Words worth understanding
Start with the thought in plain English. Then explore the imagery, a practical example, when to use it, and what the saying does not mean.
4,000 entries with editorial explanations. The wider collection also contains entries still awaiting an individual interpretation.
proverb · Traditional
One day as a tiger preferred to a thousand years as a sheep favours a brief bold life over prolonged submissiveness in its animal imagery. The saying makes intensity outweigh duration.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Death on one’s feet preferred to life on one’s knees gives resistance an extreme dignity image. The saying rejects submission through bodily posture.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
A definite setback may be easier to address than continuing in unstable uncertainty. The comparison encourages examining whether prolonged hesitation is itself causing harm.
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The phrase describes hiding one’s head in sand. In the supplied reading, it means avoiding an unpleasant issue instead of confronting it.
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The saying makes conscience turn everyone into cowards. It depicts moral concern as creating hesitation before action.
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Courage that cannot be bought at an inn contrasts resolve with something available for purchase. It questions obtaining courage as a commodity.
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Courage as a kingdom without a crown gives resolve the image of power without an outward badge. It values an inner quality over visible rank.
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The saying suggests that fear can prompt courage. It presents resolve as a possible response to apprehension rather than its simple absence.
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Nine parts of courage assigned to escape place avoiding danger at the centre of the image. The saying challenges equating bravery only with confrontation.
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Cowardice is pictured as avoiding being noticed, especially where a person does not want an action or refusal scrutinised. The saying can question evasiveness, but choosing privacy or feeling afraid does not by itself establish cowardice or wrongdoing.
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The saying links cowardice with cruelty, suggesting that fear may be expressed through harm to others. Its word always makes an unjustified universal claim: fear is not proof of cruelty, and harmful conduct should be assessed through actions and their effects.
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The saying connects cruel rule with fear, suggesting that domination can make both ruler and subjects watchful. It invites scrutiny of coercive conduct, but it is not a universal account of another person’s motives or proof that fear always reveals cruelty.
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Determination distinguished from action separates resolve from doing something. The saying questions treating an intention as completed work.
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The saying makes discretion the better part of valour. It values careful judgment within courage rather than treating rash action as its highest form.
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The saying makes discretion a greater part of courage. It values judgment about when to act, pause or withdraw.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
Some possible loss is not a reason to abandon an undertaking altogether. Compare the likely benefit and available protections with the cost of never starting.
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Reaching a destination without leaving shore is rejected as an expectation. The saying contrasts wanting a result with undertaking the journey it requires.
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The saying links doing right with fearing no person. It encourages integrity even when other people exert pressure.
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The instruction discourages fear of failure. It invites an attempt without treating the possibility of a poor result as a complete barrier.
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The instruction asks someone not to fear failure. It encourages approaching an attempt without letting the possibility of a setback settle the decision alone.
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Trying and failing is defended against judgment while not trying is criticised. The saying values undertaking an attempt over avoiding it.
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The mouse-and-cat image warns that presenting oneself as powerless may invite being treated as easy prey. In a qualified reading, it encourages attention to boundaries.
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Some forces are better given room than confronted directly. The bull and current of air invite attention to position and approach, without providing safety instructions or requiring surrender whenever resistance is difficult.
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A condor’s flight beside high mountains warns against copying an ability one may not possess. The saying connects ambition with the demands of an undertaking.
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