The collection / 3,145 fragments
Passages, proverbs, and questions carried across the ages.
Meaning: Visible religious participation does not by itself establish admirable conduct. The saying asks people to distinguish an outward sign of devotion from the way someone actually treats others.
Meaning: No individual possesses every useful insight. The saying encourages listening to other people’s understanding, especially when confidence or status makes one person assume that further contributions have nothing to offer.
Meaning: Truthfulness does not require saying every true thing at every moment. The proverb concerns timing, relevance and consideration, while leaving a clear distinction between discretion and concealment that harms other people.
Meaning: Keep an alternative available when a plan depends on something that may fail. Two strings represent a reserve option, encouraging preparation rather than confidence that one route will always remain usable.
Meaning: Some activities make incompatible demands at the same moment. The saying suggests choosing an order for them instead of assuming that simultaneous effort will preserve the attention or conditions each requires.
Meaning: A person’s purpose and direction matter more than the equipment they possess. The archer’s aim represents considered intention, while the arrows represent resources that cannot determine a worthy or effective purpose on their own.
Meaning: A workable compromise may be more useful than a satisfying declaration that one side has won. The saying draws attention to the costs of prolonged conflict, while preserving the need for a fair outcome.
Meaning: A small amount of practical action can demonstrate more than extensive advice. The contrast asks speakers to connect what they recommend with what they actually do, rather than measuring usefulness by the volume of their words.
Meaning: Worry alone does not discharge an obligation. The heavy weight of care is contrasted with the small weight of debt to distinguish emotional burden from the practical steps that can address what is owed.
Meaning: Sharing sorrow can make it feel less solitary, while sharing joy can add another person’s pleasure to it. The balanced contrast values companionship without promising a fixed reduction in grief or increase in happiness.
Meaning: Something unwanted can impose a cost even when its price is low. The saying asks whether an acquisition serves a real purpose, instead of letting a bargain alone determine what is worth having.
Meaning: Once spoken, words can reach other people beyond the speaker’s control. The thrown stone illustrates consequences that cannot simply be withdrawn, encouraging care before release while leaving room for apology and repair afterward.
Meaning: Silence can leave observers with an impression of wisdom that has not been tested. The saying questions quick judgments about another person’s understanding, while allowing that listening quietly can itself be a thoughtful choice.
Meaning: Trying to please everyone can make personal loyalty seem shallow or unreliable. The saying questions indiscriminate promises of friendship, without establishing that a welcoming person cannot maintain sincere relationships with many others.
Meaning: A favourable manner or appearance can create an initial advantage before someone’s abilities are known. The comparison asks how presentation influences introductions, while leaving competence and character to be assessed through further evidence.
Meaning: An impressive outer covering can conceal something poorly suited to its purpose. The sword and scabbard contrast practical effectiveness with attractive presentation, encouraging attention to what an object or proposal can actually do.
Meaning: Things continually change and pass away in the saying’s broad picture of life. It encourages awareness that a present condition need not last, without making change a guarantee of improvement or a reason to abandon commitments.
Meaning: Progress is pictured as a sequence of movements through temporary instability. The image can encourage a person to see adjustment as part of moving forward, without celebrating harmful mistakes or claiming that every setback is necessary.
Meaning: A pleasant covering may make something disagreeable easier to accept. The sweetened pill represents how presentation can soften a difficult message, while raising the question of whether the underlying substance remains clear.
Meaning: The saying compares vitality with youth and freedom from obligations with wealth. It shifts attention from labels and possessions to conditions that can make life feel less burdened, without promising that health or debt determines anyone’s worth.
Meaning: Money or another material incentive may overcome a barrier that appears firm. The silver key represents purchasing influence, and the iron lock represents resistance, inviting scrutiny of what opens access and whether that access is fair.
Meaning: A small flaw can attract particular attention against an otherwise excellent background. The cloth represents high quality or strong expectations, while the spot explains why one defect may seem disproportionately conspicuous.
Meaning: Inner purpose can motivate more effectively than repeated outside pressure. The spur in the head stands for a reason someone understands or accepts, while the spurs at the heels represent urging imposed by others.
Meaning: Chosen solitude can contain rich thought rather than an absence of company. The paradox values a person’s engagement with reflection, while distinguishing welcome time alone from loneliness that someone does not want.