The collection / 14,814 fragments
Explore passages mentioning work, labour. Topic suggestions use transparent word matching, not scholarly classification. Reviewed editorial meanings may also connect entries to this topic; those assignments are labelled separately from word matching.
Meaning: A limited risk or sacrifice may create a chance of a greater benefit. Consider whether the possible gain justifies what is put at stake, rather than assuming every opportunity must cost nothing.
Meaning: Do not expose everything important to the failure of a single arrangement. Where practical, retain alternatives so that one setback does not remove all your options at once.
Meaning: The saying makes remaining vicar of Bray the constant priority. In the checked anthology context, keeping the office contrasts with changing one’s declared position.
Meaning: Work performed deserves recognition and agreed compensation. The saying encourages a person not to treat a request for payment as shameful.
Meaning: Depending on another person’s arrangements can delay meeting one’s own needs. Waiting at someone else’s table pictures the limits of control in that dependence.
Meaning: A small missing part can have consequences beyond its immediate size when other things depend on it. The nail, shoe, horse and rider form a chain of dependence, without proving that every small defect produces a disaster.
Meaning: Useful, sound goods can attract buyers more readily. The saying encourages attention to quality while exaggerating its ability to secure a quick sale.
Meaning: Practical provision for a basic need is one form of wisdom. Winter warmth draws attention to everyday care rather than impressive claims of knowledge.
Meaning: Using resources carefully can reduce avoidable shortages later. Keeping what is useful and avoiding unnecessary waste may make existing supplies go further when circumstances become more difficult.
Meaning: Deliberately wasting usable resources can leave fewer available when they are needed later. Consider foreseeable needs before discarding or consuming something without a worthwhile purpose.
Meaning: Careful attention can help you notice and address a problem before it grows. The saying encourages suitable vigilance without proving that every setback is preventable or caused by someone’s failure to watch.
Meaning: Determination can help you find practical ways around obstacles. Wanting a result strongly enough may encourage persistence, experimentation and asking for help instead of giving up immediately.
Meaning: A goal may have more than one possible method. The saying uses a harsh image to encourage finding an alternative when a chosen approach fails.
Meaning: Willingness can encourage a search for workable methods. The saying praises initiative but overstates it if every obstacle is treated as a lack of will.
Meaning: A strained system is likely to fail at its least capable or least supported point. The thread image directs attention to a vulnerable connection, rather than assuming that strength elsewhere will compensate for it.
Meaning: Use can cause wear that needs attention. The saying warns about deterioration while overlooking ways that use can also improve skill, familiarity or value.
Meaning: Preparation can make later work easier. The dug well pictures a foundation that must exist before a routine operation can produce its result.
Meaning: Continue worthwhile action without letting discouragement alone decide its end. The appeal to well-doing needs to include the limits of a person’s capacity.
Meaning: An organised setting can make ordinary preparation easier and quicker. The saying credits arrangements made beforehand, without guaranteeing speed, treating every delay as disorganisation or assigning household work to one particular person.
Meaning: The saying gives the sweetest water to wells that are well drawn. It links the manner of obtaining a resource with the quality imagined to result.
Meaning: The saying declares a whet no hindrance. It treats a sharpening or refreshing step as compatible with progress rather than necessarily delaying it.
Meaning: Enough room can prevent strain caused by an arrangement that is too tight. The wide and narrow contrast can prompt attention to fit rather than appearance alone.
Meaning: When a preferred course is unavailable, consider what can realistically be done. The contrast between will and can separates desire from present capacity.
Meaning: A task or opportunity may attract someone else when one person declines. The saying recognises differing willingness without erasing a person’s right to refuse.