Cool sayings from around the world

Another slice of wisdom from the four corners of the planet.

Previously on the Charles Fudgemuffin blog, I've focused on cool sayings from places like Sweden and Korea. This week I expand the net wider and feature a selection of cool quotes from all around the world.

An elephant, best eaten by the whole village,
according to the African saying.

1) "The best way to eat an elephant is to invite the whole village along."

As you can probably work out, this is an African saying* and it's promoting the merits of teamwork.  It basically means it's a lot easier to succeed when you work together than when you work on your own.

* You don't get many elephants in England.

2) "A Raisin in a sausage."

This is a Norwegian expression which refers to a nice surprise in something which was already enjoyable. Although it's not an exact match, the closest English expression would probably be 'the icing on the cake' which for the benefit of any Norwegian readers loosely translates as 'a raisin in a sausage.' It basically means 'the best part of something which was already excellent.'

High trees.
The target for much criticism according to the Dutch saying.

 

3) "High trees catch a lot of wind."

This is a cool Dutch saying which means 'successful people attract a lot of criticism'.

It's an expression which is definitely worth remembering the next time someone criticises you. What they are actually doing is affirming your success!

Conversely, if you go through life never receiving criticism then perhaps you can conclude that you're a failure.

4) "At high tide the fish eat ants. At low tide the ants eat fish."

This is a wise old Thai saying, although I have to admit that not totally sure what it means. It definitely sounds clever, though! If I had to take a guess then I'd say that perhaps it means something like, 'Circumstances change, so treat other people with kindness because you never know when you might need them to return the favour and treat you kindly.'

5) "The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now."

A bonsai tree. Target for very little criticism from the Dutch.

It seems that trees are a very popular subject for expressions, because this as another saying featuring trees.

Surely though, if the best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, then the second best time would be nineteen years ago? In fact based on simple logic, the top three 'best times to plant a tree' would be...

1) 20 years ago.
2) 19 years ago.
3) 18 years ago.

...and in fact 'now' would feature right at the bottom of the list in 21st position. So whoever invented this saying needs to check their facts in future before coming up with such erroneous statements!

Anyway, being serious again, this is an old Chinese proverb and if you embrace the spirit of the saying, rather than the flawed logic, then it's ideal advice for anyone who can be prone to dawdling or procrastinating.

If you're looking for more sayings, then I've previously written about English expressions, but with a focus on how silly they can be:
Five stupid sayings (part 1)
Five stupid sayings (part 2)