. Good business is business with profits to both sides. Drive too

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-35976882001345034322009-10-18T07:51:00.000+01:002009-10-18T07:51:54.093+01:00

This is a clear, simple urge to be positive, not let things get you down, and never give up. We are all prone to negative thoughts and despair at times and this is probably a natural reaction to the cares of life. A time spent in unhappy contemplation of all our woes and worries is normal just so long as we bounce back. A healthy body leads to a healthy mind and vice versa. Therefore, the

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22024534.post-44095618131306292032009-10-11T02:35:00.001+01:002009-10-11T02:35:00.209+01:00

Turning base metals into gold was the dream of the impoverished alchemist for centuries before science exposed the truth. In an economic climate of some difficulty the restless human mind seeks ways of coping. In good times people develop extravagant tastes and waste a great deal. How much food did you throw out this week? Learning to budget and spend your income wisely can result in a tidy

William Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01755595196391431934noreply@blogger.com0