The collection / 38,841 fragments
Explore passages mentioning knowledge, know. Topic suggestions use transparent word matching, not scholarly classification. Reviewed editorial meanings may also connect entries to this topic; those assignments are labelled separately from word matching.
Meaning: An event may not produce immediate sadness while a person remains unaware of it. The saying links knowledge and feeling, without claiming that unseen harm disappears or that concealment is a proper way to prevent grief.
Meaning: A direct account may be more useful than many repeated second-hand reports. Check where information comes from instead of treating the number of people repeating it as independent evidence.
Meaning: A relevant, well-established fact can settle a question more effectively than much unsupported reasoning. The ship-load exaggerates the quantity of talk, without suggesting that facts need no interpretation or that one isolated observation proves everything.
Meaning: 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.
Meaning: The saying contrasts water-covered ground with snow-covered ground, assigning scarcity to the first and bread to the second. It gives two winter conditions opposite values.
Meaning: 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.
Meaning: The saying imagines February filling ditches with dark rainwater or white snow and favours the white form. It assigns value to contrasting winter conditions.
Meaning: The saying presents restrained eating as a way to defy the physician. It makes one habit sound sufficient to escape the need for medical help.
Meaning: An obvious sign of trouble is unsurprising when someone is directly affected by its cause. A burning gown explains why its wearer smells of fire.
Meaning: A worthwhile result may require looking beneath what is immediately visible. The best fish at the bottom picture a reward beyond easy reach.
Meaning: The saying claims that a south wind favours fishing. Blowing bait into a fish’s mouth makes success seem almost effortless.
Meaning: The saying declares flooding in May harmful. Its absolute wording gives an unwelcome seasonal event a single verdict.
Meaning: 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.
Meaning: 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.
Meaning: The saying divides people after thirty into fools or physicians. It exaggerates an expectation that age should bring knowledge of oneself.
Meaning: A poorly considered arrangement can create difficulty even for someone competent. The stools-and-stumbling image directs attention to avoidable obstacles, without making intelligence a guarantee against mistakes or an excuse to insult others.
Meaning: Someone who overcomes a difficult challenge may need understanding beyond the skill that made it difficult. The saying compares practical ingenuity, without proving that a single victory establishes overall superiority.
Meaning: The saying predicts Sunday sorrow for someone who sings on Friday. It turns enjoyment on one day into an omen about another.
Meaning: The saying treats Friday as a sign of Sunday and Sunday as a sign of the whole week. It extends a short observation into a much longer expectation.
Meaning: The saying predicts failure for a voyage begun on Friday. The rhyme treats a weekday as an unlucky condition without establishing a causal connection.
Meaning: The saying claims that March and May will have matching numbers of frosts. Counting events in one month is made a prediction for another.
Meaning: The saying makes bringing the leaf to the grave a condition of having fruit. It contrasts a desired yield with a leaf being put away or buried.
Meaning: The rhyme places hunger and cold beneath furze, but silver and gold beneath broom. It assigns two plant settings opposite conditions of hardship and abundance.
Meaning: The saying recommends dry conditions for sowing and wet conditions for setting plants. It makes the distinction between two tasks the basis of a remembered rule.