Proverbs

Given the eclectic nature of the membership here, I thought a thread on the proverbs and sayings from various nations and backgrounds might be interesting.  Americans of a certain age - ahem...cough...mumble...remember growing up with "A stitch in Time saves nine", and "A penny earned is a penny saved", but some of the sayings we have a very regional and unique.

My ancestors were Irish hardrock gold miners in the Sierra-Nevada mountains.  My father was born in the last operating stagecoach station in America, and the sayings used by the men in that area were unique to a very small region.  Here are two of my favorites:

"Talk is cheap, but good whiskey costs money".  This saying got started in the local saloons when a man would promise to buy the next round and then sneak off after getting his free drink.  It essentially says "put you money where your mouth is", but said aloud in a saloon full of other men, it branded someone as a person whose word was not to be trusted, essentially one of the worst things that could be said about any man in a country where a man's word was his bond, and a measure of his honor and integrity.

"The only thing worse than a crippled steer is a lost Pilgrim."  In the mountains, cattle frequently break legs, and when they do they limp around in a small circle bawling at the top of their lungs and drawing every predator nearby.  A "Pilgrim" was a newcomer from back East, not used to the country or the mountains, and when lost could be counted on to go around in useless circles making a lot of unnecessary noise and causing confusion until someone arrived to either put him out of his misery, or less likely, to rescue him...and it was clearly understood that hard working men had much better things to do than look after those who could not adequately look after themselves.

Looks like it's just you and me....

I'll take the military approach and list some of Murphy's Famous Rules Of War:

If everything is goli9ng according to plan, youre walking into an ambush.

This is not really a proverb, but if read properly it seems like one.

"A sucking chest wound is Nature's way of telling you to slow down."  
Murphy

''Death must be boring as hell.....no one ever says anything.''

"If you thought you had the easy path in life due you.... because you believed you were nice and thoughtful of others ...get real. The truth is... you still will have to fight for every scrape of happiness you ever find".

Originally posted by Centrix Vigilis "If you thought you had the easy path in life due you.... because you believed you were nice and thoughtful of others ...get real. The truth is... you still will have to fight for every scrape of happiness you ever find".

Not if you're born rich...

All that glitters is not gold.  90% of it is just shiny ."

"Never bring a knife to a gunfight."

Never squat when you're wearing spurs.