Chinese proverb of the day, “A one-inch error at the start can be a thousand miles at the end,” explains how small mistakes ...

A crooked cornstalk can have a straight ear' explains how a person can have a difficult background and still develop good character and achieve success. The proverb asks people to look beyond ...

German Proverb of the Day: “Children and drunk people always tell the truth” explores the traditional belief that people with ...

On the surface, the idea is straightforward. Give someone a fish and they eat for a day. Give them a fishing rod and they can keep feeding themselves. The contrast is clear enough that you don’t ...

What really are proverbs, where do they come from, how are they disseminated and what function do they have in modern society? Those are questions that are often asked when people reflect on the ...

German Proverb of the Day: “Joy at another’s misfortune is the most beautiful joy” explores the German concept of ...

PROF Wolfgang Mieder (born 1944) is best known for his work on paremiology. Paroemias means proverbs and paremiology is the study of proverbs. Mieder says that the discussion as to what proverb is and ...

From old chestnuts like “no pain, no gain” to sports wisdom like “the best offence is a good defence”, there seems to be a proverb for everything. There’s good reason: proverbs touch on just about ...