Wealth.

Meaning: A benefit you already possess may be worth more than a larger benefit you only hope to obtain. Weigh a secure result against the chance of losing it.

Meaning: Difficulty may teach practical lessons without bringing material success. Gaining understanding from a setback is different from becoming better off because of it.

Meaning: Preserving available resources can be more useful than hoping for a miraculous way to obtain wealth. The saying praises avoiding needless loss, while recognising that saving depends on having something left after genuine needs are met.

Meaning: The saying praises good ale as food, drink and clothing at once. Its extravagant list imagines one comfort supplying several kinds of provision.

Meaning: Purchases often bring unwanted material along with what is wanted. The saying contrasts stones, bones and shells with an approving claim that ale contains only the desired purchase.

Meaning: A new attraction can persuade people to find money or time they seemed unwilling to spare before. The new ale-house image comments on enthusiasm for novelty, rather than proving that everyone can afford it.

Meaning: Let your available resources help set your spending. A desirable purchase still needs to fit what you can reasonably afford alongside your other commitments.

Meaning: The saying claims that a wet August prevents scarcity. Its absolute promise makes an expected relationship between rain and provision stronger than the wording can prove.

Meaning: Bags stand for possessions or money, and the saying suspects that apparent affection follows wealth. It invites scrutiny of interested attention rather than proving that wealthy people cannot be loved, or that every friendship contains a concealed bargain.