Wisdom.

Meaning: Prepare what you can before the need becomes urgent. Waiting until a foreseeable problem arrives may leave too little time to create the protection or resources that would help.

Meaning: Favourable conditions now do not remove the value of reasonable preparation for a change. The cloak image encourages a proportionate precaution, rather than expecting every pleasant situation to turn bad or carrying every possible safeguard.

Meaning: A person responsible for operating a system can influence how it behaves. The clock and clerk draw attention to the discretion behind an apparently fixed arrangement, without proving that every operator is acting unfairly.

Meaning: Refraining from unnecessary speech can prevent an avoidable mistake or disclosure. The closed-mouth image values discretion in a particular moment, without making silence always wise or forbidding questions, objections and requests for help.

Meaning: Protect what you will need afterward before taking an action that puts it at risk. Keeping clothes safe while swimming becomes an image of preparation and attention to foreseeable consequences.

Meaning: What helps create an obstacle may later be obscured by it. The sun and its clouds give a vivid image of a cause losing visibility behind its own result.

Meaning: A difficult period can give way to a better one. Clouds and clear weather provide an image of change, offering perspective without promising when improvement will come or suggesting that practical help is unnecessary.

Meaning: Even someone regarded as unsophisticated may recognise a practical need. The cloak in rain illustrates elementary precaution, while the saying’s dismissive label should not be used to judge a person’s worth or ability.

Meaning: Plan your spending or ambitions to fit the resources actually available. Adjusting the scope of a project can be wiser than committing to something you cannot presently sustain.

Meaning: The saying imagines a shoemaker’s wife having the poorest shoes despite living close to the relevant skill. It points to nearby needs being neglected while a person attends to work for others.

Meaning: People may feel especially confident in familiar surroundings or where they have influence. The cock on its own dunghill pictures that local assurance, without proving that confidence is false or that everyone behaves the same way away from home.

Meaning: Before attempting an unfamiliar or unpredictable task, check that the basic preparations are secure. The young colt and tightened saddle picture readiness for uncertainty.

Meaning: A third person can change the intimacy or ease of a conversation between two. The saying describes one possible social arrangement, without establishing that groups of three are unwelcome or that an outsider deserves exclusion.

Meaning: Having a small usable resource can be reassuring when a need arises. Calling a penny a companion praises its practical usefulness, without making money a substitute for affection, company or care.

Meaning: Repeating a harmful experience can invite reflection on what could be learned from it. The shipwreck comparison asks about a second exposure, but it unfairly assumes control if used to blame people for danger, coercion or circumstances they could not avoid.

Meaning: Regret cannot restore an opportunity or resource after it has been used up. The saying warns about waiting until the consequences are complete, while leaving room for repair, support or a different next step where those remain possible.

Meaning: Contentment can make what someone already has feel sufficient. The transforming-stone comparison values satisfaction, without claiming that an attitude removes deprivation or that people should stop seeking necessary improvements.

Meaning: Something modest that you already have can be preferable to a grander prospect that remains uncertain. The cottage and kingdom contrast present possession with an anticipated benefit, without proving that every change or ambitious plan is unwise.

Meaning: Seeking thoughtful advice can remain useful even when circumstances change. The saying values counsel as a practice, without proving that an old recommendation stays accurate or that every adviser understands the current situation.

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

Meaning: Important choices about partnership and livelihood can benefit from a range of advice. Consulting all the world exaggerates the value of hearing beyond one’s own view.

Meaning: A secret is easiest to keep when it has not been shared. The joke leaves only one of the three people present, highlighting the loss of control once others know, without proving that every confidant is untrustworthy.

Meaning: Do not treat an expected result as already secured. Plan with uncertainty in view rather than making commitments that depend entirely on an outcome that has not yet happened.

Meaning: Two things or people grouped together do not necessarily make a suitable partnership. Couple and pair distinguish number from fit, without proving that differences prevent cooperation or that one person has less value than another.