Truth.

Meaning: Speak about someone who has died with care and respect. The saying encourages restraint but should not require concealing harm or rewriting their conduct.

Meaning: Courteous speech can coexist with private disagreement. The saying separates how a thought is expressed from the thought itself.

Meaning: The way a person speaks may offer clues to their thoughts and priorities. Listen to what they actually say while recognising that speech is only a partial picture of someone’s mind.

Meaning: The saying prefers one person’s public criticism to many people’s private criticism. It contrasts the distribution of disapproval but does not establish what makes a judgment true.

Meaning: A small dishonest taking can be a reason to examine trust. The saying imagines escalation to something more valuable but does not establish that escalation as certain.

Meaning: People may be judged unequally for comparable or even very different actions. The horse theft and glance over a hedge expose favouritism in who is condemned.

Meaning: Quiet appearances can conceal what an observer has not understood. The still water and silent person warn against treating lack of visible disturbance as complete knowledge.

Meaning: Do not carelessly undermine what you are trying to offer. Calling one’s own fish stinking pictures damaging speech about an undertaking one hopes others will accept.

Meaning: A secret or forbidden affection may seem especially exciting. The stolen image must not be used to romanticise contact without consent.

Meaning: An account can seem convincing until another perspective supplies information it leaves out. The saying encourages hearing more than one side, without assuming that a later story is necessarily truer or that every claim has equal weight.

Meaning: One observation is insufficient to establish a broader pattern. The seasonal birds warn against drawing a large conclusion from a single sign, without making individual observations worthless or requiring certainty before any response is possible.

Meaning: A person who carries inflammatory stories between others can prolong a quarrel. The saying suggests addressing that source of conflict, without promising that excluding one person resolves every dispute or justifies suppressing a legitimate concern.

Meaning: Treat a circulated accusation or story cautiously rather than accepting it without checking. The tale-bearer warning concerns unverified reporting, without making every messenger dishonest or every unwelcome report false.

Meaning: Speaking can require little commitment compared with doing what is described. The toll image warns that a claim may be easy to make, without establishing that words have no value or consequences.

Meaning: Regret about being caught may differ from regret about the harm done. The saying asks what an apology or expression of sorrow is actually concerned with.

Meaning: An accusation or hostile reaction does not prove that its target did anything wrong. Look for relevant evidence instead of treating suspicion as a reliable verdict.

Meaning: Think carefully before speaking or leaving a written record. Restraint can make communication more deliberate, especially when a quick remark would be unnecessary, misleading or difficult to take back.

Meaning: Reconsidering an initial judgement can reveal something useful that was missed. The saying values a second look, without proving that the later thought is always better or that every decision should be delayed repeatedly.

Meaning: A person’s inner judgment can remain independent even when outward choices are constrained. The saying values freedom of thought without claiming that thought is untouched by circumstances.

Meaning: The passage of time can reveal whether a claim or arrangement remains sound. The saying values observation beyond an initial impression, without making age alone proof of truth or postponing a needed judgement indefinitely.

Meaning: The phrase calls someone Tom Tell-troth, giving truth-telling the form of a personal name. It can characterise a speaker as direct or eager to tell what he considers true.

Meaning: A person can choose silence when speaking would be poorly timed or unhelpful. The saying invites judgment about an occasion rather than a permanent duty to remain quiet.

Meaning: Careless words can create constraints for their speaker. Confining the tongue pictures restraint before a statement produces consequences that are harder to manage.

Meaning: Words can wound even though they are not physical weapons. Consider the harm that insults, accusations or cutting remarks may cause.