Old proverbs and your interpretation of them !

[dark_castle1]

"If wishes were horses beggars would ride".

My interpretation of said proverb is "that it is futile to wish for something as you fine well know it is unachieveable"

[dark_castle1]

Well that was a waste of time starting this thread hoping to generate a bit of interest and debate  !

[dark_castle1]

maybe my defining proverb or saying should be,

"fools rush in where angels fear to tread"

[malacandran]

I haven't come across that proverb before.  Your interpretation of it is clear and straightforward.

But you're obviously inviting thoughts which might go deeper, and be less obvious.

Therefore, what if we reason along these lines:  What do we really mean by a "wish"?  What are the intrinsic properties of wishes?

Some so-called "wishes" can be easily granted.  For example, suppose you've just finished a can of beer. And you know there are several more cans in the fridge.  Then if the thought occurs "I wish I had another beer", it can readily be made reality. By going to the fridge, and getting out a new can.

That's a kind of trivial, or what one might call,  a "soft" wish. Not really a wish at all, just a want which is quickly satisfied.

But other wishes are "hard".  Like "I wish I had millions of pounds".  That's not a wish that can be easily fulfilled.  You can of course buy a lottery ticket, and hope.  But the odds are millions to one against it.  For practical purposes it will almost certainly never come true.

So I would offer this more generalised interpretation of the proverb (which actually doesn't differ greatly from yours!):

"Wishes are things that have the magic of the unachievable"

 (PS I took too long to reply!)

[mustard-tree]

Some proverbs contradict each other

The 2 that come to mind are "Too many cooks spoil the broth"  and "More hand make like work"

[malacandran]

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@mustard-tree wrote:

Some proverbs contradict each other

The 2 that come to mind are "Too many cooks spoil the broth"  and "More hand make like work"

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 Yes indeed. Other contradictory pairs are :

"Look before you leap"  versus  "He who hesitates is lost"

"Take care of the pennies, and the pounds will take care of themselves"  v.  "Penny-Wise, Pound-Foolish"

How many other examples are there?

(Incidentally I intensely admire your "More hand make like work".  It has a gnomic, Zen-like quality, with potential to provide new insights)

[cee-dee]

Isn't it "Many hands make light work"?

[leoleoleo123]

Yes, more hands make light work.

[malacandran]

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@cee-dee wrote:

Isn't it "Many hands make light work"?

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Well obviously.  But I absolutely prefer Dark's re-wording, as it breaks into new horizons of thought.

[leoleoleo123]

"The pen is mightier than the sword."
! Trying to convince people with ideas and words is more effective than trying to force people to do what you want.

[malacandran]

"The pen is mightier than the sword"

= 

Top Civil Servants get higher salaries than Top Army Officers

[leoleoleo123]

Good interpretation.
My father certainly did...

[ilove2patch]

'Don't spoil the ship for a hapeth of tar' & 'A job worth doing is worth doing well' both mean the same thing.:)  'A stitch in time saves nine' is similar.

[dairyview123]

A rolling stone gathers no boot on the other foot?

[ed_blackadder_1]

A watched kettle never boils.....................................        probably because the bloomin thing is busted

[malacandran]

"The best things in life are free"

motto of migrants to UK

[mustard-tree]

A closed mouth gathers no foot

[leoleoleo123]

No foot?

[leoleoleo123]

Lol