Mind.

Meaning: The phrase offers having a bone in one’s arm as an explanation. Without its conversational setting, it does not say which action the speaker is avoiding or describing.

Meaning: The mind is compared to ground that needs deliberate cultivation. The saying encourages useful learning and attention, while its corn-and-thistles contrast should not turn rest, disability or a different way of thinking into evidence of a defective character.

Meaning: You may not fully understand the difficulties another person carries. Avoid deciding how easy their situation should be from what is visible to you, and make room to hear their account.

Meaning: It is easy to imagine an impressive plan without providing what would make it real. Castles in the air picture ambition without foundations, asking what practical support the idea needs rather than condemning imagination itself.

Meaning: Even something imagined to be unusually resilient can be worn down by worry. The cat’s nine lives make the exaggeration of care killing it more striking.

Meaning: An observer who appears inattentive may still be aware of what is happening. The cat’s momentary wink warns against treating a brief lapse in visible attention as proof that nothing has been noticed.

Meaning: The saying mocks abandoning something dependable for an uncertain possibility without a sound reason. Its musical image puts the chooser among fools, but uncertainty alone does not make a choice foolish; the point is to examine what justifies the change.

Meaning: Those pictured as having fewer responsibilities or less awareness of difficulties may appear more carefree. The saying contrasts uncomplicated enjoyment with adult concerns.

Meaning: Managing one’s own impulses or habits can be a significant achievement. Conquest pictures inward effort, encouraging self-direction without requiring harsh self-criticism, denial of legitimate needs or complete control over every feeling.

Meaning: Appreciating what is sufficient can make ordinary life feel abundant. The continual feast pictures ongoing satisfaction, without requiring someone to accept deprivation, injustice or unmet needs as though they were adequate.

Meaning: Plans made while drinking may be poorly considered. The saying recommends reconsidering a decision before relying on the confidence of the moment.

Meaning: Wanting something too intensely can make it harder to judge what pursuing it requires. The warning concerns desire becoming disproportionate, without condemning ordinary ambition or deciding that a particular goal is not worth seeking.

Meaning: Do not assume the worst before the feared harm has occurred. The saying cautions against premature alarm, without requiring silence about a credible risk or dismissing pain that someone already experiences.

Meaning: Someone unwilling to consider a message can be harder to reach than someone who simply missed it. Notice whether the obstacle is missing information or a refusal to engage with it.

Meaning: Waiting for something can make the desire for it more intense. Notice how anticipation affects your judgement rather than assuming that a growing wish proves the thing is becoming more worthwhile.

Meaning: Desperation can make even a very weak hope seem worth pursuing. Someone under severe pressure may reach for an option they would normally recognise as inadequate.

Meaning: An evening of excessive drinking can leave an unpleasant aftermath. The cloudy morning gives that aftermath a visible, gloomy image.

Meaning: A person may say while drinking what they usually hold back. The saying contrasts restraint with a moment in which private thoughts are voiced.

Meaning: The saying observes that satisfying an appetite diminishes the desire that prompted it. As an analogy, obtaining something can alter how urgently it is wanted.

Meaning: The saying tells someone to rub a sore eye with an elbow. The awkward instruction can be read as an indirect way of discouraging rubbing rather than a practical method.

Meaning: Financial worry can show in a person’s expression. The empty purse pictures a shortage of resources, and wrinkles give the strain a visible form.

Meaning: Resenting another person’s advantage does not by itself improve your own situation. Notice what you need or can learn instead of treating someone else’s success as a resource you have lost.

Meaning: Harm can result from carelessness as well as deliberate cruelty. Good intentions do not remove the need to consider what an action may do to others.

Meaning: Something unknown may not cause the distress that learning about it would bring. The saying comments on awareness and feeling, without making ignorance protective in every case or excusing the concealment of information someone needs.