Words worth understanding
Start with the thought in plain English. Then explore the imagery, a practical example, when to use it, and what the saying does not mean.
4,000 entries with editorial explanations. The wider collection also contains entries still awaiting an individual interpretation.
proverb · Traditional
An approach that works against the nature of a task can make it unnecessarily difficult. Shaving against the wool pictures resistance created by the chosen method.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Knowing a little about many tasks may leave someone without deep expertise in any one. Match the breadth and depth of your skills to what the work actually needs.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
Formal study does not by itself produce sound judgment. Learning becomes useful when a person examines how to apply it rather than displaying knowledge without understanding.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Do not judge a work only by how it appears before it is ready for use. The unfinished ship invites patience with the stage of construction, while leaving room for useful checks and criticism along the way.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A well said to gain through drawing and deteriorate through disuse gives practice a renewing role. A figurative reading values using a capacity rather than leaving it idle.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The instruction pairs restrained speech with open-eyed attention. It gives observation priority over immediately adding words.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Knowing the world within oneself gives self-examination a route toward wider understanding. The saying presents an inward perspective as a place to explore experience.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Knowledge having only ignorant enemies describes opposition as a failure of understanding. The saying offers a strong defence of learning.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
What you learn early can become a resource for later judgement. Knowledge may grow more useful as experience helps you understand where it applies and where it needs revision.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying ranks knowledge above riches. It values understanding more highly than accumulated material wealth.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Understanding relevant facts and methods can increase your ability to act effectively. Knowledge may help you recognise options, question a claim or solve a problem that previously seemed beyond your control.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Unused knowledge called abused knowledge places a strong value on putting understanding to use. It questions learning detached from beneficial action.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Learning about the future by looking at the past gives previous events a role in present understanding. The saying encourages attention to experience and patterns.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Learning from tears and winning with laughter contrasts painful experience with a hoped-for later achievement. It offers learning as a possible response to difficulty.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying keeps learning necessary into old age. Its remaining one third makes incomplete knowledge part of a long life.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Build a basic skill before attempting its more demanding form. Learning the foundations can make an ambitious next step more reliable and easier to understand.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Learning to say I do not know values an honest acknowledgment of uncertainty. The saying makes limits of knowledge something worth expressing.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying puts learning to walk before running. As an analogy, acquire a foundation before attempting a more demanding task.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Sensible study contrasted with pursuing rumour values evidence in distinguishing truth from falsehood. The saying gives inquiry priority over repetition.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Learning described as treasure beyond a thief’s reach values understanding that cannot be taken like a possession. The image gives knowledge a special durability.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Learning imagined as travelling treasure gives understanding a value beyond a particular place. The saying praises what a person can carry through acquired knowledge.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Learning called the eye of the mind gives understanding an image of increased awareness. The saying values knowledge as a way to notice and interpret.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Learning can make time alone more engaging by giving you ideas to explore. Developing interests can enrich your own company without making solitude a requirement or a substitute for relationships.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying asks for a thousand flowers to bloom. In the supplied reading, it encourages many ideas from different sources.
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