PROVERBS

My daughter bought me a desk calendar for Christmas. Each day has a proverb. Some are funny. Some are archaic. Most are true. The odd thing about truism, is that they can often reflect two sides of the spectrum. All things come to those who wait versus the early bird gets the worm.

My grandma had a lot of proverbs about life too. Maybe it was the generation after being British. Maybe it was her long life and ability to dispense wisdom.

My brother reminded me of one of her proverbs: Don't expect an old head on young shoulders. 

Other classics: My forgetter is better than my rememberer.

Here are some of my favourites from this year to date:

The sooner begun, the sooner done.
If you don't make mistakes, you don't make anything.
Believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see.
A trouble shared is a trouble halved.
It's too late to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted.
Variety is the spice of life.
Walnuts and pears you plant for your heirs.
The buyer has need of a hundred eyes, the seller of but one.
Home is where the heart is.
Enough is as good as a feast.
What can't be cured must be endured.
The sun loses nothing by shining into a puddle.
A mouse may help a lion.

Some other gems that fall further from the mark but are worth mentioning:
Don't throw out your dirty water until you get in fresh.
It is not work that kills, but worry.
Punctuality is the politeness of princes.
A deaf husband and a blind wife are always a good couple.
In the country of the blind the one-eyed man is king.
Self-preservation is the first law of nature.
Least said, soonest mended.
Fair and softly goes far in a day.