Knox Vancouver

PROVERBS: Words to the Wise

     What is a proverb? A traditional saying or phrase that expresses a perceived truth. Proverbs often give practical advice and are based on the shared human experience. They are typically short, pithy statements that offer life advice, wisdom, or a truth. Proverbs are so common that they are often used in conversation without realizing it.

     Proverbs have a literal meaning and tend to dispense advice such as actions speak louder than words; all’s well that end’s well; a leopard never changes its spots. Proverbs can offer a shortcut for explaining or imparting information as well, as they communicate an understood and accepted message in a few well-worn and well-known words – “the early bird catches the worm.”

     Some of the earliest recorded proverbs date back to the ancient Sumerians in 2000 BCE. Nearly 700 tablets containing more than 1,000 proverbs written by Sumerian scribes were discovered by researchers. When translated, the researchers were surprised at how easy it was to understand these snippets of Sumerian wisdom, showing how proverbs reach across cultures and time. 

     Since proverbs are symbolic in nature, it’s easy to read one and be reminded of a particular memory or moment in your life when you witnessed that same teaching.
Please share some of your remembered proverbs with us via the Contact Us button?
We will publish the shares in this space.

• The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
• All that glitters is not gold. 
• A picture is worth a thousand words. 
•  A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
• An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
• Better safe than sorry.
• Blood is thicker than water.
• When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
• Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.