"The genius, wit, and the spirit of a nation are discovered by their proverbs." What are the proverbs...?

Question

of your country?

And do you agree with this quote by Francis Bacon?

Thx in advance for your answers. : )

Answer 1

Texas Proverbs:

If you find yourself in a hole the first thing to do is stop digging.

Never follow whiskey with water, unless you're out of whiskey.

There's two theories about arguing with a woman. Neither one works.

Answer 2

I collect quotes.

Here is a brand new one that I heard on a television show just two days ago.

The phrase reflects some of the positive spirit, genius and wit of the United States.

“As a positive influence for the world…. the power of our example is far greater than our examples of power.”

Bill Clinton 8/27/08

Answer 3

This is my main area of interest!

Ok a nation choses it memes by the best events that ever happen there. it is not neccesary only proverbs. It is about legends, myths and all the fiction that wins over other fictions, or stories.

Aeschileus for example wrote 90 dramas, but only 7 have survived to our day.

The ancient greeks were angry that he would write about Persians and so he did not suceed, and all his work is lost. All that there is today is the Seven of thebe, Oedipus and a few others.

So greeks by not liking his other stuff chose who they were, maybe the otehr stuff could have made the greeks much better, but they made their choise!

Most of the proverbs are pretty much the same in all countries

for example

in Albanian "" The bird land on your hand only once" meaning the opportunity comes only once is seens in many other cultures with various diferent sayins but with the same meaning.

Or you also have the "Fox and the grapes" that travelled the world orally before we were to really know who invented it originally! Aesop wrote it doewn in Greece some 260 years ago. mainly greeks claim most of the things that were written then and we do not really know if they where really greek. Matter of factly very often we have from those memetics that have actors and names of people and places with meaning from the Albanian langauge. And of course we have allmost all of the Greek epos in our language too. So its kind of hard to really say whats whot and whos who as in the original.

the same goes with the Romans. They have had about 44 emperors (Costantine the Great was one of them He turned Rome Christian and the world thereafter) from Weastern ballkans, Illyrians (Albanians where one of their tribes) and as a result the culture has had imput which has gone both ways.

there are also other provers that are only Albanian and undisputed.

-You know the bird since it is an egg.

-Come on dad, let me show you your properties.

-Stone-stone, makes a wall. Rome was build like that too!

-Gjykon puna, s'gjykon guna. --Librazhd <- original lang

You tell by the work, not by the [clothes].

-Liberty has its roots in blood.

-It is better to die standing, than to live bending.

-Healthy mind, in a healthy body.

-From whence comes the word, comes the soul.

-Money does not choose the people.

last best ones:

Ujku fle hasmi s'fle:

The wolf sleeps, the Enemy doesn't

Ujku qimen e ndërron, po zakonin se harron.

The wolf changes its hair, but not its habit.

To cut short my answer, I think that indeed proverbs do capture the soul of a  nation, but it is memes, stories, myths and legends that will show you the reall choices of a nation. Nations have potential to develop talents withing them of memes of great stories. Aeschylus was the best ram writer ever. We know from Oresti from all the few works that survived. But he also migrataed from greece beacause they did not like his work and he went to Siciy. If only we could have his work today, The world would have a tresure! and maybe a different view of the hidden greece, of the Persians and so on!

Another example of an unsupportive cultuere would be the mad man in South Albania who wanted to fly, unlike Da Vinchi he did mount the thing he wanted to fly and jumped from a castle and died in the process. As a result the pople in the city callewd him a mad man, and if anyoine ever came with such a similar idea, they are discriminated or bullied, you want to be a Mad Man! Killing creativeity of people in this way!



Sorry Sky to write in such lenght, but did not have the time to write a short one (churchil).

Answer 4

Yes I agree with Sir Francis Bacon. Proverbs are pithy sayings. Short lines that encompass great wisdom and wit.