[Lexicog] Re: Proverbs and their cross-cultural equivalents

[Peter Kirk]

On 25/09/2004 17:26, Kenneth C. Hill wrote:

>How about the famous quote from Alexander Pope which has achieved
>proverbial status: "fools rush in where angels fear to tread"? English, I
>think, focusses more on the foolish (those lacking judgment) than on the
>mad (those with a cognitive disorder). ...
>
>
>
There are of course many old Hebrew proverbs, in the biblical book of
that name and in Ecclesiastes, which focus on the foolish. Pope's line
was very much in that tradition. Here are a few from the book of
Proverbs (from NIV, sorry they are not gender neutral):

12:16 A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an
insult.

12:23 A prudent man keeps his knowledge to himself, but the heart of
fools blurts out folly.

17:10 A rebuke impresses a man of discernment more than a hundred lashes
a fool.

17:12 Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly.

20:3 It is to a man's honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to
quarrel.

21:20 In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a
foolish man devours all he has.

The contrasting pair:
26:4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like
him yourself.
26:5 Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own
eyes.

26:9 Like a thornbush in a drunkard's hand is a proverb in the mouth of
a fool.

27:22 Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding him like grain with
a pestle, you will not remove his folly from him.

--
Peter Kirk
peter at qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk at qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/




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