This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
"Proverbs are but rules, and rules do not create character. They prescribe conduct, but do not furnish a full and proper motive. They are usually but half truths, and seldom contain the principle of the action they teach." - Theodore T. Munger
"Proverbs are the condensed wisdom of long experience in brief, epigrammatic form, easily remembered and always ready for use. They are the alphabet of morals; and are commonly prudential watchwords and warnings, and so lean toward a selfish view of life." - Theodore T. Munger
"The wise men of old have sent most of their morality down to the stream of time in the light skiff of apothegm or epigram; and the proverbs of nations, which embody the common sense of nations, have the brisk concussion of the most sparkling wit." - Edwin Percy Whipple
"Proverbs: Short sentences drawn from long experiences." - Miguel de Cervantes, fully Miguel de Cervantes Saaversa
"The benefit of proverbs, or maxims, is that they separate those who act on principle from those who act on impulse; and they lead to promptness and decision in acting. Their value deepens on four things; do they embody correct principles; are they on important subjects; what is the extent, and what is the ease of their application?" - Tyron Edwards
"Proverbs are in the world of thought what gold coin is in the world of business - great value in small compass, and equally current among all people. Sometimes the proverb may be false, the coin counterfeit, but in both cases the false proves the value of the true." - Daniel March
"The study of proverbs may be more instructive and comprehensive than the most elaborate scheme of philosophy." - William Motherwell
"Wise men make Proverbs, but Fools repeat 'em." - Samuel Palmer
"The wisdom of nations lies in their proverbs, which are brief and pithy. Collect and learn them; they are notable measures of directions for human life; you have much in little they save time in speaking; and upon occasion may be the fullest and safest answers." - William Penn
"Proverbs put old heads on young shoulders." - Charles Reade
"Proverbs were anterior to books, and formed the wisdom of the vulgar, and in the earliest ages were the unwritten laws of morality." - Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield
"The genius wit, and spirit of a nation are discovered in its proverbs." - Francis Bacon
"Proverbs are the wisdom of the ages." - German Proverbs
"Proverbs may be said to be the abridgments of wisdom." - Joseph Joubert
"Proverbs, like the sacred books of each nation, are the sanctuary of the intuitions." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
"By necessity, by proclivity, and by delight, we quote. We quote not only books and proverbs, but arts, sciences, religions, customs, and laws; nay, we quote temples and houses, tables and chair by imitation." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Proverbs are the literature of reason, or the statements of absolute truth, without qualification. Like the sacred books of each nation, they are the sanctuary of its intuitions." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Proverbs are mental gems gathered in the diamond districts of the mind." - William Rounseville Alger
"Love is not to be purchased, and affection has no price." - Saint Jerome, aka Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymous, Hierom or Jerom NULL
"Each institution has demonstrated very distinctive characteristics to their situations. The NCAA hopefully will recognize how we are different from the other institutions that they've dealt with so far and will give us a favorable review in a timely fashion." - Thomas Hardy
"As the air to a bird or the sea to a fish, so is contempt to the contemptible." - William Blake
"One gets the truth form the simple." - Welsh Proverbs