Proverbial

Continuing the exploration of my mother's commonplace book, I'm struck by how fond she was of writing out proverbs and aphorisms from many different world cultures. These proverbs are from the Chinese:

A man thinks he knows, but a woman knows better.

If fortune smiles - who doesn't? If fortune doesn't - who does?

Armies are maintained for years, to be used on a single day.

In misfortune, gold is dull; in happiness, iron is bright.

If you fear that people will know, don't do it.

Long visits bring short compliments.

The highest towers begin from the ground.

Free sitters at the play always grumble most.

Gold is tested by fire; man, by gold.

No image-maker worships the gods. He knows what stuff they are made of.

It is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool, than to open it and remove all possible doubt.

In our haste to deal with the things that are wrong, let us not upset the things that are right.

God gave man one mouth and two ears, so why don't we listen twice as much as we speak?

There is much truth in all of these, I think. As there is in this gypsy proverb:

If people do not know much do not laugh at them, for every one of them knows something that you do not.

In a similar vein, St John of the Cross wrote:

Do not despise others because, as it seems to you, they do not possess the virtues you thought they had: they may be pleasing to God for other reasons which you cannot discover.

Before I leave with reluctance this treasured cache of proverbs and aphorisms, I really must quote just 2 more. Plutarch quotes Simonides as saying that he never repented that he held his tongue, but often that he had spoken; and Confucius, coming from quite a different tangent, wisely states: He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes. He who does not remains a fool for ever.

This final quotation is a poem which was handed to a regional organiser of Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity, by a woman who had just become homeless. Living as she did in a remote rural spot, she had turned to the only person whom she thought would help her in her predicament - the local vicar. He was unable to give her even the most elementary advice, but promised to pray for her. Her reaction is expressed in this poem:

Shelter

I was hungry
and you formed a humanities group to discuss my hunger.
I was imprisoned
and you crept off quietly to your chapel and prayed for my release.

I was naked
and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.
I was sick
and you knelt and thanked God for your health.
I was homeless
and you preached to me of the spiritual shelter of the love of God.

I was lonely
and you left me alone to pray for me.
You seem so holy, so close to God.
But I am still very hungry
and lonely
and cold.

Devastating stuff.