Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1899-02-25
POPULAR PROVERBS.
SOME THAT ARE FAIRLY sRiMFUL OF
ABSUROITY.

ABSUROlTY.
! Mnxims often Quoted and mt Times
Advanced ns Argument which Have
Neither wit Nor wisdom 10 Com
mend Them-Contrndictor sayings.
There is mistaken notion abroad.
says a writer in London Tit Bits. that
proverbs are epitomes of wisdom the
ncentrated experience Of generations.
and that To quote one Of them in q dis
T'lssion Is 10 advance an unanswcrable
argument. And Yet what is there to
recommend many of them beyond their
jin',le! Take our familiar friend:
Early to Bed and Early to Rise. Makes
a Man Healthy. Wealthy and Wise
Obviously. the main idea was To- find
word to rhyme with ''rise and wise
was the unfortunate word chosen And
now. trustful little boys are persuaded
10 70 TO bed at unreasonably early hours
III the hope If becoming a sort of San
dow Rothsc hild Solomon. though we
all know milkmen and market garden
ers who get up at ) a. IN and are nei-
ther rich nor clever. and members If
parliament who 90 To bed late and are.
II not clever at least not poor and in
firm Since the invention of gas and
electric light this ridiculous old Imoverb
has outlived its original mu,iicum of
truth. and proves we must not venerate
proverbs on account Of their hoary an
tiquity.
The Early Bird Catches the Worm -
The mistake made here is that il assumes
we are all birds But some of us are
worms If we were not. what would
become of the birds: And therefore.
while the birds do well To he early. let
the worms be late-the later the better
The Pitcher That Goes Oft 10 the Well
Is Broken at Last. Note. il does not say
lis broken first but lis broken at
last. OF course. every pitcher. wheth-
er it goes to the well or stays ON the
shelf. is broken at last. and the only re-
suit of this absurd proverb is to encour-
age lazy folk to do as little work as pos
sible and unnecessarily keep out of
harms way.
If You Want Thing Well Done. Do
1t Yourself. There's shocking bad ad-
vice with which to start youth on
life's journey If he wants button
well sewed on. he's to do it himself; if
he wants his hair well cut. he's TO cut
it himself He must mend his own
chairs. shoe his own nag, darn his own
socks. In short. from buying horse 10
backing his boots. he must do it him
self Poor fellow.
A Contented Mind Is Continual
Feast. Can any one say what that
meansl Does il mean that the owner
continually feasts ON his contented mind
or that the contented mind Is contin-
ually feasting? Probably the latter as
we sometimes hear that "a hungry
mans an angry man. and we all know
that a satisfied appetite is the source of
contentment Hence il is not the con-
tented mind which makes the feast. as
the silly proverb implies. but the con-
tinual feast which produces the con-
tented mind
There's No Rule Without an Excep-
ton. This is not only IA proverb; it is
also rule But obviously there is no
exception to this rule because if there
were rule with an exception this
erb is a rule which has no exception.
which. as Mr. Euclid would say. is alb
surd Which was To be shown.
Where Ignorance Is Bliss. Tis Folly
to BE Wise For oracular stupidity
this proverb may he classed with the
one about the pitcher. Granting it true.
the difficulty is t. know where igno-
rance is bliss and of course the prov
erb gives no assistance where it is
most needed. Nest people quote it as
Ignorance is bliss. in their blissful
ignorance. but if proverb gives rise
to error it is not only absurd; 1t is also
dangerous. Whom people say
A Little Learning Is Dangerous
Thing They make that "A reason not
for learning more. but for learning less.
Love Me. Love Ny Dog. If | go
accounting. and my lldylove bids me love
her scented. dyspcptic poodle. which is
not necessary to her health and comfort.
must not much more love her glass
eye and false teeth ana hair. which areg
Yet common sense rcvOlts at the notion.
and | therefore assume that proverb
which. logically treated. makes such
unrt aSOnable demands on my affections
is wrong and absurd
Seeing Is Believing. How can any re-
fiecting person repeat these words! For
very often we believe we SEE what teal
" we do not Ii Il cnnlurer weTc to take
this proverb as his motto. every one
would So. its ahSur'ity \ straight
stick hal: submerged in water looks
crooked Fortunately another proverb
says. Trust not to Appearances And
this bring rs To the exquisite ahSiIrtiiy
of popular proverbs winch run IN con-
Trajectory pairs and support both sides
of an argument Thus one rroyerb says.
Look before ven leap: another.
"Who hesitates is lost Sometimes we
hear that "Second thoughts are best; =
at other times that Delays are danger
ous The desperate man relies on
Nothing venture. nothing have: the
cautious man ON Never venture out of
your depth till You can swim. The
impatient matrimonial candidate be-
lieves that Happy : the wnoIng that's
not long a-doing;' the tardy one that
one may Marry in haste and repent at
leisure. And So on al infinitum. ''Ab-
sence makes the heart grow fonder -
"Out of sight. ont of mind. lit ; never
too late 10 mend "A fool NJ 40 will
never he wise = TOO many cooks spoil
the broth There's safety in Aum-
bers and Two heads are better than
one
Therefore let MS examine our proven
bial coinage before We pass il into the
moral currency
change aufrd.
What some peopl' need more than
anything else Is change thcy h1v2