Character.

Meaning: The saying makes remaining vicar of Bray the constant priority. In the checked anthology context, keeping the office contrasts with changing one’s declared position.

Meaning: Harmful conduct can continue more easily when hidden from appropriate scrutiny. The nourishment image suggests concealment sustaining a problem.

Meaning: Look for what is good in other people while examining what you can improve in yourself. This can balance a habit of excusing yourself and criticising everyone else.

Meaning: Promises made in a crisis can be forgotten once the pressure passes. Storm and calm contrast the urgency that prompts a vow with the ease that tests its durability.

Meaning: The saying uses racist language and treats a Black person’s skin as something washing should change. That premise is to be rejected, not turned into a lesson about human worth.

Meaning: The saying accepts that those with least power will be pushed aside. A critical reading exposes that unfairness rather than adopting it as a rule.

Meaning: Continue worthwhile action without letting discouragement alone decide its end. The appeal to well-doing needs to include the limits of a person’s capacity.

Meaning: The saying recommends choosing a wife on Saturday rather than Sunday. A qualified reading favours seeing ordinary life instead of judging someone only in a special setting.

Meaning: Affection can make each partner see their own relationship as especially fortunate. The exaggerated claim of one good wife exposes the partiality of personal praise.

Meaning: The saying praises a valued spouse through the language of a prize. A careful reading recognises mutual care without treating a partner as an object won.

Meaning: The saying imagines youthful recklessness being finished early enough for a more settled life. Its seed image does not make harmful conduct a necessary stage of growth.

Meaning: Stubbornly ignoring relevant limits can bring difficulty. The saying warns about wilfulness without treating every firm decision as unreasonable.

Meaning: Give someone credit for a genuine intention when they could not complete the act. The saying favours a charitable reading of willingness, without making good intentions equivalent to fulfilled responsibilities or repaired harm.

Meaning: The saying places reverence for God at the start of wisdom. It expresses a religious account of learning and moral judgment rather than a universal test of intelligence.

Meaning: Learning can emerge from recognising a mistake. Wisdom riding on folly’s ruins pictures improved judgment supported by an earlier failure.

Meaning: Cleverness can do harm when directed towards an unsuitable purpose. Judge how intelligence or humour is being used, rather than treating an ingenious remark or method as good in itself.

Meaning: Cleverness needs sound judgement about how it is used. The saying distinguishes an impressive mental tool from the care required to apply it, without assigning wisdom permanently to one kind of person.

Meaning: Wrongdoing can cause suffering. The saying warns about consequences but overstates any claim that harm reliably returns to the person who caused it.

Meaning: Words that are not supported by action can leave a responsibility neglected. The weed-filled garden makes that neglect visible, without assuming that every statement requires a physical task or that discussion cannot itself be useful.

Meaning: A hurtful statement can cause deep distress, sometimes felt more sharply than a physical injury. The comparison asks people to take emotional harm seriously rather than treating words as weightless.

Meaning: Words gain effect when supported by seriousness and substance. The weight image connects the force of speech with what gives it credibility.

Meaning: Pleasant words cannot replace the practical help or work a situation requires. Promises and praise matter most when they are followed by a useful contribution.

Meaning: Considerate words can calm an overheated exchange. Acknowledgement and clear, respectful language may reduce tension enough for people to address what actually needs to happen.

Meaning: A person may blame equipment to avoid examining their own method or skill. Before accepting that explanation, check both the tools and how the task was performed.