A Dictionary of New Epigrams – Journey

1. Having a goal for your life’s journey and moving along a path toward your destination is essential to your happiness. AI= The pursuit of purpose and direction in life’s journey is key to finding happiness.
2.  Do you know where you are on your life journey? AI= Are you cognizant of your position along your life’s journey? 
3.  Sometimes you will need to make a dangerous leap of faith if your journey is to be successful. AI= At times, taking a daring leap of faith is imperative for the success of your journey
4.  Keep your plan and your movements within the realm of prudent possibility, as reckless actions only need to fail once to ruin your ambitions. AI= Exercise caution in your planning and actions, for recklessness can lead to the downfall of your aspirations.
5.  The forethought of probabilities permits you to make your journey safely. AI= The contemplation of likelihoods allows for a safe progression in your journey.
6.  For every person, there is a path forward, but for most, it is confusing and filled with terrible obstacles. AI= Every individual has a path to follow, yet for many, it is shrouded in confusion and hindered by hindrances.
7.  It is usually safer to follow in other people’s tracks on their journey, but everyone is unique and, at some point, must journey alone. AI= Trudging the same path as others may offer stability, but ultimately, one must embark on their unique journey alone.
8.  The whole world will watch with pleasure someone on their journey who has confidence and is overcoming obstacles. AI= The world watches in admiration as one confidently overcomes obstacles on their journey.
9.  It becomes a tedious journey when you don’t move and are constantly experiencing the same old things. AI= Stagnation in life’s journey leads to monotony and boredom.
10.  We all wander from birth to death and end in the same place, but the journey toward our personal goals can be exhilarating. AI= We all embark on a journey from birth to death, but it is the pursuit of personal goals that imbues the journey with excitement.
11.  If you don’t look ahead with forethought, your feet will hit painful things on the path, and you will fall and be injured. AI= Without foresight, missteps can lead to injury in life’s journey.
12.  Ultimately we all surrender to the realities that nature imposes on everything. AI= Ultimately, we all succumb to the realities imposed by nature.
13.  It is not enough to look ahead and know the way; we must exert the energy to travel it. AI= Merely acknowledging the path ahead is insufficient, it requires exertion to traverse it.
14.  Some claim we must give up all worldly attachments to achieve the ultimate, but that nonexistence of self is identical to bodily death. AI= Some believe that forsaking worldly attachments leads to enlightenment, yet it is equivalent to physical death.
15.  The healthy path for your ultimate journey is in your heart and lungs. AI= A healthy journey requires both a strong heart and lungs.
16.  It is through the flow of blood from the heart and the replenishment of blood from our breathing to keep it fresh that the journey is possible. AI= It is through the continuous flow of blood and the nourishment of breath that sustains the journey.
17.  The journey is easy; taking the next step requires effort. AI= The journey may be easy, but each step forward requires effort.
18.  There is some inertia in taking steps and continuing to take them, but the opposite occurs when you stop, and it takes a new impetus to get going. AI= Inactivity leads to a loss of momentum, whereas the renewal of efforts is required to restart the journey.
19.  Religion is idle entertainment for the ones who are on their true journey. AI= Religion may provide entertainment, but it distracts from the true journey.
20.  Nature constantly sends you views of the valid paths and warns of false paths from false prophets who desire your servitude and money. AI= Nature presents the true paths and warns against false ones, guided by false prophets seeking servitude and wealth.
21.  To travel your journey in hope is better than to arrive at the journey’s end in exhaustion and sorrow. AI= Embarking on the journey with hope is preferable to reaching its end in exhaustion and lament.
22.  At the end of your journey, you find that the self you sought was with you all along. AI= At the conclusion of the journey, the self is realized to have been present all along.
23.  You have no choice but to travel your journey alone, even when surrounded by friends and enemies. AI= Though surrounded by friends and foes, one must undertake the journey alone.
24.  There is a path forward for everyone, even though it is fleeting as one on a turbulent ocean. AI= Every individual has a path, though it may be fleeting like the ocean’s currents.
25.  Transformation is a journey without a destination, so what’s the point? That is the point. AI= The journey of transformation has no destination, but that is the point.
26.  It is usually pleasant and safe to go over the same old paths, but you must accept that you have arrived and be content. AI= The familiarity of old paths may bring comfort, but one must acknowledge arrival and find contentment.
27.  The travel inward is from ignorance to recognition of your ignorance. AI= The inward journey leads from ignorance to the recognition of ignorance.
28.  It is a weary path that offers you no challenges, as your life will become meaningless, despairing, lifeless, and forgotten. AI= A journey without challenges leads to a meaningless, despairing, and forgotten life.
29.  You won’t stub your toe on your journey standing still, but your knees will hurt. AI= Inactivity may prevent missteps, but will lead to physical pains.
30.  The good life is progressing toward a worthwhile goal. AI= Progression towards a meaningful goal is the essence of a fulfilling life.
31.  If you want to know what’s ahead, ask several different people returning from there for their opinions. AI= Seek out diverse perspectives of those who have traveled ahead for a glimpse of what lies ahead.
32.  If you have departed from your past, the future is with you now. AI= Your future lies ahead as you depart from your past.
33.  For those who would discourage your journey, quietly walk away in mind and body, find your truth and leave them to find theirs. AI= For those who seek to hinder your journey, maintain your truth and gracefully depart in mind and body to allow them to find their own truth.
34.  We must always be aware of discoveries while on our journey but not be distracted by them from our self-chosen goal. AI= Stay attuned to discoveries in life’s journey, but do not let them distract from your self-appointed objective.

In the list above the AI= is a notification that the following sentence is a rewrite of the former one. This AI rewrite is done as an experiment in getting a new view of my thoughts, but it needs careful rethinking because it frequently introduced opposite ideas to the ones I intended. However, I do think it made a few improvements.

AI prompt — A man on a path walking toward a shining symbol on a mountaintop.

Images are created at — https://labs.openai.com/e/, digital art — The AI= statements were made with — https://chat.openai.com/chat

Helper sources:  https://probaway.wordpress.com/ — https://google.com — https://app.grammarly.com/ddocs/ — https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/experiment

A Dictionary of New Epigrams – Courage

1. You must balance courage and caution to go beyond what you know to discover new things.
2. It takes courage to listen when you want to speak.
3. Children learn to be courageous by coping with fear, but it is avoided by adults as much as possible.
4. Too much courage will get you to a grave quickly.
5. Too much courage will get you killed.
6. When does courage evolve into foolish behavior?
7. Bear every challenge in life with courage.
8. Courage looks directly into the face of every problem.
9. The courage to take a risk proves your desire to succeed is more important than the possibility of failing.
10. Courage combined with forethought of proven facts will bring consistent accomplishment.
11. One man with the courage for bold action will drive many sheep in men’s clothing away.
12. Your life expands or shrinks with your enthusiasm and the courage to pursue your goals with action.
13. A trained combatant is courageous in the face of death, but a dedicated human struggles with the problems of living.
14. The courage to expose yourself to ridicule is the foundation of creative actions that bring progress.
15. Things never seen before brings instant rejection to those without the courage to look and see.
16. When the courage of their boss is displayed, the followers will obey what he commands them to do.
17. Courage controls one’s fear of achieving a goal, whereas the absence of fear is a symptom of a psychopathic disorder.
18. Having no fear permits self-destructive actions that precipitate the death of oneself and others.
19. A person with no courage doesn’t experience the world and misses out on the joys of living.
20. To love life and your companions takes courage but helping them live more abundantly makes your life worth living.
21. A lack of courage brings a slow meaningless death, but too much courage brings a quick but glorious one.
22. Hope is an empty man’s source of courage, but it survives on promises that can never be examined, let alone proven.
23. A man of wholesome courage lives to achieve goals he knows are essential for his group to thrive.

A man seeking the stone with “Know thyself!” beside a classical Delphi column.

A Dictionary of New Epigrams – Solitude

1. If you have been kind to others and kind to yourself, having some time of solitude is delicious.
2. If you have chosen a life of hostility to others and yourself, you will find solitude dreadful.
3. Too much solitude, like too much of anything, becomes painful.
4. Happy people enjoy being with themselves.
5. A wise stoic is happy being alone and with others.
6. It is enjoyable to be alone with a demanding job that is going well.
7. Critical conversations stimulate the mind with new ideas, but it’s in solitude that creative solutions are revealed.
8. While connecting with yourself and in solitude, you discover how to communicate with people.
9. Solitude flushes away the obfuscations, and we can see reality without corrupting influences.
10. An hour or two in good conversations each day is enough, and the rest of my time is more comfortably spent in solitude.
11. When I continuously watch myself, I come to realize I am a different person in every situation.
12. When one is in solitude, the only one lying to you is yourself and your memories of the lies embedded in what others said or did.
13. Painful loneliness and pleasant solitude are the virtues of being alone.
14. In solitude, we can perceive those subtle things in our being that become invisible in the beautiful chaos of social interactions.
15. A man alone on the desert island has no social regulations on good or bad behavior.
16. When the temptations of the social world are hidden by distance and time, they lose their allure, and I feel the contentment of solitude.
17. When alone in an empty sea or wild desert wilderness, we look up at night and form companionships with the sky and stars.
18. We came from the void and raw matter; we live within that solitude in time and space and soon return to it evermore.
19. When immersed in solitude, we are free of all social obligations and can do anything we please that reality permits.
20. Solitude fills the senses and mind with feasts and fasting.
21. A period of solitude helps us be kinder to ourselves and everything else.
22. A man must have experience with the world before he can appreciate the opportunities offered by solitude.
23. We can find the most remarkable sanity in solitary contemplation and the worst insanity in a panic-filled crowd.

Thoughtcrime

The tenth of the Ten Commandments violates the American Constitution.

BIBLE Exodus 20:17

¹⁷ Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Trimming it to the essence, there is a direct conflict between these two documents that pivot on one’s personal thoughts.

Thou shalt not covet … anything that is thy neighbor’s, versus Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, … or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;

The Constitution actually carries the thought of coveting further than the 10th Commandment by permitting the public statement of any thought. Whereas the 10th Commandment prohibits a person from even thinking about wanting something his neighbor possesses.

Jesus, in his Sermon on the Mount, goes even deeper into condemning Thoughtcrime. Matthew 5:27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery. ²⁸ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” — Matthew 5:21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,^[a] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ ²² But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister^[b][c] will be subject to judgment.”

These demands are impossible because one’s mind will think one of these thoughts in an instant, and you are guilty of thinking it, even if you suppress it immediately. However, the US Constitution not only permits you to think thoughts it allows and protects you to say them publicly.

Cyprus – Proverbs for playing the Aphor Game

I have modified proverbs, and aphorisms from more than 220 countries to be used in the Aphor Game, to find ideas in between, and as extensions of these aphor posts to prompt the discovery of new ideas.

Sources: Cypriot Academy – Proverbicals – Symbol Hunt – World Proverbs

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1. A baby must cry to stimulate its mother to nurse it.
2. A beautifully carved stone will find a proper place.
3. A boy who doesn’t obey his parents must sit in the corner.
4. A calm river is as dangerous as a turbulent one.
5. A cat may age, but its claws remain sharp.
6. A ceramic pot may go to the well often, but a little blow against a rock will end its usefulness.
7. A child inherits some of its qualities and copies others but is responsible for creating his mature character.
8. A child needs encouragement to develop a good sense of worth and be able to see and avoid nonsense.
9. A clear sky rarely produces lightning, but some appear to come as last strokes from beside a thunderstorm cloud.
10. A conversation with madmen drives a sane man mad.
11. A dog barks and defends the place and the people who feed him.
12. A dog still barking isn’t about to bite, but you should slowly back away when it’s snarling and darting forward and back.
13. A few bites of tasty food stimulate the appetite.
14. A fine day ahead is apparent early in the morning.
15. A fish with a head beginning to smell bad might still have a cookable body.
16. A fly fell into our milk, but he didn’t eat much before the dog ate them both.
17. A fool may have little sense, but he will still work if hungry.
18. A fool’s relationship with the world is founded on incidental assumptions that are not tested.
19. A friendly greeting deserves a warm greeting, so take note of one who isn’t social enough to give the nod.
20. A gambler’s plate is empty seven times before he gets a bite.
21. A good captain shows his skills in a storm.
22. A good understanding between people permits a friendship to grow.
23. A good village makes it obvious where you may find the necessities.
24. A helpful mother is a gift from heaven.
25. A horse with a sheep’s tail can’t defend its ass from flies.
26. A hungry bear, like a hungry man, can’t do his dance correctly.
27. A lazy donkey tries to do two loads in one trip.
28. A lazy man tries to do too much hastily and walks away from steady work.
29. A life without friends will bring deaths without suffering.
30. A life without friends’ is as purposeless as throwing eggs at a wall.
31. A man changes character when he takes off his business clothes and enters his peaceful world.
32. A man that is undereducated is like a half-carved sculpture.
33. A man who spends ten percent more than he earns will be in jail in ten years.
34. A mind that doesn’t plan ahead sets the forces that bring failure into play.
35. A mirror will show you what you like and don’t like about your appearance.
36. A mountain stands alone, and if it has merged with another, it has a single name.
37. A poor man can’t afford to express anger, or he may starve.
38. A precipice ahead and wolves behind has no good choice.
39. With time available to keep talking, a priest will eventually scare everyone to death.
40. A short prayer is, “Amen!”
41. A single walnut from a walnut tree can produce a walnut tree.
42. A single woman brings abundance to a man, but more or fewer brings loss.
43. A slip of the tongue is a slip of the mind thinking of other things.
44. A small donkey looks like a growing one, so buyer beware.
45. A virtuous woman always deserves praise.
46. A well-fed person forgets what it’s like to be hungry.
47. About the only thing modern about your corpse is your dental work.
48. After a year of work, you can only claim that you are still breathing.
49. After renouncing grapes, the fox tried to reach a Christian’s dinner but discovered it was Lent.
50. Among dry-wood fire, a green branch will also burn.
51. An aimless mind doesn’t know what useful work consists of.
52. An anus that farts is still functioning.
53. An anus that won’t shit is failing and will injure and kill its owner.
54. An enemy’s pain is a comedy to foolish people.
55. An ethical priest makes the robes honorable.
56. An honest man will sacrifice an eye before staining his honor.
57. An ill-matched couple shares no beautiful flowers.
58. An instant might bring wisdom that a lifetime of observation has not.
59. Anger will drive a man to burn his bedding to kill a flea.
60. Any place is a suitable grave site for the dead person.
61. As soon as she was born, your bride began looking and acting more like your new mother-in-law.
62. Avoid feelings of spite, for it will blind you and make you miserable.
63. Bad dogs and men have ugly deaths.
64. Bad years like neighbors causing problems are part of life.
65. Be a little late occasionally, so your friends will regret your not being with them.
66. Before you go to bed, lay to rest the anger of the day.
67. Better to be promptly on time than a little late.
68. Better to carry a stone on your shoulder than have it shoved up your anus.
69. Beware of raising a cuckoo’s child.
70. Bolt your door and keep your fences conspicuous to prevent your neighbor from becoming a thief.
71. Breadsticks are a problem for those without teeth and soup.
72. By asking, you can find the road to Rome.
73. By the time we got our voices tuned, we had forgotten the words to the song.
74. Care for the earth as if it is the place where you will spend your whole life.
75. Cocks crow from a high place and hens from the barnyard.
76. Come granddad, and let me show you the vineyards you planted years ago.
77. Deadly competition is nature’s way of sorting problems.
78. Death keeps knocking on the door, and I keep it locked.
79. Do a good deed, and enjoy the karma.
80. Do people working all day in the rain fear getting wet?
81. Do we unwashed humans stink to dogs as much as dirty dogs stink to us?
82. Don’t bother snakes and other animals, and they won’t bother you.
83. Don’t fear the trees that bend with the wind.
84. Don’t overburden a cooperative donkey.
85. Don’t pour your water on other people’s gardens when your garden is dry.
86. Don’t talk about things that are offensive to your companions.
87. Don’t throw stones at people, and they won’t throw them back at you.
88. Don’t waste time looking for fleas in a haystack.
89. Don’t worry about food, clothing, and shelter, but do what you need to do to own them.
90. Drink wine and beer with the local people when they don’t trust the fresh water.
91. Each child receives genes and, after parental socialization, finds friends that will help it grow into the adult it wishes to become.
92. Each hand washes the other, and together they wash the face.
93. Eat a big bite, but chew a while before making conversation.
94. Eat, drink, and have great conversations with your relatives, but never do business with them.
95. Enjoy the grapes, and don’t worry about the vineyard’s name.
96. Even a priest must sleep at night.
97. Even death can be a pleasant experience when you’re in good company.
98. Even with the most skilled gamblers, there is an element of luck.
99. Every day your mother does not load you with Christmas presents.
100. Every fool is stuck with his beliefs, but a wiser fool learns to explore ideas and choose the healthier ones.
101. Every magpie raises its chicks to be magpies.
102. Every material thing exists, but living things try to continue existing.
103. Every moment of the universe is a new reality, and every thought explores a deflecting of the inertia of reality.
104. Every obstacle offers a challenge to develop a skill.
105. Every spring will have its first swallow.
106. Everyone has a whole thesaurus of possible experiences.
107. Everyone has their season, and every living person’s season is now.
108. Everyone says to everyone else, and I’m the best for doing what I do.
109. Everyone who is proud is competing with God.
110. Everything in moderation except reality, which should be accepted totally.
111. Faces that you don’t see will be forgotten, but remember from whom you developed your habits.
112. Fast-talking verbosity demonstrates superficial thoughts.
113. Feed a jackdaw, and it will eat your eyes.
114. Find a young teacher for enthusiasm, but an old one for the easy paths.
115. Fire only burns where there is fuel, oxygen, and ignition.
116. For a bad old wall, a covering must suffice.
117. For the basil’s sake, the pot needs a little more water.
118. Friday night’s cheer and booze is Saturday morning’s ache and snooze.
119. Give a fool a sausage, and he tries to straighten it and asks for his money back.
120. Give a thief the key to your house and buy some new silverware.
121. Give me your husband, said the sergeant, and find a disabled one.
122. Give too much kindness, and it goes to waste.
123. Go absent from your job, and your cash goes absent too.
124. Go early to work and come home to a good dinner.
125. God loves everyone, even thieves, and he loves victims too.
126. God torments those He loves to prove he loves everyone.
127. God wants those he loves close enough to pester.
128. Good sense survives and appears to come with age because the fools are gone having killed themselves off with stupid behaviors.
129. Grain by grain, an ocean beach is made beautiful.
130. Hair is so crazy it never knows which way to turn.
131. Having entered a dance, you must dance.
132. He farts and looks skeptically at the fat man.
133. He has no money, so he has the festival in his head.
134. He itches on a place where he can’t scratch, so he scratches another.
135. He suspected cancer from a fresh pimple.
136. He rises to the top like an oily scum.
137. He settled into his new job like water into the ocean.
138. He wants his bread still warm from baking and a dog hungry to be fed old bread.
139. He went in for trimming and came out bald.
140. He who buys the seed must accept the harvest.
141. He who bumps his head on the lintel must reckon with the doorstep.
142. He who can’t contain his tongue won’t restrain its vomit.
143. He who dislikes hammering should avoid the blacksmith’s shop.
144. He who gets drunk on credit will soon live in poverty.
145. He who has a normal human brain can learn to observe the behavior of new things and forecast their behaviors.
146. He who has honest neighbors has security and can sleep soundly.
147. He who has no shame may take anyone’s property and life.
148. He who has too easy a life has no need of a wife.
149. He who ignores where he’s going will eventually fall into a well.
150. He who is old enough to have whiskers has responsibilities.
151. He who can not beat the donkey will whack the saddle.
152. He who loses all his money loses other people’s cooperation.
153. He who loses his coat seeks a better one.
154. He who wants too much, risks losing all that he possesses.
155. He who won’t feed his cat must learn to live with mice.
156. He who won’t go to work will only shit five times before he dies.
157. He ate his bread, drank his water, and departed.
158. He’s polishing his new Lamborghini in his head.
159. He’s pulled out the rope and post and is eating clover in the field.
160. He’s small, but he’s reliable.
161. He’s starving and afraid to shit, knowing he will be hungry all day.
162. Hear enough advice to make the right decision and then make your decision.
163. Hear everything you have time for but make decisions based on the facts.
164. Here we go, wind in the sails, beans in our bellies, and farts in our pants.
165. Hit the nail that’s part of the horseshoe, and you are hitting the horse.
166. Honor is priceless and is the payment for acquiring power.
167. How you left your bed this morning is how you will sleep tonight.
168. However much you see above ground, there is much more below.
169. Humanity is in the process of drowning in the garbage of its success.
170. I’d rather my child cry now and learn its limits than I cry later when it violates my limits.
171. I choose to ignore the devils and the saints.
172. I command my mother-cat, and she oversees her kittens.
173. I looked at the noisy disturbance, and my eggs and basket disappeared.
174. I must pledge my vineyards to marry off my girls.
175. I praise my dog, and he praises his tail, but when I scold him, he scolds his tail.
176. I tell you stories, you tell me stories, and we grow old and die.
177. I was seeking you in heaven and found you in my heart.
178. I’ll blind them to its value, and you come along and buy it for nothing.
179. If God listened to the wisdom of crowds, he would get rid of stupid donkeys.
180. If I could foresee where I’d trip, I’d soon be rich.
181. If I tell you something, it means I learn the limits of your knowledge.
182. If someone is about to rob your house, get him a job as a sailor.
183. If you are unhappy in the morning, you will be unhappy all day.
184. If you don’t oil a wheel, it will squeak, and it will drag and get hot, and it will freeze, and you will stop.
185. If you ever find a saint, light a candle.
186. If you find a fruitful fig tree, eat from it before others do.
187. If you give a fool some free time, he will squander it.
188. If you mention a guest, pull up a friendly chair.
189. If you see a couple chatting amiably, you know one of them is faking agreement.
190. If you see others stealing from your fortune, take some too so that you will have something for old age.
191. In a drought, even hail is welcome.
192. It has been raining here, and we see snow on the mountains to feed the streams.
193. High in the sky, it is cold enough that mountains will retain snow.
194. It is more comfortable to have five dollars in your hand than to hope ten will appear tomorrow.
195. It is more meaningful to hear a donkey fart than listen to him talk about his problems.
196. It’s a law of nature that when a living thing can consume, it will consume.
197. It’s better to have a year of bad crops than bad neighbors.
198. Keep stitching and unstitching so your boss will see that you are working.
199. Keep your words few but state them kindly.
200. Learn the local secrets from children, drunks, and fools.
201. Learning new things is a waste of time if they do not apply to your life.
202. Let me be with my friends during the grief of loss and my enemies during the joy of peace.
203. Let’s drink in friendship and let God pay the bill.
204. Let’s laugh together but not burst into grief at our losses.
205. Life is so complicated that long discussions of solutions lead to bitter arguments.
206. Look at your girlfriend’s mother’s character before marrying the beautiful girl.
207. Love me as I love you, for there will come times of doubt.
208. Love will bring unresolvable problems that we must endure.
209. Love will endure death, so why lose it now over a petty argument.
210. Marry and live your life as nature demands, or join a monastery and live as your order demands.
211. Most people sow and reap while priests eat and bless.
212. My healthy plumpness and optimistic demeanor are the sources of my beauty.
213. Nowadays! Walls have microphones and video cameras linked to the corporate world and beyond.
214. One wise step is more helpful than a thousand foolish ones.
215. Only one woman is an abundance for every man.
216. Our last day will come, and it will have a Gregorian date.
217. Our species must disperse in the hope that some of us will find a livable niche to survive within.
218. Out of sight, out of mind, also applies to people we once loved.
219. Philosophers attempt to convince you how to live by reason, but proverbs illustrate a group’s historical experience with the facts of their lives.
220. Plant a tree now, for where there is a tree, there will be shade.
221. Play the lire, and a donkey will dance.
222. Praise a young donkey and give it a light load, and don’t ride it until it can handle your weight easily.
223. Pulling a pig’s tail won’t make it straight, but it will make him angry at you.
224. Rain isn’t innocent; it falls on good and evil without judgment.
225. Sent fools to chase after snakes and tigers.
226. She seeks a husband, and she needs him now.
227. She was so destitute she had no clothing but a veil.
228. Sickness comes in a rowdy crowd and leaves in a coffin.
229. Some have it all and lose it all, and some are happy with what they have.
230. Some honey fell into some sugar, and now we have sweeter cookies.
231. Some people succeed through their labor, others by their perseverance.
232. Take the stupid words of the world with an open smile covering a hidden smirk.
233. Take your friend to his wedding, and you have lost a friend until he comes to your wedding.
234. Taking care of yourself makes it easy for God to take care of you.
235. That sort of head needs a sharp razor.
236. The ancient prophets went into the wilderness and fasted for forty days to see what this little pill would let them see in an hour.
237. The best response to a foolish question is silence.
238. The bigger your boat, the more problems you will have.
239. The bride is getting ready, but her husband hasn’t appeared.
240. The buttonhole usually comes down around the button, but sometimes the button is forced up into the buttonhole.
241. The child of a parent who taught forethought has learned to start dinner before anyone’s hungry.
242. The children eat the fruit, and the father enjoys their happiness.
243. The donkey called the cockerel a bighead, but he was rebuffed by being called a little ass.
244. The mean employer thinks the fool doesn’t feel cold, or heat, or fatigue and only needs enough food to finish the job.
245. The first few bites stimulate the appetite for more, but the last few urge the desire to rest.
246. The fox had cleverly hidden, but his twitching tail could be seen.
247. The grim reaper earned a reputation and sleeps for years.
248. The king told the brawny fool to open the door, so he pulled it off its hinges.
249. The lame and blind will join a war effort to defeat aggressors.
250. The last in a line is lucky; maybe it’s good luck, maybe bad.
251. The lazy man believes that when you see food, you should eat and when you see work flee.
252. The liar and a thief rejoice for a little while and suffer for a long while.
253. The obscure things of the distance have come and are knocking at our door.
254. The old shoes you wear at home are the most comfortable, even for formal affairs.
255. The old woman loves figs and is about to eat fig leaves.
256. The people not dancing may be listening to the lyrics of the songs.
257. The person at the bottom of society takes all the beatings deserved by those higher up.
258. The point of one egg can crack the side of a similar egg.
259. The rabbit’s eyes see danger all around, but the owl’s eyes look for food straight ahead.
260. The sanctified crimes laid the foundation for a millennium of crooked rulers.
261. The healer of a disease is usually the doctor, nurse, pharmacist, or victim.
262. The tall guy eats figs, and the short ones eat fig leaves.
263. The teacher you believe is the educator you will employ.
264. The thief shouts to frighten the aroused householder and escapes.
265. The thief succeeds many times, but ultimately a tiny mistake brings him down.
266. The thorn’s function is to protect the rose buds and blossoms from being eaten by rabbits, deer, squirrels, gophers, goats, and picked by girls.
267. The wheel turns, and we confront a whole new situation.
268. The world’s falling apart, and it’s still business as usual.
269. The wise man will become a fool’s donkey if it suits his purpose.
270. The wolf said, If you run and I’ll chase you and eat you, but stare at me and quietly walk away, and I’ll avoid you.
271. They belong in their comfortable home, and we belong in ours.
272. They called him mad, and he went to the madhouse and fit in comfortably.
273. They claim to be cats and dogs, but they are leopards and wolves.
274. They gave me an egg, and now they want the hen.
275. They got a fox to take care of their hens.
276. They invited the peasant to lunch, and he came inside without removing his hobnailed boots.
277. They promised us oven-loads of breadsticks and went to Rome to fetch them.
278. They showed us a fresh breadstick and gave us a stale one.
279. They took us to the holy water and brought us back, thirsty for more.
280. They’re asking us to give them our ox and a donkey so we can ride to heaven after we die.
281. This is my donkey, and I can do with it as it fits my needs.
282. Tie your donkey to a post and take care of other business.
283. To be wealthy includes a comfortable and clean home.
284. Today I have my name; after I am done with it, anyone may use it.
285. Too much talk will sound like a farting contest.
286. Too much work for the slaves wears out the slave master.
287. Treat others as you need to be treated.
288. Truth and oil stay out of sight forever if buried deep enough.
289. Two who laugh together have a private joke, but one who laughs alone with a private joke is thought crazy.
290. Walk purposefully and arrive promptly.
291. We adjust our food, clothing, and shelter to fit our needs.
292. We are now too far apart to be active friends, but when we are together again, I’m sure our previous friendship will thrive.
293. We have abandoned our harvest of food to pick out the hemp seeds of pleasure.
294. We have built dikes and pushed out the water to form temporary holes for our habitation.
295. We have eaten the ox, and chewed its bones, but we can’t eat the grass that made it thrive and become our food.
296. We have no bread to eat, and now we are crawling in the fields seeking radishes.
297. We have no food. We taught our donkey how to live without eating, but it has died.
298. We thought our pig was good, but when we had it for dinner, it had no fat.
299. We went to tell the world how it should behave, and it told us how we must behave.
300. We went to various schools as young fools to gain knowledge and came home as old fools stuffed with fabrications.
301. We won’t live as long as the mountains, or the trees on it, or the microbes in it.
302. We’re hungry for food and seeking wisdom.
303. Well-fed, hard cock, and off to bed.
304. What has passed will be different if it returns.
305. What wonderful opportunities has the universe given me, and what can I do before death takes it all away?
306. What way has the wind blown to bring you here?
307. Whatever befalls the priest, let it also fall upon his wife.
308. Whatever falls from the sky, we can find a use for it.
309. Whatever stumbling dance I happen to be performing, please play some music that makes my antics look purposeful.
310. When a fly sits in your home, you can catch it with a translucent plastic cup and release it outside.
311. When a mother loses her child, the child is also lost.
312. When cats and fools sleep, they dream of catching mice and eating them.
313. When in pain go to the doctor to get well, when thirsty go to a well.
314. When the Queen wants to get rid of an ant, she gives it wings.
315. When you chop wood, you realize how much effort and skill it requires.
316. When you find a fig, pick it up, and all day you’ll have good luck.
317. When you have a good neighbor, you have reliable good luck.
318. When you hear of many figs on a tree, take a basket.
319. When you see a snake’s tail, realize that the rest of the snake will defend it.
320. When your neighbor has a disease, get away and find the cure.
321. When we can see our cold breaths, it’s time to snuggle up and share the blankets.
322. Where a goat climbs a tree, its kid will follow.
323. Where it rains, it darkens the soil, and where it snows, it lightens.
324. Where there are many cocks they leave the responsibility for raising the sun to the other cock.
325. Wherever I go, and wherever you go, let us remember Fridays at the Med in Berkeley.
326. While young, learn a trade and hang it over your door.
327. Whoever gets angry first will calm down last.
328. Why should I crack open pistachio nuts for you to eat?
329. Wise people drink for pleasure; foolish ones drink to ease their pain.
330. With a pure heart, you are welcome anywhere, but you might not come back.
331. With forethought, ask, where do I go when one side is a precipice and the other a pit.
332. With gaps in the timing, many heads can wear a single hat.
333. Without coal to keep warm, we must eat more food that we may not have.
334. Woe to him who receives a hundred thrashes, and woe to him who is thrashed by his guilt.
335. Wood, like humans, has its unique smoke when it burns.
336. Words and water flow like a river and are gone.
337. Work done at night when seen in daylight have funny flaws.
338. You are in total control of what you do with your time.
339. You can distill water out of blood, but no blood out of water.
340. You’re asking to get hit if you’re a sheep that’s annoying the shepherd.

Latvia – Proverbs for playing the Aphor Game

I have modified proverbs from each of these countries in the Aphor Game posts to prompt new ideas.
Sources: Inspirational Stories – Kalima – Proverbical – Special Dictionary – Symbol Hunt – World of Proverbs

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1. A bad start is on the road to possible success.
2. A carpenter wears a carpenter’s clothes, and a banker wears a banker’s clothes.
3. A conman always takes what a fool can’t hang on to.
4. A fine coat will have a fine lining.
5. A free mug of beer is emptied quickly and held out for a refill.
6. A lazy butt will find it easy to find a bench to sit on.
7. A man needs a woman to keep him on a productive path
8. A night of good sleep is a special night for everyone.
9. A peaceful agreement leaves opportunities for productive work.
10. A perfect-looking apple might be rotten at the core.
11. A pig is quiet if he’s digging a truffle.
12. A pretty wife must be well kept and watched.
13. A promise made at a bar never sees daylight.
14. A ready back gets more loads to carry.
15. A small bump in the road may upset an overloaded wagon.
16. A smiling conversation makes a light lunch a complete experience.
17. A temperate man is assured of a place in paradise until he enters his church and hears the sermon.
18. An old bull still has horns and things to protect.
19. As a shepherd, you must have your eyes in the field with the sheep and your ears in the forest with the wolves.
20. Combine all your senses when picking and cooking food.
21. Envious eyes spawn a vindictive heart.
22. Even speaking of frying food makes my mouth water.
23. Even the devil can’t tell when women are sharpening their knives.
24. Even the horse needs a day of rest and enjoys Sunday morning with the other horses of the congregation.
25. Every geriatric forged his destiny as a young man.
26. Everything that nature permits will happen sooner or later.
27. Give the devil a fingernail clipping, and he will soon have your soul.
28. He hopes like a goat for bigger horns.
29. He that works will eat dinner and be offered tomorrow’s breakfast.
30. He who believes without evidence has already been fooled.
31. He who talks is trying to better understand what he believes.
32. However much you must eat, leave some for seed for sowing, or you will starve next year.
33. I’ve never met someone who hasn’t, isn’t, or won’t sin.
34. If there are no apples, eat a potato.
35. If you take care of your soil, plants, animals, and kin, they will take care of you.
36. In dense woods, the trees must grow straight up to find the sunshine.
37. It is better for you to have a straw from your own mother than wool from a stepmother.
38. It is good practice to reward good work with good pay.
39. It requires flexibility of mind to look and see what’s happening before your eyes.
40. It’s a short way between words and promises but a long way to deeds.
41. It’s better to mend your ways and live an honest life than suffer the punishments associated with bad behavior.
42. Keep you and your dogs between possible hiding wolves instead of counting sheep.
43. Listen to the demonstrated facts and make your own opinions.
44. More people are drowned in liquor than in water.
45. Never wrestle with a strong man nor sue a rich man.
46. One’s wife and stove must willingly stay at home.
47. Others are there to lift a load to your back that you can’t lift alone.
48. Our cats are fed well enough they don’t lick empty dishes.
49. Paper money doesn’t make holes in your pocket.
50. People will spend their last cent to save their sick old life.
51. Promised berries won’t fill the basket until someone is pouring them in.
52. Save some seeds for sowing, or starve next spring.
53. Sin, like good deeds, has its consequences.
54. Solitary trees are more easily blown over than those deep in a forest.
55. Stones are heavy, but peccadilloes can be converted from simple pleasures into heavy hell-bound sins.
56. That axle that creaks must be oiled to run smoothly.
57. The church and tavern are located conveniently close to one another.
58. The last into the sack is the first out of it.
59. The master has a whip, and a priest has an ambitious prayer.
60. The mind of a woman is like wind blowing over a sparkling lake.
61. The taller the tree, the more wind finds its top branches.
62. The winter asks you what crops you have cultivated and harvested.
63. The work is bitter, but the fruit is sweet.
64. The young ones dance while the old ones clap and whistle.
65. There is so much foliage that I can’t see any trees for firewood.
66. There’s only one road for a thief to prosper, but any road will do for pursuers.
67. Time and effort are not money, but they make money available.
68. Truth is obvious and boring, but lies require exciting explanations.
69. We have rowed well, said the flea to the fisherman as they returned to the dock.
70. When a devil enters a church, he goes straight to the pulpit.
71. When an honest man promises, a loyal man delivers.
72. When the master sleeps, his workers party.
73. Where the fence is down, even the lambs can climb over it.
74. With the striking of a stick comes pain, and with the thoughts of it comes suffering.
75. Work is unlike a rabbit that dodges, darts, and runs away.
76. You can’t make sliced bread into a whole loaf.
77. Youthful stupidity spoils the older man’s face.

Albania – Proverbs for playing the Aphor Game

I have modified proverbs from each of these countries in the Aphor Game posts to prompt new ideas.
Sources: – Inspirational Stories – LING a Lot – List of proverbs – Proverbica – Reddit

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1. A baby who is always carried will be slow to learn to walk and talk.
2. A boastful rooster will look to heaven when he drinks water.
3. A cat may look at whatever it chooses and go wherever mice might be hiding.
4. A day failing to find work will bring a sleepless night.
5. A dog doesn’t bother licking a dry bone.
6. A dog doesn’t get fed every time it wags its tail, so it keeps trying.
7. A dog with a shortened tail communicates like a man without a tongue.
8. A donkey knows why he is braying.
9. A double-speaking tongue brings trouble to its master.
10. A drinker will never reject another drink.
11. A foreign hand won’t scratch where you itch.
12. A fox will catch his dinner with cunning, but a wolf must use his courage.
13. A friendly word has prevented many broken teeth.
14. A girl without honor is like a flower with no sweetness.
15. A good shoemaker will wear ratty shoes, for example.
16. A holy man at home is like a devil at a sacred place.
17. A joke is a truth with true extensions.
18. A man who has just eaten to his fill can ignore a hungry one.
19. A natural spark can burn a forest.
20. A wedding needs love, like a war needs blood.
21. A young priest will bless his beard when it finally fills out.
22. All but his friends run over him when a man is seen as down.
23. An artist and other builders’ work lives on after they die.
24. An eagle might soar high in the sky, but her nest is in the cliffs.
25. Ask the advice of a dozen people, and then make your own decision.
26. Ask those with experience to speak, and especially those with experience who aren’t eager to talk about it.
27. Brave people are those with someone who values their good deeds.
28. Bravery and wisdom after the events are counterfeit.
29. Bricks are made to be used together with other bricks.
30. Brotherly love is returned for brotherly love, but we must give money for cheese.
31. Buy gunpowder before you buy bread.
32. Don’t add fuel to a neighbor’s house on fire.
33. Don’t complain about a stone because it is where it should be.
34. Don’t cut up a good coat to patch some shabby curtains.
35. Don’t interfere with the way other people solve their problems.
36. Don’t seek to be comforted but to comfort the suffering.
37. Don’t stand in front of a gun or behind a horse.
38. Don’t try to lie to me because I know your roots and saw your teeth come in.
39. Eat to live is for the starving; live to eat is for the corpulent.
40. Empty jars can hold more good stuff.
41. Even fresh water will stink if left too long.
42. Even the Queen’s rose garden has thorns.
43. Everyone creates their future character.
44. Everyone eats figs when others are buying them.
45. Everyone, especially the blameworthy, rejects blame.
46. Everything we are is embedded within human society.
47. Fear those the most who fear you the most.
48. Fewer words leave more time for finished work.
49. Fire does more good than harm, but when it does damage, it is grievous.
50. Fire, water, and the law have no emotions.
51. For a dog that won’t come when called, you should give him a treat when he does come.
52. Gold buttons on a shabby coat would look more attractive in a gutter.
53. Hardheads attract hard hits.
54. Have several laying hens before having one for dinner.
55. He brought my anger to the tip of his nose.
56. He who reads has access to many points of view over this complicated world.
57. He who covets anything generates a habit leading to eternal poverty.
58. He who hesitates loses good opportunities but avoids terrible events.
59. He who isn’t drunk on Sunday afternoon isn’t worth talking to about important things.
60. He who lives under a big tree is always in the shade.
61. He who loves you critiques with straight appraisal, but he who hates you gives crooked praise.
62. Her calf will die if you take all of the milk the mother cow gives.
63. Hot-tempered women will fry in their grease.
64. “I did that!” says one who knows he did a good thing.
65. I miss my companions when I’m not with them.
66. I’m just now coming from a beating, and you are showing me sticks.
67. If a bitch doesn’t wag her tail, she won’t seduce any dogs.
68. If a hundred men call a wise man a fool, he has succeeded in fooling them.
69. If you accept something with one hand, return double with both hands.
70. If you have candy in your hand, everyone will be your friend.
71. If you lose a ring, your finger is too small.
72. If your household is early risers, your only choice is to get up early.
73. In a field of corn, those cobs bending the lowest are the healthiest.
74. In desperate times we will be friends with pigs.
75. In nature, all lawns are wild and weedy.
76. In the eyes of a mouse, a cat is a murderous monster.
77. In war, you need seven deadly tricks for every act of bravery.
78. It is a myth that the generous forget their gifts, and the receivers are eternally grateful.
79. It is easy to cut off the tail of a dead wolf but not so easy from a live rattlesnake.
80. It’s is a tyrant who claims it’s better to be dead than kneeling.
81. It’s not the beard or habit that makes a good priest.
82. Lost honor is difficult to recover, but it is impossible to recover a lost eye.
83. Love is sometimes difficult, but death is as easy as closing your eyes.
84. Many more flowers bloom in spring than reproduce their kind.
85. Men and wolves prefer lamb chops to mutton.
86. Never ask how well they died, but tell stories of how well they lived.
87. Newborn puppies that mew constantly will bark a lot when grown into dogs.
88. Nobody can go upstairs and downstairs at the same time.
89. Nowadays, there’s a fool born every second.
90. Often it is difficult to tell if the dog is wagging its tail or the tail is wagging the dog.
91. Old friends with well-known histories is a base for meaningful conversations.
92. One who lives in a straw house dreads fire.
93. Owning a donkey is more dependable than borrowing another’s horse.
94. Pat a dog, and he will pat you with his dirty paws.
95. Patience is a key to hold onto while waiting for paradise to come along.
96. People measure others by their own stature.
97. People with acidic personalities will corrode their human containers.
98. Perseverance struggles on an old path when a sensible man has found a new way.
99. Persistence is using more force where more force is required.
100. Plow your furrows deep, and you will have corn to eat.
101. Punish the mistake, but not the one who made a mistake.
102. Put enough cream and sugar on a fly, and it will taste like cream and sugar.
103. Put first things first, last things last and stir in the middle ones.
104. Remember, the day has eyes, and the night has ears.
105. Scandals will shake out like dirt, and be gone when time has presented other problems.
106. Serve sparingly at the top of the pot and generously when nearing the bottom.
107. Some say the morning is brighter than the night; others stay up late so they can think deeply about important things.
108. Starting something with everything in order prepares for the successful completion of the work.
109. Still pursuing a goal means you are still happily achieving something.
110. Stretch your assets but keep them under the covers.
111. Stumbling blocks for the lazy are stepping stones for the ambitious.
112. Sweep around your doorstep before you sweep around others.
113. Take care of yourself, and God will guide you away from injuries.
114. The arrogant fool leaves on a fine horse and returns on foot.
115. The standard greeting asks how you are, not how you were yesterday or will be tomorrow.
116. The end of a thief is swinging on the gallows.
117. The future belongs to those who foresee it and make preparations.
118. The less we know for sure, the more we suspect foul play.
119. The longest day and mile do have endings.
120. The longest mile brings the sweetest smile when one’s home is in sight.
121. The neighbor’s cat comes to your home to eat and make a mess.
122. The one who has fear and exposes it is saved by religion.
123. The stomach speaks to us with gurgles and pangs.
124. The sun shining on one’s home warms it to perfection.
125. The teeth occasionally bite the tongue, but they remain close allies when eating.
126. The tongue doesn’t have bones, but it breaks bones and kills people.
127. The more formidable the enemy, the sweeter our victories.
128. The trappings of peace are forever renewed by eternal hope.
129. The weakest chick gets pushed out of the nest.
130. The world and your habits give you more than you give them over the years.
131. There are many ways to skin a cat, but they are all deadly.
132. There are not many who feigns insanity to survive.
133. There are two kinds of fools; one doubts nothing, and the other doubts everything.
134. There was pain and suffering before there were human beings.
135. There will always be a beginning and ending for everything.
136. There’s a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, and I’ll tell you where it is for ten bucks.
137. Those who betray their friends betray their own well-being.
138. Those who praise also lie.
139. Those who take some of the profits should share the work and risks.
140. Those with weak arguments yell obscenities and personal insults.
141. Tigers and cats crouch and twitch the tip of their tails just before they leap toward their prey.
142. To be happy in love, one must give as well as receive.
143. To be proud of one’s knowledge is to be a fool on stilts.
144. To be trusted is a great compliment because it is based on rational thought.
145. To err in choosing a restaurant is human; to dine properly is divine.
146. To see beauty requires a heart willing to accept it wherever it occurs.
147. To spoil a child is to cripple its growth toward greatness.
148. Too many burdens will kill a donkey.
149. Two clocks can’t have the same time.
150. Two eyes can see better than one, four eyes better than two, and eight better than four; beyond that, there are diminishing returns.
151. Violins are lovely for those who can hear and feel, but drums are better for those who can only feel.
152. Water is still at night, but your enemy isn’t.
153. We can make a million matches with a full-grown tree, but one match can destroy a million trees.
154. We ease our fear of those dangerous things we can laugh with and at.
155. We live and learn and keep living as long as we know.
156. We should act only after due consideration, except when it is a natural reflex to duck.
157. When a calf grows to be a cow, it becomes a cow and forgets it was ever a calf.
158. When death knocks at your door, slide the locking bolt tighter.
159. When fools make a mistake, they blame their bad luck.
160. When in doubt, collect more facts; if still in doubt, close the gate.
161. When the fox preaches, keep a stick between him and your geese.
162. When the fruit crops don’t come in, we must eat potatoes.
163. When the needy come to your door and you have nothing to give them, please provide them with a glass of water.
164. When the sun rises, everyone knows their way around.
165. When walking a new path, every footstep is cautious.
166. When you are at a friend’s home, don’t forget the good old times.
167. When you eat alone, you will die alone.
168. When you have given nothing, don’t expect anything to be given to you.
169. When you have no companions, carry a walking stick for comfort.
170. When you know you are right, you can move mountains.
171. White dog, black dog, big dog, little dog, bitch, or dog are all dogs.
172. Who but those with experience will know if the remedy will be worse than the disease?
173. Who is great in their faith won’t be small in their failings.
174. Wisdom of forethought permits having and using the right amount of force at the right time to achieve success.
175. With dangerous things, your first accident will usually be your last.
176. Wolves prefer nights and noise-suppressing fog.
177. Words and deeds are not the same in generating one’s character.
178. Work like a slave and eat like a prince.
179. You are so kind; I wish for you to live forever.
180. You can’t drive a windmill by blowing on it with your mouth.
181. You can run into debt, but you must crawl out of it.
182. You can’t hold a stormy ocean back with a pinpoint.
183. You can’t see or think when you’re crying.
184. You offered your hand, and he took your arm.
185. Your eye and mind are the final judges of everything.
186. Your failures can be stepping-stones to your success.

Liberia – Proverbs for playing the Aphor Game

These modified aphorisms will prompt new ideas or inspire you to discover even more obscure ones.
Sources: Proverbicals – Special Dictionary – Stereotype Liberia

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1. A beggar’s only choice is to beg or starve.
2. A boa constrictor curled up isn’t looking for food.
3. A chicken scratching a dumpsite discovers the bones of its ancestors.
4. A child who clings to his mother avoids the nasty things on the ground.
5. A crayfish can’t drink water directly and gets its water from eating fish.
6. A crocodile doesn’t leave the water to ask a deer for a drink.
7. A dog considers the size of his throat before he swallows a bone.
8. A dog with a fat bone eats it slowly.
9. A family member or friend of the deceased leads the funeral procession.
10. A free ride on the train’s roof is an easy way to travel and die.
11. A girl doesn’t run to catch up with her breasts.
12. A good conversation can be so distracting you miss other important moments.
13. A high death rate of children doesn’t stop us from having children.
14. A liar will always have proof of his innocence and others’ guilt which he will show you tomorrow.
15. A little rain every day will keep our rivers reliable and clean.
16. A log doesn’t turn into an alligator in the water, nor does a stick turn into a fish.
17. A man with a rectal dysfunction can still urinate.
18. A monkey loves her hands even though they are black.
19. A rooster only crows over his territory.
20. A snake bit him, and he’s now scared of wiggly shadows.
21. A soft banana can chip a tooth when bad luck is with you.
22. A stingy person dies grasping for more life, but a generous one dies graciously.
23. A woman is not a banana to be shared or given as a present.
24. All the world’s riches are already his to the man with contentment.
25. An overly generous person grieves at night.
26. Be purposeful in your actions; if you rush, you will crash.
27. Because a dog sheds its coat doesn’t mean it’s dying.
28. Being invited to a party doesn’t mean you own the place.
29. Children know how to run and hide, but they can’t see from the searcher’s eyes.
30. “Come and live with me” is different from “let’s go to a party.”
31. Don’t look at where you hit the ground but where you made the bad decision.
32. Don’t stand among army ants and pick out those biting you.
33. Don’t throw your slaughtered chicken’s feathers in front of the other chickens.
34. Drop by drop fills a gourd, a stream, a river, and an ocean.
35. During the dry season, we cope in different ways.
36. Every relaxed hand is retired near the stomach.
37. Honey-gatherers, like bees, don’t like smoke.
38. How good a crop isn’t known until after the harvest.
39. If a man on a mountain top can’t touch the sky, could he when in the valley?
40. If someone is a good dancer, let the music begin.
41. If the monkey falls from the treetop, the rock’s nature is obliged to kill it.
42. If the town’s people are happy and healthy, make friends with the cook.
43. If you catch fish, you leave the river wet, and if you don’t catch any fish, you also leave the river wet.
44. If you listen to the noise in the market, you will leave with chaos.
45. If you pull on a rope, you will pull what’s on the other end.
46. If you try to clean others who are like soap, they will waste away.
47. If your facade does not express your business, the people will not come to you.
48. Imagine how many he has already eaten when a beggar offers you a banana.
49. In a picture of a man walking, the legs never move.
50. It is terrible to poop around your home; it attracts insects that will attack you with diseases.
51. It is good to hang your hat where you can reach it before someone else does.
52. It pays to follow the instructions of the one who will be distributing the money.
53. It takes foolish people and wise ones to build a city.
54. It’s better not to fall because falls kill lots of people.
55. Just because you weep well doesn’t mean you must attend every funeral.
56. Let your love be like a misty rain, very soft, but it fills the river.
57. Looking up, all people will see the same sky simultaneously.
58. Never serve liquor to a vicious man.
59. No man is taller than he is.
60. No matter if the breast hurts, mama must nurse her baby.
61. Nothing can be whiter than the whites.
62. Observe a snake’s way of making a living before killing it.
63. Offer the magistrate gold when impenetrable walls guard his town.
64. Only pregnant women remember each other’s due dates.
65. Owners aren’t robbed to satisfy themselves but the undeserving thieves.
66. Plain rice is okay but it’s better with salt, pepper, spices, and food.
67. Rats hang out together and enjoy one another’s conversation.
68. Sheep luck doesn’t include climbing trees like goat luck permits.
69. Smart people hang their clothes to dry where the sun will soon be shining.
70. Smooth, shiny water can be of any depth.
71. Some oil or pitch will stick to your fingers when you work with them.
72. Standing beside a new car doesn’t make you the owner.
73. Teeth and tongue fight, but the tongue gets hurt the most.
74. Tether your cow to a big tree, as she will fight a little one.
75. The baby that cries prevents his mom from sleeping when he can’t.
76. The city is a trap where rats and men prosper.
77. The discovery of essential things is often apparent in hindsight, so look back from where you will be.
78. The experienced professional player doesn’t work for a tee shirt.
79. The production of a palm tree isn’t dependent on its size.
80. The roasted chicken will be good, but I’m hungry now.
81. The things an explorer will see in a town, a person who lived there for years may have missed.
82. There are no jokes in a snake’s mouth even though you see smiling teeth.
83. Throw a banana peel on the road, and its brother will take revenge on you.
84. Too much hurry, and you get there late.
85. Tortoises laugh at the thought of climbing trees.
86. Understand why birds and animals behave as they do to improve their lives.
87. Water never misses an opportunity to check out a hole in the ground.
88. We sit on old mats while plaiting new ones.
89. When a chicken is white, white feathers will grow back where they’ve been plucked.
90. When an older man dies, the narrative of his experience is lost to our youth.
91. When building a house, make sure your timbers are long enough.
92. When someone is washing your back, it is best to bathe your own private parts.
93. When water sits too long in your mouth, it turns to spit.
94. When you discover a kola nut under a kola tree, don’t hide it under another kola tree.
95. When you don’t have dishes, the calabash will have to do.
96. When you invite a drunk into your house, be prepared to clean up his vomit.
97. When you watch a boiling pot, it won’t boil over.
98. Who are you giving your pee to when you pee into a river?
99. You can’t hide in the night and forget that day will reveal where you are.
100. You forget about your sore butt until you sit on it.
101. You do not influence the sun, moon, or stars.
102. You swear the old lady’s tooth was already loose when you hit her.
103. Your character follows you everywhere, and its shadow will be obvious when the sun rises.

Guatemala Proverbs for playing the Aphor Game

These modified aphorisms will prompt new ideas or inspire you to discover even more obscure ones.

– Proverbs and Co – Spanish Academy – Special Dictionary – Thought Co – World Proverbs

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1. A decision based on false information may lead to catastrophe.
2. A goose in the bag is worth more than a hundred high overhead.
3. A new success takes ninety percent intelligent thinking and ten percent hard work.
4. A person associates with people similar to themselves, and therefore you can see their character exposed by their friends.
5. A weapon is a dangerous enemy to its owner.
6. Accept a gift, give an enthusiastic thank you, and don’t mention its flaws.
7. All cats are black on a dark night, but some are black on a full moon.
8. Better to eat beans in peace than caviar in war.
9. Conversations in one’s home should stay at home.
10. Don’t hate or despise someone for disclosing a true, verifiable fact.
11. Even bad events have their positive aspects, but you must look for them to see them.
12. Everyone has a burden and needs emotional support.
13. Everyone is as old as their heart feels.
14. For a starving man, every bite of bread is wonderful.
15. Foresight can see the cause of a problem and prevent the problem from coming into existence by eliminating it.
16. From such a stick of a man, a splendid splinter came forth.
17. Getting up early doesn’t make the sunrise sooner, but it does get you working sooner.
18. God helps everyone, but those helping themselves get the most help.
19. Gold is valued because it reacts very slowly with other elements and therefore maintains a lustrous surface.
20. Good deeds are expressions of love, and good words will warm lonely hearts.
21. He who can’t take a little risk will never win a big prize.
22. He who has foresight enough to avoid the temptations can work on what needs to get done.
23. He who has no obligations is free to do anything he can do.
24. He who has nothing has nothing to lose.
25. He who walks with wolves must be a pack member or the leader, which means fighting and beating the toughest wolf.
26. Human experience has been codified into laws limiting behavior and proverbs to facilitate daily life.
27. If you want a dog, you must also support the hundred species that live on the dog.
28. Ignorance is unafraid, stupidity is foolhardy, and wisdom is meticulous.
29. In the flickering light of a candle, all women are beautiful.
30. It takes special knowledge to convert good wine into excellent vinegar.
31. Let your every action help someone live better, and none live worse.
32. Love is blinded by the first sighting of its ideal.
33. Misfortunes precipitate other misfortunes where an imbalance of forces exists.
34. Overspending in moments of prosperity creates debts, worry, and suffering.
35. Quiet water makes no noise.
36. Returning property to its owner will help you sleep better.
37. Tell the truth in ways that help people live better without causing them pain.
38. The devil knows more from experience than from being evil.
39. The discovery of a workable concept to a completed product requires an Elon Musk.
40. The nasty talk of a parrot is learned from his friends.
41. The only person who can change a man’s character is the man himself.
42. Time destroys everything by returning it to chaos, and life is a temporary anomaly that permits one to create meaning where none existed.
43. Ultimately everything defined as good must be balanced by what is described as bad.
44. What the eyes do not see, the heart does not desire.
45. What you have done is part of nature’s history, to which your only option is to adapt and move on.
46. Whoever doesn’t teach his son a useful way to make a living compels him to make a living in antisocial ways.
47. You are only as competitive as your most shiftless friend.
48. Your greatest thief lives in your own house, which includes you and everyone else, including your goldfish, all of which must be fed.
49. Your heart is a child wanting what your mind strives to get.

Kenyan proverbs for playing the Aphor Game

Primary sources of these proverbs are from the web. They have been filtered through Grammarly and rewritten for easier application to the Aphor Game which is designed for the creation of useful new ideas.

– Diaspora Messenger – Inspirational Stories – Kenya Advisor – Proverbicals – Special Dictionary

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1. A baby may suckle his mother’s breasts but not his father’s testicles.
2. A beginner digs the grave of a gravedigger.
3. A bird fetching food doesn’t forget where its chicks live.
4. A champion bull is a champion from birth.
5. A child may point the way to the toilet, but you must find it yourself.
6. A child will learn what things will hurt them from experience.
7. A constant complainer is soon ignored.
8. A dead rat doesn’t mind being teased by a cat.
9. A dog that steals food knows he risks punishment.
10. A donkey acknowledges your overloading him with a kick.
11. A duck doesn’t change its feathers when it rains.
12. A flea routinely bites a lion, and the lion can’t bite him back.
13. A four-year-old child will not die because his mother’s breasts are dry.
14. A friend who has gained political power is no longer a friend.
15. A friend will sing your favorite songs with you.
16. A generous person and a greedy one will remember your charity.
17. A hyena doesn’t mind how bad he smells.
18. A long-distance runner was born with the right stuff.
19. A loved one’s pimples are beauty marks.
20. A man trap catches many innocent men as well as criminal ones.
21. A man who laments too long is soon ignored.
22. A man who sleeps with your mother will slap you when she is elsewhere.
23. A man’s accomplishments are more important than his ancestor’s.
24. A mango seed has a false reputation for cleaning out your guts.
25. A person acquires the habits of his companions.
26. A rope always breaks where it is weakest.
27. A stiff old tree can’t be bent into a shepherd’s crook.
28. A wise man’s most valued things are hidden.
29. A withered old banana was once healthy and erect.
30. A woman changes her clothes to reappear, looking even better.
31. A woman who wants a child cannot always sleep alone.
32. A woman’s stomach does not kick if she is not pregnant.
33. A word locked in a heart does not bring love.
34. Absolute belief in anything makes a man dangerous.
35. Adult children have to care for their elders.
36. After a fool’s disastrous deed, there comes foolish remorse.
37. Aging slowly chews away your youthful vigor.
38. All cassavas have the same look outside but not the same taste inside.
39. An ant will not bite a nestmate.
40. An employee does what he is told to do, just like a slave.
41. An excessive heavy load carried too long destroys the will to carry anything.
42. An honest man sometimes gives rise to a son who learned how to cheat honest people.
43. An old pot has food stains.
44. An orphaned calf must lick its own back.
45. Another person can laugh with you, but you must smile by yourself.
46. Appreciate the gifts you receive, and thank the sources.
47. Avoid every form of unrewarded risk.
48. Baboons don’t recognize their red butts in mirrors.
49. Be kind to your bees, as their trips to flowers fulfill your honey lust.
50. Beauty is appreciated patterning of structure!
51. Beauty organizes itself into functional patterns.
52. Before the gods destroy you, they will make you love them.
53. Being a bad dancer does not spoil the evening.
54. Bow-legged men can’t chase antelopes.
55. Burning charcoal is turned into carbon dioxide.
56. Crawling doesn’t prevent you from walking normally.
57. Do not accuse anyone of witchcraft until absolutely everyone is convinced.
58. Do not follow a person who has run twenty steps away.
59. Do not kill anything before its mother’s eyes.
60. Doing a job fast is not as important as doing it correctly.
61. Don’t bother gathering firewood if you don’t need it.
62. Don’t bother trying to do impossible things.
63. Don’t burn his house down if you don’t want a crazy person moving in.
64. Don’t envy what they have, but do appreciate what you have.
65. Don’t judge the sweetness of sugar by its color.
66. Don’t litter public places, and clean up your messes.
67. Don’t poop in the river; your relatives might see it float by their home.
68. Don’t send a boy to buy honey.
69. Easily acquired is quickly forgotten.
70. Elephants’ tusks are never abandoned.
71. Escalating violence has a deadly ending.
72. Even a child can tell you where to go potty.
73. Even a newborn jackal is a jackal.
74. Even your best friend can’t rescue you from old age.
75. Every door gives or denies passage through a wall.
76. Every seed prefers its way of germinating and growing.
77. Every statement can have complex intent, and every person has many possible understandings.
78. Everyone’s walking gait is unique to them.
79. Everything has its way of eating and defending itself.
80. Everything lives because of its efforts to survive.
81. Everywhere in the world, an empty pot makes the most noise.
82. Follow bees to where they store their honey.
83. Going faster is okay, but hurrying isn’t.
84. Good discussions provide a rich life, and bad ones rob you.
85. Good luck has graced us with the clean air we have been breathing.
86. Good products sell themselves because they satisfy a human need.
87. He who can’t dance well looks outside of himself for a reason.
88. He who refuses to obey reality will lead his followers to destruction.
89. He who wants to sleep in a warm, soft spot must get there first.
90. Hearts blend and do not meet one another at crossroads.
91. Help others while helping yourself, and they will help you.
92. Home business and public business are best kept separate.
93. Humankind must explore those things that are thought to be too difficult for a man to do.
94. If someone kills your goat, let him repay you with a pregnant one.
95. If starving people are near, everyone will not survive.
96. If the child doesn’t resemble dad, it resembles mum or hum.
97. If the soup is sweet, it was made by a fat cook.
98. If you are doing two things, one of them isn’t quite right.
99. If you don’t look into the future of inertia, it will impede you.
100. If you want what’s under the bed, you must lower yourself to get it.
101. If you wonder what it’s like to be dead, look into a grave.
102. Indolence destroys a good harvest.
103. It doesn’t matter who your ancestors were; you must do your growing.
104. It falls into his mouth when a ripe fruit sees an honest man.
105. It feels better to be born poor and prosper than rich and become poor.
106. It is a foolish coward that sweats in cool water.
107. It is better to lose an eye than your loving heart.
108. It is easy to be defeated if you do not stoke your emotional fires.
109. It is nonsense to try and bite your nose to save your face.
110. It makes no difference the size of the body; the head is always away from the shit.
111. It will be known if you curse others from a remote mountain top.
112. Never let a hyena know how poorly you can bite.
113. Only after the harvest will you know the results of your year’s labor.
114. Only believe a woman’s recounting an event a day later.
115. Peacefully flows man’s life when he follows his wife at home, and she follows him in public.
116. Personal affairs at home should not be mentioned in public.
117. Practice saying, “Thank You!” when your stubbed toe reminds you to be careful.
118. Put an o into the word god, and you have good, but add an l, and you have gold.
119. Put wildfires out while they are tiny.
120. Quietly take knives away from children and involve them in healthy play.
121. Rivers flow on by, in the dreams of a thirsty sleeping man.
122. Sticks tied in a bundle spread the stress and don’t break.
123. Talking is a form of love.
124. The bleating of a lamb doesn’t prevent its being eaten.
125. The deeds of a man are the measure of his life.
126. The elephant and the tiger do not search for their food in the same place.
127. The enemy you are familiar with is preferable to an unknown one.
128. The eye reflexively avoids danger.
129. The gods only hear the first prayer and ignore the rest.
130. The horns of a cow are not decorations.
131. The man in charge encourages his dog to be in charge too.
132. The mice will tease a cat wearing mittens.
133. The one who gets up earliest gets the most done during the day.
134. The owl is wise because it remains quiet when it knows something important.
135. The sun shines on little villages and farmers and cities and kings.
136. The world is constantly changing, but cats still aren’t laying eggs.
137. Those with few possessions claim blessings are better.
138. To be well paid for your work is the highest kind of praise.
139. To live your life’s potential, you must endure old age.
140. Too many births forecast many early deaths.
141. Too many monkeys on a branch fall together when it breaks.
142. Too much exertion of any part of your body will exhaust your whole body
143. Treat the earth well because it provides for everybody’s needs.
144. Two footprints may guide a direction, but they don’t make a path.
145. Two men shouldn’t quarrel when in a canoe.
146. Unintended injuries cause less suffering than intended ones.
147. Virtue is better than wealth.
148. Virtuous men claim it’s better to be virtuous than rich, and vice versa.
149. Water doesn’t stay in the sky forever, but it usually goes somewhere else.
150. We should accomplish our human things while we are living.
151. What you leave to your children was given to you for stewardship by your ancestors.
152. When a captain’s ship sinks, he becomes captain of the lifeboat.
153. When a dead tree falls, it permits small ones to flourish.
154. When elephants argue, it’s the grass that suffers most.
155. When figs are ripe, everybody’s eating figs.
156. When mutual support helps, people search for help.
157. Whoever gets to the pond first drinks the cleanest water.
158. Wisdom is like hair, and you get more as you age or don’t.
159. Yesterday is gone, but it is not ancient history.
160. You and your crops can’t drink lightning and thunder.
161. You can’t kill a louse with one finger.
162. You can’t shave a man in the other room.
163. You must reward a messenger regardless of the message’s contents.
164. You shall be given cows after your donkeys grow horns.
165. You will have nightmares if you look into the eyes of a monkey you are about to kill.
166. You won’t notice how steep the hills are on the way to your love.
167. Your dirty hands wash each other.
168. Your feet don’t choose which way you go.