PROVERBS

1. All that glitters is not gold.

All that glitters is not gold. Rolled gold glitters more. But when the outward covering goes,
the glittering dies. So the shining of the rolled gold ornament is only a show. Similarly, there
are some people in the society with outward show. They are gentlemen out-wardly. But in
real, they may be cruel. Some fruits look very beautiful. But when we cut them, we find
worms coming out of them. We should not believe in the honey coated words of the so called
gentleman. Physical beauty is temporary just like the beauty of the rolled Gold. Mental grace
is as permanent as the glittering of gold. But all that glitters is not gold.
2. Slow and steady wins the race (or) Haste makes waste.
The saying ‘slow and steady wins the race’, comes out from the story of the hare and
tortoise. The boasting hare fails in the race with its reckless behaviour. The humble tortoise
wins the race with its slow and steady plans. From this story, we have to understand that we
must have slow and steady plans to get good results to our deeds. Quick decisions may bring
good results sometimes. But generally they may ruin our progress. The given proverb
reminds us of another saying, ‘Haste makes waste’. The farmer cannot get the heap of good
crop with hasty methods. The teacher cannot do justice, if he is asked to complete the ocean
of portion within a short period.
3. The crown and glory of life is character.
We can have the crown and glory of life only when we have sound character. Even if we
have wealth, knowledge and power, we will not be respected, if we lack morality. Good
name and fame will come to us without our efforts, if we are the people with good character.
Some people boast of themselves that they will stand for morality. But at the same time they
will do vices. The people with bad character may prosper sometimes. But their success is
temporary. When the time comes, the bad people will be kicked out of the society.
4. Honesty is the best policy
Without honesty, we cannot command respect from our fellow human beings. Honesty is the
best policy for us to prosper in the society. Though sometimes dishonest people appear to
prosper, in the long run they will fail. Their success is temporary. Troubles may come to the
honest people, but in the long run, they will be honoured. So from this we can understand that
honesty is the best policy for us to get name and fame in the society. The dishonest business
people may prosper in their business temporarily. But when their dishonest methods are
detected, they will be kicked out of the society.
5. Knowledge is power. (or) The pen is mightier than the sword.
Physical strength is of no use before mental strength, A person may be very strong in physic.
But if he has no tact in his mind even a weak fellow with strong mind can defeat him. The
pen is stronger than the sword. If one wounds his fellow being physically with the sword,
another can wound the feelings of many with his pen. It is very easy to mend the physical
wounds. But it is very difficult to cure the wounds of the mind. Knowledge is power. So the
strength of our power should be measured not with the rod of wealth but with
the record of knowledge. A man of wit and wisdom will be honoured at any time under any
clime.
6. Character is fate
The character of man decides his fate or destiny. It there is any tragic flaw or weakness in
his character, then that weakness decides his fate. Too much thinking is the tragic weakness
in the character of Hamlet. Jealousy and suspicion can be taken as the tragic flaw in the
character of Othello. Over ambition is the tragic weakness in the character of Macbeth.
Blind love is the tragic flaw in Antony. In all these characters created by Shakespeare, we
find how fate is decided by the character. They met their deaths with tragic weaknesses in
the character.
7. The child is the father of the man.
The popular saying, ‘The child is the feather of the man’ comes from the pen of Wordsworth.
It means that the lines of future development of the man are laid in his childhood. The
impacts and influences that fall in the mind of a child will continue to function in his future
life. As the child of today, is the citizen of tomorrow, the parents must take proper care in
bringing him up. There is every scope for the parents to sow the good seeds in the divine
minds of the children. We find the divine influence both in child and old man. So the child is
father of the man.
8. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
If there is a bird within the reach of one’s hand one should not try for the two birds which are
away from his reach. If a person tries for the unknown things, he may fail to get them besides
losing the known thing .. So we must not try for the things of uncertainty. We must be
satisfied with what we can get. It is better for a merchant to concentrate on the business with
an ambition of becoming a king, he may remain on the public road just like a pauper without
any copper. A clever teacher never creates confusion to the students by giving the unknown
examples.
9. No pains, No Gain.
If there is no rain, then will be no grain. Similarly, if there is no pain, then there will be no
gain. Sincere efforts will always bring good results. If we do hard work, without any doubt,
we succeed in our work. If the students study well, they will pass the examinations. If the
business people work sincerely they will get success in their business. There will be no crop,
if the farmers sleep away their time during the season. If a lecturer works hard in the
explaining a lesson, then he can get good name from the students.
10. Failures are the stepping stones to success.
Perhaps no man on the surface of the earth, has achieved all success without any failure in his
life. Every man has to face one kind of failure, or another to get success in his life. The child
that fails in putting steps today, may become a valient man tomorrow. The body who fails to
talk in the presence of the great people today, may become a great orator tomorrow. Though
we receive failures today, with all our efforts, we are sure to get success tomorrow. Failures
make us work more. Thus failures are the stepping stones to success.
11. Haste makes waste
This proverb means that if you try to do something quickly, without planning it you are likely
to end up spending more time, money etc, doing it. In our daily life, there are many occasions
where most people are in a hurry to do their work in time on these situations, the environment
expects a fast service to resolve the problem in a short time. This behaviour could result in a
real waste of time and effort. For example, sometimes when we go to a restaurant to have
lunch, we expect a fast service and we don't like to wait. This expectation could finish in a
bad quality of food. The same problem affect to all services like banks, super markets,
libraries and bus stations. So we can conclude that in most occasions, people make big
mistakes when act in hurry.
12. All is fair in love and war
In some situations, such as when you are in love or waging war, you are allowed to be
deceitful in order to get what you want. It is all really about winning. If you are in love
with someone, you will do what ever it takes to with that person's love. You will spend
countless hours strategizing how to win his/her heart and ultimately some of the choices that
you may, be out landish, deceitful and may be even illegal. If you take the example of war, it
is a fight to the death. There is no such thing as a fair fight. The woman of your dreams
should be fought for. In fact she may even respect and love you more because it shows that
you are a protector of the things you love.
13. Pride comes before a fall
Something that you say which means if you are too confident about yourself, something bad
will happen to show you that you are not as good as you think you are. Just because you did
well in your exams doesn't mean you can stop working; If a person is too proud about'
himself or something, he will probably meet with failure or disaster. When we are too self-
important or conceited something is sure to happen to make us look foolish. This idiom is
also given as an example to prove that when a person is destined to fail or fall which is
decided by the almighty God, then no one can stop that person from taking the wrong step
and making a wrong decision, despite the fact that apparently that person is not expected to
do such a thing under normal conditions.
14. Better late than never
Better late than never means that it is better to do something later than to never do it at all. If
any person attends a party or a function people who were already there may say that it was
better he had come at least at that hour, without bunking. If a person wants to go to school
and study at a late age, people encourage him by saying, ‘better late than never’. That means
instead of not studying any thing in the entire life time and staying as an illiterate it is better
even if he studies in his old age.

15. Little strokes fell great oaks

Even though something many seen impossible , if you break it up into small parts and take
one step at a time , you will succeed ,each little axe swing seems a small clip to the oak tree,
but lost of those little action ends up in the tree being chopped down . The idea is that
persistence yield a reward over the long term No matter how difficult the goal may seem .we
can take the example of great Achilles. He was no spear or sword could pierce him even the
most violent attacks were futile. But the one weak spot his heel was knick and brought upon
him his down fall.