The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-11-22
POPULAR Proverbs.
SOME THAT ARE FAIRLY BRIN-
FUL OF ABSURDITF.

FUL OF ABSURDITY.
aaxIms Cften Quoted aud at Times
Advanced As Argument Which
Have Neither wit Nor Wisdom 10
Commend Them-ConIrad.ctOr Say.
tnEs.
There is a 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 a dis
cussion is to advance an unansWerabe
argument. And yet what is there to
/ recommend many Of them beyond their
jingle? Take our familiar friend:
Early to Bed and Early to Rise, Makes
d 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 unreasonabIy early
hours in the hope Of becoming a
sort of Sandow Rothschild-S Solomon,
/ though we all know milkmen and mar
ket gardeners who get up at 3 a. m.
and are neither rich nor clever, and
members of parliament who go TO bed
! late and are, if not clever, at least not
| poor and infirm. Since the invention of
gas and electric light this ridiculous cid
proverb has outlived it's original modi-
cum of truth, and proves We must not
| venerate proverbs on account of their
hoary antiquity.
| 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. VIII
would become of the birds? And, there
| fore, while the birds 90 we'll to he c"ily,
let the worms be late-the later the
| better.
The Pitcher That Goes Oft to the
Well Is Broken at Last.-Note, it does
not say lis broken first" but lis brok
en- at last" OF course, every pitcher
whether it goes to the well or stays on
the shelf, is broken at last, and the
only result of this absurd proyerb is
to encourage lazy folk to do as little
| WOTh DIS pOnSlUle anu uIlilSCSoSdI llg
keep out of harms way
! If You Want Thing Well Done, Do
1t Yourself-There's shocking bad adj
vice with which to start youth on
| life's journey. If he wants button
well sewed on, he's to do 1t 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 a horse to
fblacking his boots, he must do it HIM
self. Poor fellow!
| A Contented Mind Is a Continual
Feast.-Can any one say what that
means? Does it mean that the owner
continually feasts on his contented
mind or that the contented mind is con-
tinually 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 it 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-
tion.-This is not only a proverb; it is
also rule. But obviously there is no
exception to this rule, because if there
were rule with an exception this
proverb would be untrue. But the prov
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 be classed with the
one about the pitcher Granting it true,
the difficulty is to know where ignor-
ance is bliss and of course the prov
erb gives no assistance where it is
most needed. Most people quote it as
Ignorance is bliss" in their blissful
ignorance, but if a proverb gives rise
to error it is not only absurd; it is also
dangerous. When people Say
A Little Learning Is a Dangerous
Thing-They make that a reason not
for learning more, but for learning
less.
Love Me, Love My Dog.-1f l go
accounting; and my lady love bids me
love her scented, dyspeptic poodle,
which is not necessary to her health
and comfort, must I not much more
love her glass eye and false teeth and
hair, which are? Yet common sense
revolts that ap reverb which, logically
treated, makes such unreasonable de-
mands on my affections is wrong and
absurd.
Seeing Is Believing.-How can any
rejecting person repeat these words?
For very often we believe we see what
really we do not. If a conjurer We're
tO take this nrnVprh as his motto every
one would see it's absurdity. A straight
stick half submerged in water looks
crooked. Fortunately, another proverb
says, Trust not to appearances. And
this brings us to the exquisite alb
surdity OF popular proverbs which run
in contradictory pairs and support both
sides of an argument Thus one prov
erb says, Look before you leap" an
other, Who hesitates is lost" Some
times we hear that Second thoughts
are best" at other times that Delays
are dangerous. 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 believes that "Happy's the
wooing that's not long a-doing;" the
tardy one that one may Marry in
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