Systems · Societal/ Cultural · General
Mama Always Said...
Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get. -Forrest Gump
This is just a collection of phases that are bandied around any given culture a lot. Many times mothers will say them to their children or just general slightly enigmatic advice from one person to another.
1) A friend to everyone is a friend to no one
2) It's easier to be wise for others than wise for oneself
3) Always agree with a madman
4) Even a madman is right sometimes
5) Better a piece of bread and an onion in peace, than a grand feast in miserable company
6) Keep your eyes open and your mouth shut
7) He who sits close to a good tree gets good shade
8) God (the gods) never gives you more than you can take, He (they) might strangle you but God (the gods) would never kill you.
9) The roots of happiness are bitter, but the fruits are sweet
10) The further you go into a forest, the more trees you find
11) Don't teach a priest to pray
12) I need that as much as I need a hole in my head
13) Invite a wolf to supper and you won't be around for breakfast
14) When a wolf is chasing you, throw him a biscuit but don't stop to bake him a cake
15) Better a helping hand than a hundred pieces of advice
16) Water that's far away won't put out the fire
17) If you give to receive, then you'll get nothing at all
18) Never steal a shirt from a naked man
19) Bullets don't have eyes
20) If you can't watch a woman for 24 hours, don't watch her for 23
21) If you'll lie, you'll steal
22) Man plans and God (the gods) laughs
23) Surrounding yourself with dwarfs doesn't make you a giant.
24) May you live long and well
25) You can't sit one two horses with a third one behind
26) After the head's been chopped off, no need to fuss over the hair
27) What you don't see with your eyes, don't invite with your mouth
28) If the rich could hire someone to die for them, the poor would make a wonderful living
29) Your health comes first, you can charge off to your death later
30) If a man is meant to drown, he'll die in a thimbleful of water
31) Who has the spoon in hand mixes as he wishes
32) If the wise never made mistakes, there'd be no place for the ignorant
33) Trust few people and trust your relatives less
34) A gentleman is known by the way he pays his debts
35) Appearances are deceiving
36) People's perceptions are their realities
37) You can't eat every bird that flies
38) The first blow fells not the tree
39) Don't borrow trouble - You'll have enough of your own soon
40) A wolf has a wolf's nature
41) If you're going to travel with wolves, you better learn to howl
Scrolls
Twists, chapters, and details meant to stream with the submission — not general discussion.
42) Le piegore mate sta fora del sciapo. - Crazy sheep remain outside th…
42) Le piegore mate sta fora del sciapo. - Crazy sheep remain outside the flock.
And people reading over my shoulder gave me more... 43) There's always a…
And people reading over my shoulder gave me more...
43) There's always a taller mountain
44) You can't drink soup with a knife (or sword)
45) Do not measure others by your own values
46) Wolves don't eat wolves
47) Words are like sparrows. When they fly out, they cannot be contained
48) Blessed is he who expects little, for he's rarely disappointed
49) As dull as dishwater
50) As big as a moose
51) Not everyone who wears a cowl is a monk
52) He who trust no one is trusted by no one
53) When you die, the house remains behind and you're still dead
(These I have filtered from some source on African proverbs.) 54) A crim…
(These I have filtered from some source on African proverbs.)
54) A crime eats its own child.
55) A man who dictates separates himself from others.
56) (It is better that) trials come to you in the beginning (and you find peace afterwards) than that they come to you at the end.
57) That which is good is never finished.
58) The one chased away with a club comes back, but the one chased away with kihooto (reason) does not.
59) The cock crows, the idle person grumbles.
60) When others have received, you may still receive, because God is always present.
61) It is better to have no law than not enforcing it.
62) Working in the fields is hard, but hunger is harder.
63) Where the cattle does not graze, the warriors pass.
64) Hunger pushes the hippopotamus out of the water.
65) A father without sons is like a bow without arrows.
66) Passion and hatred are children of intoxicating beverages.
67) The tail of the cow watches to the right and left.
68) The black cow too produces white milk.
69) The mouth makes debts, but the arms pay.
70) The bull should be taken by the horns, a man at his word.
71) An empty sack cannot stand.
72) A generous man must eat if he wants to continue to be one.
73) Words can kill before arms.
74) The youth walks faster than the elderly but the elderly knows the road.
75) Those who sacrifice their conscience to ambition burn a painting to obtain ashes.
76) One glass can ruin all the beer.
77) Happiness is like a field you can harvest every season.
78) The wind effects leaves, while violence men.
79) Who gets lost in the forest takes it out on who leads him back to the right road.
80) A knife does not recognise its owner.
81) A friend when in need is a friend indeed.
82) Strong souls have willpower, weak ones only desires.
83) There is no better mirror than a best friend.
84) Those who seek revenge must remember to dig two graves.
85. If two men feed a horse, it will starve. If two men fix a boat, it w…
85. If two men feed a horse, it will starve. If two men fix a boat, it will leak.
86) There's anger in an open laugh. 87) Red-hot ashes are easily rekindl…
86) There's anger in an open laugh.
87) Red-hot ashes are easily rekindled.
88) A black hen lays white eggs.
89) As cunning as the fox
90) The cat is his own best adviser
91) To be old and decayed dishonors no-one
92) Woe to him whose betrayer sits at his table
93) Every finger has not the same length, nor every son the same disposition.
94) It's difficult to choose between two blind goats
95) A scholars ink lasts longer than a martyrs blood
96) Firelight will not let you read fine stories but its warm and you wont see the dust on the floor.
97) A narrow neck keeps the bottle from being emptied in one swig.
98) Its for her own good that the cat purrs.
99) To the raven her own chick is white
100) You never miss the water till the well has run dry.
101) Everyone praises his native land.
102) If you put a silk dress on a goat he is a goat still.
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An excellent resource.
you know, this IS rather handy to have around!
Remember what the elders said: a good source of proverbs is always handy for giving flavour to a game world, or simply annoying player characters with. Old people have always words of wisdom for the younger generation, pity they seldom listen to them.
Nice scroll!
I agree...
Yep, another great list.
I've put the 101 freetext on this, since it applies now. Glad to see it grow!
Aside, is there any interest in a 'fortune cookie generator', that would produce random pieces of wisdom from this scroll?
Sweet, to me anyway. Now that I've turned my hand towards novel writing, I find that I love making up my own proverbs for various settings.