proverb · Traditional
'Tis the clerk makes the justice.
An official’s work can depend heavily on the person who prepares and manages its records. The saying draws attention to expertise behind visible authority.
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739 matching explanations
proverb · Traditional
'Tis the nature of the beast.
An observed tendency may help explain why something behaves as it does. The saying can encourage realistic expectations, but calling it the nature of the beast should not excuse harmful conduct or declare a person incapable of change.
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“Though I am not edible,” says the vulture, “yet I nurse my eggs in the branches of a high tree because man cannot be trusted”.
A vulture protecting eggs despite not being edible gives distrust a reason beyond one apparent motive for harm. The saying questions safety inferred from a single feature.
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A bicycle can't stand on its own because it's two-tired.
The line jokes that a bicycle cannot stand because it is two-tired. It uses a sound-alike between having two tyres and being too tired.
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A bushel of March dust is worth a king's ransom.
Dry March conditions are pictured as extremely valuable. A bushel of dust worth a king’s ransom exaggerates the benefit the saying assigns to that weather.
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A change of ruler is the joy of fools!
A change of ruler called joy for fools questions hope attached merely to a new holder of power. The saying warns against equating replacement with improvement.
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A child’s fingers are not scalded by a piece of hot yam which his mother puts into his palm.
A mother handing a child hot yam without scalding imagines parental care shielding the recipient. The saying gives a trusted relationship an apparently protective role.
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A cigarette is a pipe with a fire at one end, a fool at the other, and a bit of tobacco in between.
The saying arranges a cigarette as fire, tobacco and a person labelled a fool. It makes a disapproving joke through a concrete object and its user.
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A councilman must be a good listener.
A council member required to listen well gives public responsibility a receptive role. The saying values hearing people before making decisions that concern them.
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A crow is never the whiter for washing herself often.
The saying pictures repeated washing failing to whiten a crow. As an analogy, it can distinguish an inherent characteristic from something superficial that effort can remove.
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A doctor and a clown know more than a doctor alone.
A specialist may benefit from another person’s observations. Different perspectives can add relevant information, without making every opinion equally informed or replacing the expertise the situation requires.
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A doctor and a farmer know more than a doctor alone.
A doctor and farmer together knowing more than a doctor alone values knowledge brought by different experience. The saying praises complementary perspectives.
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A dry cough is the trumpeter of death.
The saying personifies a dry cough as a trumpeter announcing death. Its severe warning makes a symptom stand for an expected outcome.
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A dull pencil is greater than the sharpest memory.
The saying ranks a dull pencil above the sharpest memory. It values making a record over relying entirely on recollection.
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A false report rides post.
A false report can travel quickly as people repeat it. Speed or widespread repetition does not establish accuracy, so check the basis of a claim before passing it on.
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A famine in England begins at the horse-manger.
The saying places the beginning of famine in England at the horse’s feeding place. It gives a broad shortage a particular imagined starting point.
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A fool and water will go the way they are diverted.
A fool following diversion like water pictures direction supplied from outside rather than examined independently. The saying questions influence accepted without reflection.
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A fool knows more in his own house than a wise man in another's.
Local experience can give an ordinary resident knowledge that an accomplished visitor lacks. The contrast warns against confusing general intelligence or prestige with familiarity with a particular place and its routines.
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A fool may ask more questions in half an hour than a wise man can answer in seven years.
It is easier to pose questions than to answer every one well. The saying points to the effort and limits of answering, rather than proving that difficult questions or curious people are foolish.
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A fool may give a wise man counsel.
A useful suggestion may come from someone you do not usually regard as knowledgeable. Assess the advice itself instead of rejecting it solely because of the speaker’s reputation.
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A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
The saying contrasts seeking understanding with enjoying the expression of one’s own opinion. It criticises speaking that has no interest in learning.
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A fool when he is silent is counted wise.
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.
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A friend's eye is a good mirror.
The saying makes a friend’s eye a mirror. It values the perspective a trusted friend can offer about oneself.
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A friend’s frown is better than a foe’s smile.
The saying prefers a friend’s frown to an opponent’s smile. It values candid concern over an attractive appearance of goodwill.
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