One-liner Arabian Proverbs

I love one-liner quotes because of their punch line character. Interestingly, proverbs satisfy that criteria. Most proverbs are short sayings. But don’t sneer at that length (actually, the lack of it), for proverbs express a lot of wisdom and truth very concisely.

Being a Roman Catholic, my introduction to proverbs was , of course, through the Bible. But I was also impressed with the depth and breadth of Arabic proverbs which I am featuring here today. I stumbled upon Arabic proverbs when I was looking for a suitable quote for a post in my other blog. From then on, I got hooked on the folksy wisdom of Arabian proverbs.

To the extent that proverbs embody a people’s culture and traditions, it is reasonanble to conclude, from my admittedly limited comparison of various proverbs, that how we experience reality, what we consider as proper rules of conduct, and the values that we want to pass on to the next generation seem to be universal across various cultures and religions. Try these:

A little debt makes a debtor, a great one an enemy.

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Judge a man by the reputation of his enemies.

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If you stop every time a dog barks, your road will never end.

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If you have much, give of your wealth; if you have little, give of your heart.

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Compete, don't envy.

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Diligence is the mother of good luck.

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Do not cut down the tree that gives you shade.

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I am a prince and you are a prince; who will lead the donkeys?

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Beware of one who flatters unduly; he will also censure unjustly.

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A man profits more by the sight of an idiot than by the orations of the learned.

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Keep your friends close - hold your enemies closer.

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Arrogance diminishes wisdom.

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A fool may be known by six things: anger, without cause; speech, without profit; change, without progress; inquiry, without object; putting trust in a stranger, and mistaking foes for friends.

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When you heard that a mountain was moved, believe it; but when you hear that someone changed his character do not believe it.

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Do not tell a friend anything you would conceal from an enemy.

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A man's capacity is the same as his breadth of vision.

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When you have spoken the word, it reigns over you. When it is unspoken you reign over it.

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If power is for sale, sell your mother to buy it. You can always buy her back again.

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A wise man associating with the vicious becomes an idiot; a dog traveling with good men becomes a rational being.

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At the narrow passage there is no brother and no friend.

Sources: www.worldofquotes.com and www.thinkexist.com.

(Royalty-free photo shown above courtesy of www.sxc.hu)

Quotes From "The Road Less Travelled"

"The Road Less Travelled" was a gift from my investment banking staff for my 44th birthday. I don't recall any of them asking me before about my taste for books, so I was only too delighted to receive this bestseller which, thankfully, I have not bought yet. My copy, if you'll see it, is dog-eared and highlighted in many pages. See if you'll like what I liked in these pages.

On Discipline:

"Discipline is the basic set of tools we require to solve life's problems. Without discipline we can solve nothing. With only some discipline we can solve only some problems. With total discipline we can solve all problems."

On Problems:

"Problems are the cutting edge that distinguishes between success and failure. Problems call forth our courage and wisdom; indeed, they create our courage and wisdom. It is only because of problems that we grow mentally and spiritually."

On Delaying Gratification:

"Delaying gratification is a process of scheduling the pain and pleasure of life in such a way as to enhance the pleasure by meeting and experiencing the pain first and getting it over with. It is the only decent way to live."

On Reality:

"Our view of reality is like a map with which to negotiate the terrain of life. If the map is true and accurate, we will generally know where we are, and if we have decided where we want to go, we will generally know how to get there. If the map is false and inaccurate, we generally will be lost."

On Wisdom:

"The life of wisdom must be a life of contemplation combined with action."

On Human Nature..Part 1:

"The tendency to avoid challenge is so omnipresent in human beings that it can properly be considered a characteristic of human nature."

On Human Nature..Part 2:

"Another characteristic of human nature - perhaps the one that makes us most human - is our capacity to do the unnatural, to transcend and hence transform our own nature."

On Falling In Love:

"Falling in love is not an act of will. It is not a conscious choice. No matter how open to ar eager for it we may be, the experience may still elude us."

On Falling Out Of Love:

"...the experience of falling in love is invariably temporary. No matter whom we fall in love with, we sooner or later fall out of love if the relationship continues long enough."

On Serendipity:

"The paradox that we both choose grace and are chosen by grace is the essence of the phenomenon of serendipity. Serendipity was defined as 'the gift of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for'."

--M. Scott Peck