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: A mirror can show a visible detail that another person’s advice leaves unspoken. The saying values direct observation alongside counsel, while limiting what appearance alone can reveal about character or understanding.
Meaning: The saying judges grass appearing in March as unhelpful. Its absolute statement makes early growth an unwelcome sign.
Meaning: The saying gives green wood a hot fire. It assigns a strong result to a described fuel without explaining the conditions or how green is being used.
Meaning: The saying connects a green winter with a full churchyard. Its grim image associates a winter condition with increased deaths without explaining the cause.
Meaning: Hail is imagined as arriving with frost following behind it. The tail image turns a sequence of weather into a single creature-like visitor.
Meaning: The phrase mocks someone for failing to recognise an obvious difference. Use its meaning to understand the criticism, while avoiding a sweeping judgement about a person from one gap in their knowledge.
Meaning: An outcome or opportunity may emerge in a direction that was not expected. The escaping hare warns against fixing attention too narrowly, without making surprise inevitable or replacing careful observation with random guessing.
Meaning: People or activity can be noticed in places that appear sheltered, and speech can travel beyond its intended audience. The eyes-and-ears image cautions against assuming surroundings make an action or conversation completely private.
Meaning: The saying urges full disclosure to a minister, physician and lawyer. It gives three trusted roles a shared expectation of being told relevant truths.
Meaning: A person has direct access to experiences and intentions that others may not see. That perspective deserves attention, while self-knowledge can still be incomplete and benefit from honest reflection or feedback.
Meaning: When worthwhile learning loses respect, people may have less reason or opportunity to pursue it. The saying connects recognition with the conditions that sustain knowledge.
Meaning: The saying judges the stillest humours as the worst. It makes apparent quietness a negative sign while leaving the intended sense of humours unexplained.
Meaning: Not understanding something does not establish that it is wrong. Examine the reasons or ask for an explanation before turning a gap in your knowledge into a verdict about the thing itself.
Meaning: The saying puts itch and ease together as something that cannot please. It contrasts an irritating urge with comfort in a compact judgment of dissatisfaction.
Meaning: The saying takes summer-like conditions at the start of January as a sign of wintry conditions lasting into May. It predicts compensation for an unusually mild beginning.
Meaning: The saying claims that rain on the first of July predicts more rain over four weeks. It turns one day’s condition into a prolonged expectation.
Meaning: No single person holds every means of solving a problem or gaining access. The keys suggest that knowledge, authority and opportunity may be distributed, so another person or route may help when one option fails.
Meaning: Direct experience can offer something that anticipation alone cannot. The kitchen’s taste-and-smell contrast invites attention to the difference between imagining an experience and actually engaging with it, without dismissing curiosity or preparation.
Meaning: A difficult problem may respond better to a well-fitted method than to a rougher attempt. The timber-and-wedge image asks how the approach works, without making smoothness a guarantee or giving practical timber-splitting instructions.
Meaning: Understanding relevant facts and methods can increase your ability to act effectively. Knowledge may help you recognise options, question a claim or solve a problem that previously seemed beyond your control.
Meaning: What you learn early can become a resource for later judgement. Knowledge may grow more useful as experience helps you understand where it applies and where it needs revision.
Meaning: The saying makes knowledge of a disease half the cure. It gives understanding an important role while the fraction functions as emphasis rather than a verified result.
Meaning: Useful information may lose much of its value when it arrives after the decision or action it was needed for. Consider timing as well as accuracy when sharing what others need to know.
Meaning: A small amount of useful information may help more than a large amount of reassurance. Comfort matters, but it should not replace facts that let someone understand or address the situation.