Poster: Beauty of the mind

From Tamil Proverbs collected and translated by P. Percival: 9. The beauty of the mind appears in the face.



Photo: Tamil woman working in a tea plantation in central Sri Lanka. Photo by Christophe Meneboeuf.

Poster: Lotus in the Mud

There will be no lotus if there is no mud.

(Vietnamese proverb)

The source for the proverb is a student in my Indian Epics class who learned this proverb when she was little.

The image is by PublicDomainPictures.net.

The poster is made with AutoMotivator.

Poster: Kite and String

If the string is long, the kite will fly high.
(Chinese proverb)

The source for the proverb is David Crystal's book, As They Say in Zanzibar: Proverbial Wisdom from Around the World (Oxford University Press: 2006).

The image is by IrisDragon at Flickr.

The poster is made with AutoMotivator.

Poster: Adam & Eve

When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?
(English proverb)

The source for this rhyming proverb is English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by William Carew Hazlitt (Google Books). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is a 14th-century painting at Wikipedia. This proverb was famously invoked by the radical English priest John Ball, a leader of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381.

Poster: Planting Trees

The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago; the second-best time is now.
(Chinese proverb)

The source for the proverb is David Crystal's book, As They Say in Zanzibar: Proverbial Wisdom from Around the World (Oxford University Press: 2006).
The image is by Sustainable Sanitation at Flickr.
The poster is made with AutoMotivator.

Poster: Adjust the Sails

We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.

(German proverb)

The source for the proverb is David Crystal's book, As They Say in Zanzibar: Proverbial Wisdom from Around the World (Oxford University Press: 2006). Crystal does not provide the proverbs in the original, but I would guess this might be the German: Wir können den Wind nicht ändern, aber die Segel anders setzen.

The image is by paslotte at Flickr.

The poster is made with AutoMotivator.

Poster: Lay the Egg

First lay the egg, then cackle.

(Estonian proverb)

The source for the proverb is David Crystal's book, As They Say in Zanzibar: Proverbial Wisdom from Around the World (Oxford University Press: 2006).

The image is by randomtruth at Flickr.

The poster is made with AutoMotivator.

Poster: Rolling the Stone

The one who is not strong enough to lift the stone must roll it.
(Estonian proverb)





The source for the proverb is David Crystal's book, As They Say in Zanzibar: Proverbial Wisdom from Around the World (Oxford University Press: 2006).

The image is from Wikipedia. It is one of the dwarves of Wrocław!

The poster is made with AutoMotivator.

Poster: After the Game

After the game the king goes into the sack like the pawn.
(Italian proverb)

The source for the proverb is David Crystal's book, As They Say in Zanzibar: Proverbial Wisdom from Around the World (Oxford University Press: 2006).

The image is by Fortinbras at Flickr.

The poster is made with AutoMotivator.

Poster: Stitch in Time

A stitch in time saves nine.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is David Crystal's book, As They Say in Zanzibar: Proverbial Wisdom from Around the World (Oxford University Press: 2006). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is by Albert Anke. The saying also features near-rhyme: time - nine.

Poster: Trees in the Wind

Where is there a tree that is not shaken by the wind?
(Armenian proverb)

The source for the proverb is Armenian Proverbs and Sayings by Kework Bayyan (1889).

The image is by gomattolson at Flickr.

The poster is made with AutoMotivator.

Poster: Cats and Kings

A cat may look on a king.
(English proverb)

The saying famously shows up also in Heywood's 16th-century proverbial poem (a treasure-trove for proverb hunters):

Some hear and see him whom he heareth nor seeth not
But fields have eyes and woods have ears, ye wot
And also on my maids he is ever tooting.
Can ye judge a man, (quoth I), by his looking?
What, a cat may look on a king, ye know!
My cat's leering look, (quoth she), at first show,
Showeth me that my cat goeth a caterwauling;
And specially by his manner of drawing
To Madge, my fair maid.

It also famously appears in Alice in Wonderland.

You can also find the proverb in English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by William Carew Hazlitt (Google Books). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is of the Cheshire Cat by John Tenniel at Wikipedia.

Poster: Belling the Cat

No one will bell the cat.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is Early American Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by Bartlett Jere Whiting (Amazon). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is Milo Winter, illustrating Aesop's fable of the cat, the mice, and the bell (Flickr).

Poster: Calm

After a storm comes a calm.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by William Carew Hazlitt (Google Books). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is by ShutterSparks at Flickr.

Poster: Anthill

Don't poke a stick into an anthill.
(Polish: Nie wtykaj kija w mrowisko.)

The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is from Wikipedia.

Poster: Mouse Hole

A mouse cannot trust just one hole.
Mus non uni fidit antro.

Compare Chaucer's Prologue to the Wife of Bath's Tale: "I think that a mouse's heart is not worth a leek if the mouse has but one hole to run to; and if that one fails, then all is over." The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is by Zak Malik at Flickr.

Poster: Good Books

Good books are true friends.
(Francis Bacon)

The source for the proverb is Forty Thousand Quotations: Prose and Poetical by Charles Noel Douglas (Bartleby.com). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is by Jan van Eyck at Wikipedia.

Poster: Bees

Bees gather honey from every flower.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is Early American Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by Bartlett Jere Whiting (Amazon). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is by ndboy (Flickr).

Poster: Spurs

A running horse has no need of spurs.
Equo currenti non opus calcaribus.

You can find this in the sayings of Publilius Syrus. The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is by Tsutomu Takasu at Flickr.

Proverb: Fried Eggs

No chick ever came from a fried egg.
(Latin: Ex frixis pullus ovis numquam venit ullus.)

The source for the proverb is Philosophia Patrum by Julius Wegeler (GoogleBooks). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image by mccun934 (Flickr).