The collection / 847 fragments
Explore passages mentioning wisdom, wise. Topic suggestions use transparent word matching, not scholarly classification. Editorial meanings and lexical matches are discovery aids, not independent authentication of a quotation.
Meaning: A small undertaking may need to stay within conditions it can manage. The boat-and-shore image encourages attention to capacity, without requiring permanent timidity or providing practical navigation instructions.
Meaning: Physical size is not a dependable measure of someone’s courage, generosity or depth of character. The proverb challenges that shortcut, without claiming that smaller people necessarily have greater virtues or ranking people by their bodies.
Meaning: A small store of something useful can be exhausted quickly. The saying draws attention to scale and the need to notice how much is available.
Meaning: A period of careless or wrongful living can have consequences that last longer than the period itself. One year and seven years create an exaggerated contrast in duration.
Meaning: A protective step comes too late to prevent a loss that has already happened. Take care before a foreseeable problem rather than relying on a remedy afterwards.
Meaning: Someone’s visible direction or stated intention may differ from what their actions achieve. Compare the actual course with the impression being given before relying on that impression.
Meaning: Excessive or poorly considered talk can show others what to avoid. The saying values learning from an unhelpful discussion, without making the amount someone speaks a reliable test of their judgement.
Meaning: The saying cynically observes that losing often attracts blame. It is not a fair rule: an unfavourable outcome does not prove that the person who lost acted wrongly.
Meaning: The saying pictures repeated losing journeys ending in a sorrowful homecoming. Its destination, Weeping Cross, gives accumulated losses an image of regret.
Meaning: The saying exaggerates luck until it seems able to overcome even an extreme danger. It exposes confidence in favourable outcomes that ignores the actual situation.
Meaning: A fortunate outcome can sometimes help more than good judgement does. The saying comments on the power of chance, often wryly, without proving that preparation is useless or that success shows a person made a wise choice.
Meaning: Early promise does not guarantee later good judgment. The two ages make a contrast between how someone first appears and how they may develop.
Meaning: Human plans are contrasted with God’s final disposition of events. The saying can express religious humility about control, but it should not make preparation pointless, promise a favourable outcome or be used to dismiss another person’s loss as something they must accept without support.
Meaning: A seller’s preferred price is constrained by what buyers will actually accept. The saying draws attention to the conditions surrounding an exchange.
Meaning: Do not abandon a worthwhile opportunity solely because of a smaller necessary cost. The toll pictures a limited expense on the way to a larger purpose.
Meaning: An important commitment made without enough thought can leave difficult consequences later. The marriage image warns about rushed agreement, without claiming that quick decisions always fail or that an unhappy commitment must be endured.
Meaning: A shared life benefits from considering practical arrangements beforehand. The house pictures a place and means for the partnership to live.
Meaning: The saying warns against marrying in May because older sayings call it unlucky. Its appeal to inherited words is not evidence that the month harms a relationship.
Meaning: An uncertain outcome can fail to happen as well as happen. The saying balances hope with the alternative possibility, without claiming that the two outcomes are equally likely or that uncertainty makes preparation pointless.
Meaning: A task with little material to deal with may be finished quickly. The thin meadow pictures a small amount of work, suggesting that speed of completion should be considered alongside the task’s size and substance.
Meaning: Check the important details before taking an action that is difficult to reverse. A small amount of preparation can prevent an avoidable mistake, without requiring endless checking.
Meaning: Someone may assess your situation using their own standards or experience. Check whether that measure fits what is being judged instead of assuming that their reference point is universal.
Meaning: Avoid turning a choice into two extremes when a reasonable middle course exists. Rejecting elaborate presentation does not require abandoning ordinary care.
Meaning: Enjoyment and good judgement can go together. You can be cheerful or playful while still paying attention to your responsibilities and the effects on others.