proverb · Traditional
Fools ask questions that wise men cannot answer.
Questions from fools exceeding wise people’s answers contrasts who asks with who can respond. The saying exposes a limit in apparent expertise.
Read the explanation and example ↗Words worth understanding
What does it mean?
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.
369 matching explanations
proverb · Traditional
Forced fruits fail in flavour.
Rushing a process can weaken the result someone hoped to obtain. The forced-fruit comparison invites attention to suitable development, without claiming every fast method is inferior or presenting the saying as gardening evidence.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Four eyes are better than two.
The saying makes four eyes better than two. It values another person’s perspective in observing or checking something.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Give a man a fish and he will eat for the day. Give him a fishing rod, and he will eat forever.
The saying contrasts a fish for one day with a fishing rod for lasting provision. It values access to a means of doing something beyond a single immediate gift.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Giving advice to a stupid man is like giving salt to a squirrel.
Advice compared with salt offered to a squirrel depicts a mismatch between an offering and its recipient. The saying questions whether counsel will be useful or received.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Go as far as you can see, and from there you’ll see further.
Moving as far as one can see and then seeing further pictures understanding expanding through a partial advance. The saying encourages a step without requiring the whole course to be visible.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
God send me a friend that may tell me my faults; if not, an enemy, he will be sure to.
Honest criticism can help you notice faults that praise conceals. A friend’s considered feedback is preferable to learning only from someone hostile, but neither source is automatically accurate.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Gold has its price; learning is beyond price.
Gold having a price and learning being beyond price contrast market value with an immeasurable benefit. The saying gives understanding an elevated importance.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Good counsel never comes too late.
Useful advice can still help after the ideal moment has passed. Consider what can improve now instead of dismissing guidance solely because it arrived late.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement.
The saying makes good judgment come from experience and experience come from bad judgment. It gives learning from mistakes a circular, paradoxical form.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment
Good judgment arising from experience and experience from bad judgment gives errors a possible role in later understanding. The saying creates a learning loop.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Great oaks from little acorns grow.
The saying grows great oaks from little acorns. As an analogy, a small beginning may develop into something substantial.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Great oaks grow from small acorns.
The saying grows a great oak from a small acorn. As an analogy, a modest beginning may develop into a substantial undertaking.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Growing old is inevitable; growing up is optional.
The saying contrasts growing older with choosing to grow up. It separates passing time from the maturity expected in conduct.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Growth is the only evidence of life.
The saying makes growth the only evidence of life. As an analogy, it values continuing development rather than remaining unchanged.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Happy is he who hath sown his wild oats betimes.
The saying imagines youthful recklessness being finished early enough for a more settled life. Its seed image does not make harmful conduct a necessary stage of growth.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Happy is he who knows his follies in his youth.
Recognising your mistakes early can leave more time to change unhelpful habits. Treat that recognition as an opportunity to learn rather than a reason to define yourself by what went wrong.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Happy is the man that has a hobby.
Having an interest pursued for enjoyment can add something worthwhile to life. The saying celebrates a hobby, without proving that everyone needs one or that a particular pastime guarantees happiness.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Hasty climbers have sudden falls.
Rushing towards a position or goal can leave someone unprepared for its demands. The sudden fall follows the hasty climb in the saying, warning about the method of progress rather than condemning quick advancement in every case.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
He can who believes he can.
The saying connects belief in one’s ability with being able to act. It offers confidence as encouragement toward an undertaking.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
He must needs swim that's held up by the chin.
A person under pressure may need to act while receiving enough support to begin. The supported swimmer pictures necessity together with limited assistance.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
He teacheth ill who teacheth all.
The saying criticises teaching everything. A useful reading asks whether instruction needs selection and sequence rather than an overwhelming amount at once.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
He that chastiseth one, amendeth many.
The saying claims that correcting one person improves many others. It treats a response to a single action as an example that a wider group may notice.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
He that has never traveled thinks that his mother is the only good cook in the world.
Someone never travelling calling their mother the only good cook contrasts a familiar example with unexamined alternatives. The saying questions a universal judgment drawn from limited experience.
Read the explanation and example ↗