Just Sayin’

Many of the old-time sayings in the English language hold a lot of truth. The Against the Flow blog has been saving up quite a few of them for your lighter springtime reading. We have divided them up into different categories, but many don’t want to be put in just one box.

Where possible, the origin of the saying is in brackets.

With thanks to Google for the research. Have a look!

The Outdoors
-Go light go often. (John Ferguson and Dave Thompson, Elmsville, N.B.
-The perfect is the enemy of the good. (Voltaire)
-The apple does not fall far from the tree (Ralph Waldo Emerson & an old German proverb)
-Kill two birds with one stone (Proverb)
-There is more than one way to skin a cat. (i.e., Keep on trying when you meet an obstacle)

Politics
-Politics is the art of the possible. (Otto van Bismarck)
-Perfection is the enemy of progress (Winston Churchill)

Sports and Coaching                                                                   
-I don’t want that ball. (Lee Johnson, NFL punting legend, never over-confident)
-No pain, no gain (i.e., keep at it!)

The Kitchen
-Waste not, want not (Proverb)
-Don’t cry over spilled milk (James Howell, British historian)

Homespun Philosophy
-All that glitters is not gold (William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice)
-Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it. (i.e., No need to worry now)
-Let’s put two and two together!) (i.e., We can figure it out)
-Hold your nose. (i.e., other choices may be worse)
-He’s too clever by half. (Melville’s The Interpreter)
-Here today, gone tomorrow. (Proverb)

For Troubled times
-Discretion is the better part of valour. (Shakespeare’s favorite character, Falstaff)
-Necessity is the mother of invention. (Plato)
-Keep your eyes on the prize. (Civil Rights folk song)
-Stop splitting hairs! (i.e., The differences between things don’t gain you much)

Religion
-You only live once (Song by The Strokes)
-Turn, turn, turn—Ecclesiastes and Pete Seeger
-Don’t tempt the gods (proverb)
-God is love. (John I, The Bible)

Optimism
-What a difference a day makes. (Song by Jamie Cullum)
-It’s a light at the end of the tunnel. (Popularized by President John Kennedy)
-It’s a blessing in disguise. (i.e., The cloud has a silver lining)
-It wasn’t meant to be (i.e., It was “fated”)
-Some of the best things in life grow out of hardship (i.e., Find the good)

Rough Justice
-You burns your ass, you sits on your blisters. (A tough view on mistakes in life)

Mental Health
-If you have a tack in your foot or your rear end, remove it! {a wise doctor said this} (i.e., don’t soldier on for the sake of being seen as tough)
-“You’re looking hale and hearty” (i.e., you must have walked five kilometers before breakfast!)
 
Relationships
-Your wish is my command. (Aladdin and the Magic Lamp)
-Hell hath no fury like a women scorned {William Congreve, English poet} (This is a touchy one, does this apply to men too?)
- No, that would open a can of worms. (i.e., Take you down a wrong path)
“Forgetting takes practice” {Quoted in The Evening Chorus by author Helen Humphreys} (i.e., Avoid scars from the difficulties of life)
-What he/she doesn’t know, won’t hurt her/him. (i.e., something done that should not have been done)

Musical Truths
- “Don’t worry, be happy.
  ‘Cause when you worry,
  Your face it will frown,
  And that will bring everyone down.” (Bobby McFerrin, song)
- “Dare to be a Daniel,
 Dare to stand alone,
 Dare to have a purpose firm,
 Dare to make it known.” Old Hymn, and a favorite of the Against the Flow blog.
 
If you have a favorite saying, let us know!