We are looking for a tongue that speaks with reverence for life, searching for an ecology of mind. Without it, we have no home, no place of our own within the creation. It is not only the vocabulary of science we desire. We want a language of that different yield. A yield rich as the harvests of the earth, a yield that returns us to our own sacredness, to a self-love and resort that will carry out to others.

Meaning: The saying praises good ale as food, drink and clothing at once. Its extravagant list imagines one comfort supplying several kinds of provision.

Meaning: Distance may weaken a mild attachment while making an intense one feel stronger. The contrast between cooling and inflaming describes different possible responses to absence, rather than a dependable rule for measuring love or deciding how relationships should work.

Meaning: Children are presented as a form of wealth that cannot be measured in money. The saying values family relationships amid limited resources, but it should not romanticise poverty, impose parenthood or treat children as possessions or compensation for hardship.

Meaning: Caring for children brings responsibilities, while the comfort a parent hopes to receive from them cannot be guaranteed. The saying contrasts present duties with uncertain future expectations, rather than defining children as a debt owed to adults.