Eyes speak all languages; wait for no letter of introduction; they ask no leave of age or rank; they respect neither poverty nor riches, neither learning, nor power, nor virtue, nor sex, but intrude and come again, and go through and through you in a moment of time.

Meaning: A valued occasion can be honoured by a worthwhile action. The saying connects the significance of a day with what someone does on it, without making good deeds depend on a special date or deciding which occasions everyone must value.

Meaning: Early guidance can shape later habits while they are still developing. The flexible twig pictures that opportunity, without establishing that a person’s future is fixed or that harsh discipline is justified.

Meaning: Deeply established habits can seem inseparable from a person. The bone-and-flesh image emphasises persistence, but its word never overstates the point: early patterns can be questioned and changed, and they do not prove an unalterable inherited character.