THOSE OLD PROVERBS AND SAYINGS WERE FULL OF COMMON SENSE

Proverbs and sayings are short expressions of wisdom that convey meaning, beliefs, and insights. They are a part of the oral traditions of a society, often repeated, gradually memorized, and passed down through the generations. Although short, they often offer and portray strong philosophical ideas and sound ethical instruction for living.

For most of us we have heard many of these old proverbs so often that we find ourselves recalling them in our minds or saying them out loud when facing or observing certain life situations. Most proverbs are anonymous and unknown in origin, while many echo Biblical origins, like those from the Book of Proverbs. Many sayings are very old in origin, while some are newer. Many were written down in Benjamin Franklin’s 1732 Poor Richard’s Almanack. Other well-known sayings and bits of wisdom and humor come from more contemporary authors like Erma Bombeck, Garrison Keillor and even Dr. Seuss or from stories, articles, poems, songs and even commercial jingles.

Most all the best-known proverbs are short, from a few words in length like “Forewarned is forearmed” to simple sentences like the Seuss quote: “The more that you read, the more things you will know; the more than you learn, the more places you’ll go” or Erma Bombeck’s witty words: “The grass is always greener over the septic tank.” … In general, proverbs are a simple way of expressing a well-known truth or adage based on common sense or reasoning. Through proverbs and sayings a culture passes along wise truths in an easy, memorable way. The short sayings are interwoven into the daily speech of parents, family members, teachers and others and soon captured and held in the memory.

The value of proverbs is in the wisdom, morality, and common sense they offer for living life wisely and well. Below are some examples of these sayings on a variety of subjects. Some you may know well and some may be new to you. The art of proverbs and sayings is that they seldom need much explanation to be well understood for their wisdom. We would be well-advised to memorize more of these wise words and to repeat and teach them to our children and grandchildren.

PROVERBS AND SAYINGS ABOUT HEALTHY LIVING

• An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
• Good health is above wealth.
• An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
• You are what you eat.
• Cleanliness is next to godliness.
• Old habits die hard.
• It’s not worth crying over spilt milk.
• Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.
• Don’t dig your grave with your own knife and fork.
• Take care of your body; it’s the only place you have to live.
• The six best doctors: sunshine, water, rest, air, exercise, and diet.
• Everything in moderation.
• Whatever you feed will grow: faith or fear.
• What goes around, comes around.
• Eat to live; don’t live to eat.
• A healthy outside starts inside.
• Every day we get a chance and a choice.
• It ain’t over until the fat lady sings.
• There’s many a good tune played on an old fiddle.

PROVERBS AND SAYINGS ABOUT DAILY LIFE

• He who plants a tree, plants for posterity.
• Make hay while the sun shines.
• Life is what you make it.
• Haste makes waste.
• Look before you leap.
• Better safe than sorry.
• In every life, a little rain must fall.
• The best things in life are free.
• Time waits for no man.
• Never out off until tomorrow what you can do today.
• Things are not always what they seem.
• The best defense is a good offense.
• Variety is the spice of life.
• The best doctor gives the least medicine.
• Life is too precious to only watch it; go live it.
• If you can’t live longer, live deeper.
• Change how you see and see how you change.
• God helps those who help themselves.

PROVERBS AND SAYING ABOUT GETTING ALONG WITH OTHERS

• Actions speak louder than words.
• A man is known by the company he keeps.
• Advice when most needed is least heeded.
• Do onto others as you would have them do unto you.
• He who is master of himself will soon be master of others.
• He who plants thorns must never expect to gather roses.
• Honesty is the best policy.
• The cream always rises.
• Don’t judge a book by its cover.
• He who forgives ends the quarrel.
• Practice what you preach.
• Nothing is so full of victory as patience.
• Too many cooks spoil the broth.
• United we stand, divided we fall.
• Everyone needs help at some time.
• There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience.
• Always look for the good in others.
• Confession is good for the soul.
• If at first you don’t succeed, try again.

PROVERBS AND SAYINGS ABOUT WISDOM AND FINANCES

• All that glitters isn’t gold.
• A fool and his money are soon parted.
• If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
• Diligence is the mother of good fortune.
• Money doesn’t grow on trees.
• The more you get, the more you want.
• The love of money is the root of all evil.
• Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water.
• You can’t take it with you when you die.
• A penny saved is a penny earned.
• Business before pleasure.
• If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
• Diligence is the mother of good fortune.
• If there’s a will, there’s a way.
• Don’t put the cart before the horse.
• As you sow, so shall you reap.

PROVERBS AND SAYINGS FOR PRUDENT LIVING

• An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
• It is better to take many injuries than to give one
• A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
• A stitch in time saves nine.
• Opportunity seldom knocks twice.
• Don’t cross the bridge until you come to it.
• Let sleeping dogs lie.
• Waste not, want not.
• Necessity is the mother of invention.
• A place for everything and everything in its place.
• Don’t buy a pig in a poke.
• Burnet child dreads fire.
• Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died.
• Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill.
• A rolling stone gathers no moss.
• Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.
• A tree that is unbending is easily broken.

PROVERBS AND SAYINGS ABOUT WORK

• Hard work never did anyone any harm.
• Failing to plan is planning to fail.
• The first step is the hardest.
• If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.
• A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
• Paths are made by walking.
• Think first and then speak.
• Hindsight is always twenty-twenty.
• Easier said than done.
• Practice what you preach.
• Rome wasn’t built in a day.
• Don’t change horses in mid-stream.
• A wheel that turns gathers no rust.
• You don’t get something for nothing.
• Many hands make light work.
• Don’t give up before you get started.
• Begin to weave and God will give the thread.
• Focus on what’s right in your world instead of what’s wrong.

PROVERBS AND SAYINGS ABOUT LIFE’S MISTAKES

• You can’t unscramble eggs.
• Chickens will come home to roost.
• Surrounding yourself with dwarves does not make you a giant.
• If you don’t want anyone to find out, don’t do it.
• Worry is worshipping the problem.
• The ax forgets but the tree remembers.
• You can’t win them all.
• A stumble is not a fall.
• You can’t please everyone.
• If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.
• Never give up on yourself.
• No point in beating a dead horse.
• No man can paddle two canoes at the same time.
• Don’t be getting too big for your britches.
• Always bury the hatchet.
• A house divided cannot stand.
• Fall seven times, stand up eight.
• Don’t do in the dark what you don’t want brought out in the light.

PROVERBS AND SAYINGS ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS

• Faint heart never won fair lady.
• You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.
• It’s no use locking the stable door after the horse has bolted.
• Oil and water don’t mix.
• If you want to go far, go together.
• Coffee and loved taste best when hot.
• Two wrongs do not make a right.
• Always be the first one to say you’re sorry.
• It’s an equal failing to trust everybody- and to trust nobody.
• He who falls in love with himself will have no rivals.
• Let bygones be bygones.
• It is better to give than to receive.
• Two heads are better than one.
• You can’t have it both ways.
• If you lie down with dogs, you’ll get up with fleas.
• Know that the most beautiful fig may contain a worm.
• Share and share alike.
• The best candle is understanding.
• What you see in yourself is what you see in the world.

PROVERBS AND SAYINGS ABOUT THE WORDS YOU SPEAK

• Speech is silver, silence is golden.
• Well done is better than well said.
• First think and then speak.
• Discretion is the better part of valor.
• There are two sides to every question.
• The words you speak are the house you live in.
• To err is human, to forgive divine.
• To talk without thinking is to shoot without aiming.
• A man’s ruin lies in his tongue.
• Saying is just saying; seeing is believing.
• It went in one ear and out the other.
• Better a slip with foot than tongue.
• Empty vessels make the most noise.
• Let your conscience be your guide.
• The pen is mightier than the sword.
• Of all the words of tongue or pen, the saddest yet it might have been.

PROVERBS ABOUT LEARNING AND EDUCATION

• The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it from you.
• Anyone who stops learning is old.
• Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.
• Failure teaches success.
• Jack of all trades, master of none.
• It’s the early bird that gets the worm.
• If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.
• If at first you don’t succeed, try again.
• Put your best food forward.
• Practice makes perfect.
• A teacher is better than two books.
• There’s always one more thing to learn.
• Spare the rod and spoil the child.
• Who God does not teach, man cannot.
• Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.
• You can drive a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.
• The expert in anything was once a beginner.
• There’s no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out.

I hope you’ve had fun reading all these old sayings and proverbs and, perhaps, remembering times when you’ve heard them or said them yourself. Think about the wisdom in these words this month … and try to live a little kinder and better. Like an old Maori proverb: “Turn your face toward the sun and the shadows fall behind you.” Every day can be a new day, and a better day, if you make it so. Those who wish to sing always find a song.

Check out my monthly newsletter, too, posted on my website with information about my new books and book signings and events at: https://linstepp.com/media-2/

See you again in May!!

Note: All photos my own, from royalty free sites, or used only as a part of my author repurposed storyboards shown only for educational and illustrative purposes, acc to the Fair Use Copyright law, Section 107 of the Copyright Act.