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: Following a coherent course can lead towards its larger destination. The river image values continuity and direction, without proving that every path reaches a desired result or supplying reliable travel instructions.
Meaning: Some choices compete for the same time or attention. Recognise when you cannot occupy two places or fulfil incompatible commitments at once.
Meaning: When entering an unfamiliar place or group, learn its ordinary customs and adapt where appropriate. Respectful participation often begins with noticing how others do things.
Meaning: Refusing useful guidance can leave a person facing the harder consequences of an avoidable mistake. The rudder steers, while the rock stops the vessel by collision.
Meaning: A general rule may not fit every particular case. Use it as guidance while checking whether the circumstances justify a different judgement.
Meaning: Something that permits no repair may be difficult to keep useful. The sack-and-patching image values room for correction, without making every proposed change good or blaming someone for a limit they cannot alter.
Meaning: Keep the demands of an undertaking within what can support them. Sail and ship represent ambition and capacity, encouraging a suitable balance rather than assuming that larger plans are always unwise.
Meaning: The saying proposes catching a bird by putting salt on its tail. Its apparent method invites the question of how someone reaches the tail in the first place.
Meaning: The means chosen may lack a quality the task requires. Sand made into rope pictures that mismatch, without proving that an unfamiliar method cannot work or that every limitation calls for abandoning the purpose.
Meaning: The same standard should apply to people in comparable circumstances. Do not defend a privilege for one person while denying an equivalent treatment to another.
Meaning: The saying pairs sweet food with sauce. As an explicit analogy, something pleasant or desirable may come with a contrasting accompaniment.
Meaning: Anticipating later needs can encourage preparation earlier in life. The saying imagines future wants becoming visible before resources are committed elsewhere.
Meaning: Care for modest resources may contribute to having more available later. The saying exaggerates that connection when it makes a single saving habit necessary for prosperity.
Meaning: Be careful about becoming entangled in another person’s difficulty and suffering consequences that are not yours to take on. The hot-food image encourages judgement about involvement, rather than forbidding useful help.
Meaning: An unpleasant experience can make someone wary even of a harmless reminder. Recognise why caution has increased, while checking whether the present situation carries the same risk as the earlier one.
Meaning: Extensive learning does not guarantee sound judgement in every situation. Scholarship can be valuable while practical wisdom also requires understanding context, consequences and the limits of what one knows.
Meaning: The saying claims a Scotch mist can thoroughly wet an Englishman. It contrasts the seemingly slight weather with a substantial effect on the person in it.
Meaning: The saying assigns sailing to the sea and settling to land. Its balanced instruction puts different actions in the settings imagined to suit them.
Meaning: Something useful or welcome can be better suited to one occasion than another. The saying values timing and context, while its broad wording should not imply that every action becomes good merely by choosing a moment for it.
Meaning: Different actions and experiences belong to different moments. The saying encourages attention to timing instead of expecting every purpose to be served at once.
Meaning: Sensitive information can give another person power over its owner. The saying warns about disclosure, while exaggerating the resulting dependence as enslavement.
Meaning: Do not sacrifice something real and useful for an appearance or promise that lacks substance. Check what is actually available before letting an attractive impression displace a sound option.
Meaning: An approach that works against the nature of a task can make it unnecessarily difficult. Shaving against the wool pictures resistance created by the chosen method.
Meaning: People can follow a lead without independently examining where it goes. The sheep image warns about imitation that substitutes for judgment.