proverb · Traditional
The best fish are near the bottom.
A worthwhile result may require looking beneath what is immediately visible. The best fish at the bottom picture a reward beyond easy reach.
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369 matching explanations
proverb · Traditional
The best horse needs breaking, and the best child needs teaching.
Ability does not remove the need for guidance and learning. Even a promising beginner benefits from suitable instruction rather than being expected to know how to use their strengths without support.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The brain that sows not corn, plants thistles.
The mind is compared to ground that needs deliberate cultivation. The saying encourages useful learning and attention, while its corn-and-thistles contrast should not turn rest, disability or a different way of thinking into evidence of a defective character.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The butterfly often forgets that it was a caterpillar.
The saying makes a butterfly forget its earlier caterpillar state. As a human analogy, it questions losing sight of the steps behind a changed position.
Read the explanation and example ↗quote · William Wordsworth
The child is father of the man.
The experiences, habits and feelings of childhood help shape the adult a person becomes. The apparent reversal of parent and child is a metaphor for influence over time.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The clash of ideas brings forth the spark of truth.
Ideas clashing and producing a spark of truth portray disagreement as potentially illuminating. The saying values what a comparison of views can reveal.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The donkey knows seven ways to swim; when he falls into the water, he forgets them all.
A donkey knowing seven ways to swim but forgetting them in water contrasts claimed preparation with difficulty in the actual situation. The saying questions knowledge assumed to be usable under pressure.
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The first pancake is always a failure.
The saying makes the first pancake always fail. It portrays an initial attempt as less satisfactory than what practice may produce.
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The first step is always the hardest.
The saying makes the first step always the hardest. It highlights the challenge of beginning with an emphatic comparison.
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The fool is obstinate and doubts not, knowing all but his own ignorance.
An obstinate fool certain of everything except their own ignorance criticises confidence that cannot recognise its limits. The saying values a willingness to question oneself.
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The fool wanders–the wise man travel.
A fool wandering and a wise person travelling contrasts movement without a purpose with intentional experience. The saying judges journeys through an insult and a favourable label.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The fool who knows his foolishness is wise at least to that extent; but the fool who thinks himself wise is called a fool indeed.
Recognising one’s foolishness is given a limited kind of wisdom, while mistaken self-certainty is criticised. The saying values awareness of what one does not know.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The great Homer himself sometimes nods.
Even a highly respected or capable person can make a mistake. The nodding image makes room for lapses without dismissing the person’s wider achievement or making every error unimportant.
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The knowledge of the disease is half the cure.
The saying makes knowledge of a disease half the cure. It gives understanding an important role while the fraction functions as emphasis rather than a verified result.
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The mistakes of others are good teachers.
Other people’s mistakes as teachers suggests learning from observed errors rather than needing to repeat them. It values attention to experience beyond one’s own.
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The more you listen, the more doubt you are able to acquire.
Listening more said to acquire more doubt links new information with questioning what seemed settled. The saying values an openness that may complicate understanding.
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The nearer the bone the sweeter the meat.
The saying values meat close to the bone. As an explicit analogy, it can suggest that something less showy or easily reached may still be especially rewarding.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The old forget, the young don’t know.
Older people forgetting and younger people not knowing contrasts loss of memory with lack of experience. The saying depicts different possible gaps in understanding.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The old man’s experience is more than the young man’s knowledge.
An older person’s experience ranked above a younger person’s knowledge gives lived encounters an advantage over learning alone. The saying asks that experience receive attention.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The only stupid question is the one that is not asked.
The unasked question called the only stupid one encourages asking rather than hiding uncertainty. It gives inquiry a value beyond avoiding embarrassment.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The sun illuminates the world, knowledge illuminates a man.
Knowledge lighting a person as the sun lights the world compares understanding with illumination. The saying gives learning a role in making things clearer.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The taste of the kitchen is better than the smell.
Direct experience can offer something that anticipation alone cannot. The kitchen’s taste-and-smell contrast invites attention to the difference between imagining an experience and actually engaging with it, without dismissing curiosity or preparation.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.
The saying contrasts a person certain of their own way with a wise listener to advice. It values openness to another perspective over self-approval alone.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The wearer best knows where the shoe pinches.
The person directly affected often understands the specific difficulty best. Ask about their experience before deciding what the problem is or how to fix it.
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