Character.

Meaning: The saying places age ahead of honesty in a terse order of precedence. It can be read critically as asking whether seniority is being allowed to outweigh conduct.

Meaning: Old age deserves respect rather than dismissal. The saying honours later life, without proving that age guarantees wisdom, good conduct or authority over another person’s decisions.

Meaning: A small charitable gesture does not make a larger dishonest act acceptable. Consider where the benefit came from rather than letting a visible donation conceal the wrong that supplied it.

Meaning: The saying praises allowing anger to pass rather than keeping a grievance alive. Its moral judgement is too simple: lasting anger does not by itself show that someone lacks good character.

Meaning: People who act from anger may find that trouble follows. Want here concerns lacking trouble, so the saying warns that angry reactions can supply plenty of it without making the emotion itself a moral failure.

Meaning: If someone has become angry without good reason, they cannot fairly demand compensation merely to restore their mood. The saying separates calming down from receiving amends, while leaving genuine grievances open to examination.

Meaning: Accept ordinary nourishment without embarrassment. The saying challenges the idea that attending to a basic need is shameful, while leaving room for considerate manners and another person’s comfort.

Meaning: People can overestimate the standing or recognition they deserve. The animal comparison mocks self-importance, but differences in rank or background do not establish differences in personal worth.

Meaning: A book can reflect something of the person who made it. Notice the connection between a work and its creator’s interests or manner without treating the text as a complete portrait of their character.

Meaning: Being on your own can be preferable to company that mistreats you or pulls you into harmful conduct. Companionship has value when its quality is considered.

Meaning: The saying asks for steadiness when conditions become less favourable, rather than enjoyment only when things go well. Its complaint about deserving a good market should not imply that suffering earns success or that someone must tolerate an unfair arrangement.

Meaning: Someone endlessly available to everyone may lack a position or allegiance of their own. The chair image mocks indiscriminate accommodation, although openness and helpfulness can also be strengths.

Meaning: An agreement should be taken seriously once it has been made. The repetition gives the commitment weight, while leaving room to examine whether the terms were understood, fair and within the participants’ ability to fulfil.

Meaning: The saying recommends praising marriage while remaining unmarried. It separates favourable words about a way of life from choosing its commitments oneself.

Meaning: Even something generally good may have a small flaw. Recognising an imperfection can help you make a balanced judgement instead of expecting complete perfection.

Meaning: Harmful company can be worse than an unpleasant immediate setback. The saying warns against relationships that repeatedly lead someone into trouble, but its comparison does not justify violence or abuse.