The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1899-02-11
POPULAR PROVERBS.

A~~A-A~
SOME THAT ARE FAIRLY BRlMFUL OF
ABSURDlTY.
Maxlms Often Quoted and at Times
Advanced as Argument Which Have
Neither wit Nor Wisdom to COM
mend TRANSFORMATIONS Sayings.
There is mistaken notion abroad,
says a writer in London Tit-Bits, that
proverbs are epitomes of wisdom, the
concentrated experience of generations,
and that to quote one Of them in dis
cussion is to advance an unanswerable
argument. And yet what is there to
recommend many Of them beyond their
jingle7 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
to go to bed at unreasonably early hours
in the hope Of becoming sort of San
dow othschild though we
all know milkmen and market garden
ers who get up at 5 a. m. and are nei-
ther rich mol. clever, and members Of
parliament who go to bed late and are,
if not clever, at least not poor and in
firm. Since the invention of gas and
electric light this ridiculous old proverb
has outlived its original modicum of
truth, and proves we must not venerate
proverbs on account CT their hOary an
tiquity. -
The Early Bird Catches the Worm
The mistake made here is that it assumes
we are all birds. But some Of us are
worms. If we were not, what would
become of the birds7 And, therefore.
while the birds do we'll to be early, let
the worms be late-the later the better.
The Pitcher That Goes Oft to the Well
Ia, Broken at Last. Mote, it does not say
lis broken first, but els broken at
last OF course every pitcher, wheth-
er it goes to the we'll or stays on the
shelf, is broken at last, and the only re-
suit Of tbs absurd proverb is to encour-
age lazy folk to do as little work as pos
.sible and unnecessarily keep out Of
harms way. ...s
If You Want Thing Well Done, Do
It Yourself. There's shocking bad ad-
vice with which to start q youth ON
life's journey. If he wants q button
well sewed on, he's to do it himself; if
he wants his hair well cut, he's to cut
L r. Iii
chairs, shoe his own nag, darn his own
socks. In short, from buying horse to
blacHng his boots. ho must do it him
self. Poor fellowl ......
A Contented Mind Is Continual
Feast. Can any one say what that
means? Does it mean that the owner
continually feasts on his contented mind
ar 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 satisfied appetite is the source of
contentment Hence, tits not the con-
:tgnjed mind which makes the feast. as
the tilly proverb implies, but the con-
tinual feast which produces the con-
tented mind -.
There No Rule Without an Excep-
tion This is not only proverb; it is
also rule But obviously there is no
exception to this rule. because if there
proberb would be untrue. But the prov
erb is rule which has no exception.
which, as mir. Euclid would say. is alb
surd. Which was to be shown.
Where Ignorance Is Bliss, It's Folly
to Be Wise. oracular stupidity
this proverb may be classed with the
one about the pitcher. Granting it true.
the difficulty is to know where igno-
rance is bliss and of course the prov
orb gives no assistance where it ID
most needed. Most people quote it as
ignorance is bliss" in their blissful
ignorance. but if 9 proverb gives rise
to error it is not only absurd; it is also
dangerous When people Say
4 Little Learning Is Dangerous
Thing make that reason not
for learning more, but for learning less.
Love Me, Love Ny DOG: III I go
accounting, and my ladylove bids me love
her scented, dyspeptic poodle. which is
not necessary to her health and comfort.
must not much more love her glass
eye and false teeth and hair, which axef
Yet common sense revolts at tho notion,
and I therefore assume that a proverb
which, logically treated. makes such
unreasonable demands on my affections
is wrong and absurd.
Seeing Is Believing. How can any 70
decting person repeat these wordss For
very often we believe we see what real
ly we do not. II q conjurer were to take
this proverb as his motto. every one
would see its absurdity. A straight
stick half submerged in water looks
crooked. Fortunately. another proverb
says "Trust not to appearances. And
this bring US to the exquisite absurdity
of popular proverbs which run in con-
Trajectory pairs and support both sides
of an argument. Thus one proverb says.
"Look before you leap" another.
"Who hesitates is lost" Sometimes we
hear that 'sSeccad thoughts are best;''
at other times that delays are danger
ous.' The desperate man relies on
u.