Tag Archives: wisdom

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(Not-So) Ancient Proverbs – Astray.

“All human wisdom is summed up in two words; wait and hope.”

Alexander Dumas

“Extreme hopes are born from extreme misery.”

Bertrand Russell

“Beware how you take away hope from another human being.”

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

“The Wise are silent, the Foolish speak, and the children are, thus, led astray.”

Algernon Blackwood

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Ancient Proverbs – 33: Integrity and Manipulation.

“The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words. “

~Philip K. Dick

 

“If you don’t give education to people, it is easy to manipulate them.”

~Pele

 

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”

~Abraham Lincoln

 

“Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people.”

~Spencer Johnson

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Ancient Proverbs – 28: Being Without.

A loveless life is a living death.

~ Old English Proverb

What good is honor when you’re starving?

~ Yiddish Proverb

The heaviest weight in the world is an empty pocket.

~ Jewish Proverb

Pleasures are transient, honors are immortal.

~ Greek Proverb

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Ancient Proverbs: 27 – Aesop.

“A crust in comfort is better than a feast in fear.”  …

“All of us, the great and the little have need of each other.” …

“One who steals has no right to complain if he is robbed.”   …

“Fine feathers don’t make fine birds.” …          

~Aesop

aesop2Aesop (or the legend of such a man) has survived for centuries without a shred of real evidence regarding his actual life. Nobody knows anything about Aesop to be fact; mainly what we continue to carry of this legacy is nothing more than word of mouth, handed down for generations. (In itself, this is amazing!)
I feel strange quoting someone who may not have even existed, but the words are there despite any argument surrounding Aesop, himself.
He was supposedly a hideously ugly slave who could not even speak upon the beginning of his becoming a fabulist. He was given the gift of storytelling from a priestess of Isis, after doing a nice deed for her out of kindness. Apparently, there was no stopping him after that, and the rest is history. Either way, the wisdom attributed to him are profound and worth passing on, in my opinion.

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The Self.

ts eliot

“In this poor body, composed of one hundred bones and nine openings, is something called spirit; a flimsy curtain swept this way and that by the slightest breeze. It is spirit, such as it is, which led me to poetry, at first little more than a pastime, then the full business of my life. There have been times when my spirit, so dejected, almost gave up the quest, other times when it was proud, triumphant. So it has been from the very start, never finding peace with itself, always doubting the worth of what it makes.”

~ Basho

This is a post with a certain someone in mind and at heart; but Basho pretty much sums up the lifelong inner-boxing match endured by all poets and writers…as a matter of fact, it describes anybody’s struggle with SELF.

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Ancient Proverbs: 25 – Abuse.

beat-up

“These are the four abuses: desire to succeed in order to make oneself famous; taking credit for the labors of others; refusal to correct one’s errors despite advice; refusal to change one’s ideas despite warnings.”    

~ Confucius

“Abuse a man unjustly, and you will make friends for him.”   

~ Edgar Howe

“Every abuse ought to be reformed, unless the reform is more dangerous than the abuse itself.”    

~ Voltaire

abuse2

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Ancient Proverbs: 24 – Judaism.

“What you don’t see with your eyes, don’t invent with your tongue.”

~ Yiddish Proverb

abraham

I have written in the past about my strange affinity to Jews…I am still somewhat unclear where it came from or how it got inside of my heart and soul so deeply when I was still so young: this painful understanding and relativity I feel for them all throughout time. The Jews have been the “kicking post” for our entire species since there was such a concept; they have endured struggles and strife that few other cultures can appreciate, and in ways – still do, sadly. Several of the best friends that the Gods have blessed my existence with are Jewish, and as a result, I have had the ongoing opportunity to learn the essence of Judaism fairly up close and personally. The world would be lost without this particular ancient string of goodness.

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Ancient Proverbs: 23 – Friendship.

Friendship is something that each and every one of us takes for granted; it is a fickle element in Life that we each find ourselves loathing and loving at some point and another…

Friendship is, in actuality, one of the most precious commodities in the world, when it’s real and true.

Today, I awoke feeling full of gratitude for my real and true friend in the world, so today’s proverbs are with Sam in mind.

“Friendship doubles our joy and divides our grief.”

~ Swedish Proverb

“You may forget with whom you laughed, but you will never forget with whom you wept.”

~ Saudi Proverb

“We are friends; we must assist each other to bear our burdens.”

~ Osage Proverb (Native American)

“A friend’s eye is a good mirror.”

~ English Proverb

“With true friends . . . even water drunk together is sweet enough.”

~ Chinese Proverb

Waltz of the polar lights

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(Not-So) Ancient Proverbs: 22 – America.

“The true rule, in determining to embrace, or reject any thing, is not whether it have any evil in it; but whether it have more of evil, than of good.”

~ Abraham Lincoln (16th US President)

abe lincoln“Honest Abe” was a very insightful and intelligent human being, and I believe him to be one of the few “good ones” in a long line of US Presidents. I am cheating in the spirit of the 4th of July and using a more modern-era proverb for this one

This one is technically NOT an “ancient” proverb, but a very wise quote from a very wise soul (who happened to be one of our country’s most enigmatic and beloved men, if you’re American, that is);

this particular statement of Lincoln’s has always struck a deep chord within me to read because of the profound implications attached to it,  given the context and culture it was born of: a civil war that killed Americans on an unprecedented and unforeseen level…it resonates with me.

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Ancient Proverbs: 21 – The Turks.

“A knife wound heals; a wound caused by words never can.”

~ Turkish Proverb

ancient turksThe Turks are another ancient culture that have managed to persevere throughout a long, long timeline of various disasters – both natural and otherwise. They have sprinkled ancient wisdom throughout the the cultures across the globe as well. And, they are one of the most eloquently spoken and written civilizations throughout history…something to be said about that much, for sure.

CLICK HERE for a timeline of Turkish/Ottoman history!

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Ancient Proverbs: 19 – The Arapaho.

“With all things and in all things, we are relatives.”

~ Arapaho Proverb (Native American)

alive

I chose today’s proverb simply because it chose to grab me when I came across it in a book about Colonial times in the US. I know I am not the only one who has noted the trends amongst native leaders during those times to urge unity and humanity in the face of life-altering impositions and strife; and the above quote is just another example of the tribal tendency to relate with a stranger who is fundamentally different.