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proverbs with explanation


Honesty is The Best Policy
Honesty is a policy that prays in the long run. There is the story of Lord Alfred Dreyfuss of France who was convicted for being a spy. He spent years in a jail far away from his native land and his countrymen hated him. Then one day the real spy got his story published and the truth came out. Lord Alfred was restored to his original status with all honours and the nation was ashamed of the way it treated him. All through the trial Lord Dreyfuss kept on saying that he was innocent.
Every religion tells us that we must be honest. No one likes dishonest people because they cannot be trusted. The truth is always so simple. Dishonesty is like a web that has no beginning and no end. Sometimes we are punished for being honest, but it is nothing compared to the pain and suffering we cause due to dishonesty. Gandhiji laid great emphasis on the need to be truthful in words and deeds. His life throughout was a struggle to uphold the virtue of truth. A truthful man can speak and act with moral conviction. He commands respect and reverence in society.
Procrastination is the thief of time.
It has been said, ‘Never put off for tomorrow what you can do today ‘. Yet there are many people who enjoy postponing things. Such people do not realize the dangers of delaying. Work does not disappear if we postpone it. One day or the other it has to be done. The more we postpone, the more the work piles up. Finally we have no choice but to tackle it. Then the amount of work seems too much. We then have to work for long hours under great strain and tension. Finally we do it hurriedly and in a careless manner. It is as bad as not doing the work at all.
Again, when some work is delayed, the time which would have been profitably used is wasted. Time wasted is time lost for ever, Hence procrastination, that is the habit of postponing things, is rightly called the thief of time. Precious time wasted means opportunities lost, and lost forever. by the time we realize how much time we have wasted and how many opportunities we have missed by delaying word, it may be too late. And then nothing remains for us except to regret and repent.
Sometimes a very heavy price has to be paid for delaying things. The person whi delays insuring his house will regret it when the house is gutted by a sudden fire. Delay in the treatment of a disease may make it worse, and may even result in death. The student who goes on postponing studies will need to burn the midnight oil for the last minute preparations.
Cut your coat according to your cloth.
If you give a piece of cloth to a tailor to make a coat, the tailor will first measure the cloth and then decide what kind of coat has to be made out of it. He will not be able to make a coat that requires more material than the cloth provided. The same is the case with our expenses and income. Our expenses should always be within the limits of our income. Otherwise, we surely land in debit and difficulties. The proverb thus tells us not to spend more than what we earn i.e., to live within our means.

The proverb applies not only to individuals but also to business establishment. Of course, a company may raise a loan to expand or diversify its business. But it must do it judiciously; otherwise it will be in deep trouble. Even the government of a country has to keep in mind its total resources while spending.If it does not do so and goes on borrowing recklessly from the people and from foreign countries, it would become bankrupt one day, and come to grief.

So the proverb is of universal application. It teaches us that our actions should suit the circumstances or resources. The wisdom of the proverb would guide everybody to live and work within their means and to avoid possible shame or punishment resulting from living beyond their means.

One good turn deserves another.
When someone does you a good deed, you must never forget it. You must look out for the opportunity to do a good deed to that person. If you do not get that opportunity then you must pass on the good deed to someone else. It is quite a strange fact of life, that a good deed done to another always bring some kind of reward to the person who has done the good deed. Hence you must always return good with good.

There is a simple satisfaction in doing good to other. There is a wonderful poem about a man who helps an old woman across the street. The woman blesses him for helping her. At the end of the poem the man expresses the fond hope that some young man like himself will help his mother when she is in trouble.
Therefore, one should never hesitate to do good for others. For one good turn deserves another!
As you show, so shall you reap.
If a farmer desires to reap a harvest of wheat, he sows wheat; if he wants rice, he sows rice. What should we think of him if he planted wheat and expected to harvest rice, or the other way round? We would certainly consider him a mentally unsound person. The law of nature tells us that we must sow what we wish to reap. If we sow nothing, we shall reap nothing.
So it is with life. We have always to bear the consequences of our actions. If we perform good deeds, we shall be rewarded with good. If we perform bad deeds, we shall live lives of misery and wretchedness.

You cannot achieve fair ends by using foul means. Even if you do, it is short-lived. Lasting peace cannot be brought about by violent means. Good always triumphs over evil.

Man can decide his own future by his present deeds. If he sows the seeds of vice, corruption and sin, he reaps the harvest of misery and ruin. If he plants virtue, purity and goodness, he plucks the golden fruit of success and happiness. If we want to achieve good, we should do good, for as we sow, so shall we reap

Example is better than precept.
People generally like to give advice, but do not like to be advised. All of us are natural-born preachers. But when it comes to practising what we preach, we make up excuses. Very often giving advance can become sheer nagging. It can become so irritating that it has no more or even the opposite effect on the hearer.

Children are keen observers. Even though the elders do not know it, children are all the while keenly observing their behaviour. They are aware of the gulf between the adults speech and their actual behaviour, between their words and deeds, between their preaching and practice. Naturally, they do not pay enough heed to the elders advise and instruction. By preaching things which they themselves don’t practise, the elders only expose themselves as hypocrites and succeed in teaching youngsters a lesson in hypocrisy.

The best way to teach is not to preach but to set and example by actually putting the preaching into practice. This is because human beings and especially children, are imitative by nature. In fact, the instinct to copy is very powerful in human beings. We should make the fullest use of this instinct to teach children what we want them to learn. If a father wants his child to never start the habit of smoking, he should first give up smoking himself. If parents wants their children to pick up good manners, they should themselves be models of good behaviour. In short, we should ourselves do what we want others to do. This is because example is better than precept and deeds are more powerful than words. Actions speak louder than words. An ounce of practise is more than a ton of precept

A friend in need is a friends indeed.

Once it was raining very heavily.It didn’t seems that it would stop.there was no means of transport to my home coming that way.I wondered how I would reach home.A classmate happened by in a car,He asked me to get in and reached me to my home. From that day on he is one of my best friends.Indeed, a friends in need is a friends Indeed!

I have found that many people talk about friendship, but when you need them in the time of crises, somehow they are not to be seen anywhere. It is those who stand by you when you are really in trouble are your friends.It is these people whom you must help when they too are in trouble.Life is all about being there for others.Life is all about carrying and sharing. Do not be taken in by people who talk big and fancy words about friendship. Instead someone who renders you a service is more a friends,indeed
Prevention is better that cure.
A young man sometimes handles a razor blade carelessly, cuts his finger, allows the cut to go septic and, when the pain is unbearable, consult a doctor. The doctor prescribes a prolonged and costly treatment. Would it not have been better for him to have taken due precaution while using the blade? We can always protect ourselves against common ailments and diseases with proper precautionary, preventive measure.
But very often, something within us makes us ignore the possibility of trouble, even after we have seen the first symptoms of trouble. The result, very often, is that the trouble is aggravated and we egret our neglect when it is only too late. A man’s lack of foresight often lands him in serious trouble. Sayings such as  ‘ Nip the mischief in the bud ‘, ‘ A stitch in time saves nine ‘ advise us to take prompt steps against impending trouble and ward them off right at the start. But even sounder is the proverb ‘Prevention is better than cure’ that advises us to take precaution so that the trouble is not allowed to affect us at all.
The proverb has universal application. Prevent a machine, a building, a road, a bridge, and so on from deteriorating by proper maintenance and timely repairs and no serious damage will result. Health authorities should take prompt, quick and effective steps against the outbreak of epidemics and there will be no epidemics resulting in mass misery and extensive remedial measures. Floods and famines must be dealt with efficiently. Even at the national level, many problems that we are facing today would have been non-existent has the government acted firmly, promptly and boldly at the very start.

Slow and steady wins the race.
The famous fable about the tortoise and the hare brings out the singular truth that slow and steady wins the race. Haste only make waste, or result in haphazard or shoddy work.
This is especially true for students.Daily regular study delivers good results. Those students who wants to complete their homework quickly just in order to play a match with their friends, finally learn little or nothing. This is true even while attempting an examination paper. Hasty writing of answer can lead to the making of careless mistakes, and will only result in low marks for the students.
If a director wishes to make a film in a hurry, he will have a shoddy product in his hand. But if he plans the script, the locations and the cast and takes rehearsals before going to the sets for shooting,he or she is sure to come out fantastic product.

This is true for all great ventures, including the construction of a building. It is better to draw the blueprint first. Then comes the laying of the foundation, and finally the end result. If a building is constructed i haste, it might collapse and lead to disaster.
So whatever you do in life, plan every detail carefully, collect the equipment required for the project, and then go about performing the act. Then only will you be able to achieve grand success.
Cleanlines is Next to Godliness
An unclean environment is an insult to the Creator. Everything that God has created is beautiful, and nature has in it the power to follow the norms of hygiene and sanitation. It is only man who makes his environment dirty and, very often, and for reasons best known to himself, is happy to keep it that way.
When you go to a place of religious worship, don’t you bathe first ? Don’t you put on your clothes? Remember, this world is our temple and the first norm of cleanliness that we must follow is that of personal hygiene.This involves keeping one’s body, clothes, belongings and home clean. This prevents diseases and prolongs life and its quality. It also makes the mind fresh and open to do better work.
Cleanliness must also extend toward the neighbourhood and the environment in general. For this, one must develop clean social and civic habits. It is wrong to spit on the roads, urinate in public or throw litter anywhere you please. By doing such things we are defacing the property that belongs to us -our nation. We are also spoiling this wonderful place that God  has given us to live on -our earth

Actions speak louder than words.


It is our common experience to hear politicians make tall promise before elections, and to conveniently forget them after they are elected. Their actions do not match their words. That is why we do not trust them.
Words sound good. But actions prove the genuineness of one intentions. In olden times a man’s word was a matter of honour, even unto the point of death.
In modern times, people make all kinds of big promises which they have little intention of keeping. People like to say nice thing to give a good impression of themselves. But once they have left the place they think nothing of what they claim to do. We can only call such person a cheater or a liar. A person who says one thing and does something to the contrary is a highly irresponsible person, and ought not to be trusted.
We too should develop the habit of matching our actions with words at all times
Examination a necessary evil.

Most student dread the word ‘ examinations ‘. But this is something they have to face right from primary school to higher centres of learning. They would probably heave a great sigh of relief if the word was altogether deleted from the dictionary!. The reasons are not far to seek. the whole career of a student depends on what he is able to write during the short course of an examination. If he suddenly takes ill or is unlucky enough to get a tough question-paper, he fails, and his future is ruined. Examiners have no knowledge of his all-round performance during the academic year. they go just by what is written in the answer-paper under very tense conditions. Again, assessment varies from examiner to examiner. It does not, in any way,reflect the real merit of the students. Examinations kill students genuine interest in study and give importance only to cramming. Examinations have become mere games of chance and guessing.

All this is admitted by everyone. Yet no other method of testing students on a mass scale has yet been devised. So, examinations have become a necessary evil! If there were no examinations, it is likely that the majority of students would not bother to study at all. We would never be able to separate the brilliant students from the average ones. Then whom would we select for higher professional training?.
Health is Wealth
What is the use of having millions and billions in one’s bank account and yet not enjoying good health? A healthy man can enjoy the benefits of his wealth. But a wealthy man will always followed by physical complaints if he is not healthy.
In fact, if you are ever asked to choose between the two, always opt for good health. because health can give wealth, but wealth does not ensure health. very often the desperate search for wealth makes a man unhappy. It brings along with it stress, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, ulcer and diabetes. It deprives a man the necessary physical exercise. It makes him follow unhealthy food habit in the name of saving time. As a result he has to spend the later part of his life in and out of hospitals and undergoing expensive operations in order to keep himself alive. Finally he dies a stressful premature death. And all the wealth he has accumulated is distributed amongst his heirs. rather he could have enjoyed his wealth while he had lived if only he had believed in the dictum, ‘ Health is wealth ‘
Practice Makes Perfect
You cannot become a world-class musician unless you take up your instrument and play on it daily for hours together. You cannot become a Tendulkar merely through inborn skill. You have to go to the nets every day for hours to practise. You need a coach to guide you an tell you where you go wrong. Merit-holders in board examinations do not achieve their marks by pure inspiration. They have studied throughout the year and revised and re-revised and made themselves perfect in whatever they have set out to study. It is only regular practice that makes one perfect.
If you don’t practise your work regularly, you will, at the most, be average in your performance. You will not win prizes or medals or awards. the most difficult task can be performaed by anyone if they take the trouble to practise daily and regularly. In fact, you can achieve almost anything with practice.
If you don’t practise your work regularly, you will, at the most, be average in your performance. You will not win prizes or medals or awards. the most difficult task can be performaed by anyone if they take the trouble to practise daily and regularly. In fact, you can achieve almost anything with practice.
Five fingers make a hand. A hand makes a handshake. A handshake extends warmth and friendship and reaches out to the world. India is a land od diverse people, cultures, religions, languages and geography. Yet, as long as we are united, we are strong and no one can do us harm. The moment we show any sign of division, we will be vulnerable and enemies will try to take advantage of the situation.
A team in which the individual members play for their own good cannot win a match. As long as it plays for the good of the team, it can win. Anything that we do should be done for the general good, not for the individual. then only can we achieve victory.

Experience is the best teacher.

If you warn a child not o put his hand near the fire, he or she may not listen to you. But if the child actually touches the flame out of curiosity, he or she will get burnt. By actual experience the child will learn that putting one’s hand in fire can actually cause a lot of pain and physical damage.
Most of our study is based on books. But only be actual ly making a visit to the Taj Mahal will one actually experience its grandeur. Direct knowledge gives personal experience. There are so many skills that mere theoretical knowledge cannot supply complete information. Practical knowledge gives us complete, impartial and permanent information of the thing we are studying. We learn through our mistakes more than we learn from bookish knowledge. Learning by doing is the most effective way of education.
God help those who help themselves.
There are students who don’t study all through the year and then one day before the examination they go to the temple, make offerings and perform pooja and think that God will answer their prayers and give them a good result in the examination. Such students will find, much to their dismay, that God does not help shirkers. He only helps those who help themselves.
There is the story of a scientist who worked for years in order to find out the cause of malaria. He had performed hundreds of experiments and almost given up hope. The he prayed and fell asleep. The next morning he woke up with a new idea in his hand. He tried it out and lo and behold!, he had found the cure for malaria. Thus we see that God helps only those who helps themselves. This is because God has given us all talents, attributes and the thinking power to achieve what we want. After being given all these, why should we again rely on God to achieve success? We should rely on the gifts that God has given us to make progress in life, rather than on God to do it for us.
All that glitters is not gold
A book cannot be judged by its cover.
Everything is life that appears to be attractive does not necessarily have a great value. This same fact can be said  in another way : A book cannot be judged by its cover. A book with a very attractive cover may not have readable material inside. On the other hand, a book with a very dull cover may be very interesting. This is true of everything in life. A show that is well advertised may be dull and boring. And a movie that has received very little publicity may be quite entertaining.

So we must not jump to conclusions about the merits or demerits of anything purely on the basis of the way it is packaged. This is the age of advertisement. Makers of products try to show their product is the best light so that people will buy them. But this does not necessarily mean that the product is well worth the money. Even when we judge people we should not do so by their looks. Gandhiji wore just a dhoti, but he is still held in great reverence throughout the world. Abraham Lincoln was not endowed with good looks. But he is considered by far the greatest American President. Mother Teresa had a very simple appearance. But people all over the world remember and revere her. So it is only fair to say that all that glitters is not gold.
Birds of feather flock together.
You will always notice that people who have the same interest, hobbies or preference are always found together. They like to participate in the same kind of activities or talk about their common pursuits and so you will always see them together. This is what is meant by the proverb ‘ Birds of a feather flock together
If people like to play tennis, you will always find them on the tennis court every day. If they like reading you will find them in the library. If they like cricket you will find them on the cricket field. It is only natural that they will congregate at the place where they find their common activity or pursuit as part of their daily activity. They would like to discuss the adventures of their experiences. They naturally like to be in the company of people who have the same interest as they have.

Where there is will ,there is a way
When we read the biographies of great men and women, right from Albert Einstein to Edmund Hillary,we find that it is their strong will which made them overcome great difficulties or setbacks and find a way to march towards success. Similarly, a student may think to secure a first class in an examination is beyond his or her capacity. But if the student makes a firm resolve to achieve his or her goal and works towards it wholeheartedly, he or she is almost certain to achieve success.
There was a time when lying in the air, travelling in space and sending messages and pictures over the air were all regarded as flights of fancy. But today we see that these seemingly impossible things have become possible.The aeroplane, the spaceship, the radio, the television, the mobile phone and the internet are now realities.
How have these impossibilities been achieved ? By man’s will-power,determination and dedication. The doer is never a pessimist or a defeatist.he is an optimist confident of ultimate success.Nothing can deter him from his purpose. He has the will to win and achieve, and so he finds out ways and marches to ultimate victory.
So let us cultivate a strong will, a keen desire and the determination to achieve our goals.If there is no way we will create one.Victory is then bound to be ours
That’s why its right said :-”where there is a will, there is a way”
Eye donation is the best donation.
Science has made it possible for people to donate their eyes for transplantation into the eyes of those who are blind. What more wonderful gift of our bodies after death?. Is Aishwariya Rai Bachchan can pledge her eyes, why not we? All one has to do is to approach an eye donation centre and pledge one’s eyes after one’s death. Imagine, even after our death, our bodies will be of use to someone. Some unfortunate person will get the gift of eyesight and he will be able to see the world through our eyes. Even though we die, our eyes will live on and see the world!
We all know how important vision is for carrying out day-to-day activities. With the help of our eyes, some blind person will be able to get that gift. Indeed, eye donation is one of the best donations that we can ever make. It is the most humanitarian of acts that we can commit during our lifetime. So why wait? Let’s one and all go to the nearest eye donation centre and pledge our eyes as a gift to mankind!
Knowledge is power.
A person who has knowledge is equipped with power. Here power does not mean the power of money or brute force or the power wielded by money. rather it means the power to understand, discriminate between what is right or wrong and the power to make right or wrong choices. The illiterate person has limited choices of opportunity and advancement.
Knowledge makes a man resourceful. When he is faced with a difficult situation, he is able to tackle it better. His mind is able to come up with many ways to solve a problem. He is not bogged down by paucity of thoughts. he can even think up new ways of doing things.The world is moving faster each day. No one can afford to remain illiterate. Everyone has to keep up with the knowledge of the times.

Travel broadens the mind.
If you live all your life in the same place, you are like the proverbial frog in a well who believes that the well is the  whole world. You become narrow-minded. You may read books, magazines and newspapers, and still not know what the world outside is truly like. There is no doubt that travelling broadens the mind and enlivens the spirit.
Apart from viewing of natural and historical sights, travelling enables a person to meet different people and study their customs, modes of dressing, culture and languages at close quarters. Meeting different people makes a person board-minded and tolerant. traveling brings people closer. Their outlook becomes progressive. Travelling removes prejudices and helps a person to becomes a citizen of the world in the true sense. Therefore, never loose an opportunity to travel. It will be an experience well worth the time and money spent on it. The world is a book and he who stays at home reads only one page.
Pride goes before a fall.
Everyone know the story of the deer who was proud of his beautiful horns and ashamed of his lean legs. But when the deer was in danger, it was his legs that helped him run swiftly, and his horns that got entangled in the branches and led to his death. hence we should never be proud of our possessions. We should quietly acknowledge our skills and use them for our progress and the service of others. If we are excessively proud of what we own, the very thing we brag about will bring about our downfall.
Nothing in this world belongs to us in the final reckoning. So why should we be proud? Whatever wealth we accumulate during our lifetime should be used for the benefit of others. The tree in the forest is not proud of its products. Instead it freely gives its produce to the birds, the animals, the insects and man. It is only man who is vain, who loves to boast and show off his worldly possessions to others.Ultimately, however, he has to leave everything behind, while his body is left to burn or decay. To be proud is to be foolish. To be humble is to be wise.
Strike when the iron is hot (make hay while the sun shine)
When life presents opportunities you must seize them and not let them go. Everyone in their lifetime gets some chances to move forward. They must avail of them and make use of them. These are god-sent occasions when someone is helping us to move forward in life. Something or the other or some person makes it easy for us to get along in life. That is what the proverb means. We must strike when the iron is hot. In other words, we must make hay while the sun is shining. In any sport, the winner is the one who looks for opportunities to overcome his opponents by taking advantage of his weakness.
It is also true that once we miss that opportunity it will never come our way again. And then we will live all our life to regret the missed chance. We must also put in our efforts. But never lose out on that chance that comes our way. At right moment when opportunity presents itself we must seize it and see to it that we use it to help us to go even further in life. Then only can we be successful.
A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

Life presents us with many beautiful things. This may be a beautiful scene or a flower or a lonely night walk on a beach that fill us with peace or a beautiful picture. We should store these pretty memories in our minds. When we are not feeling so good, or are lonely or depressed we should remember the beautiful sights that we have seen or experienced. This will make us happy.
William Wordsworth has put forward this point in his beautiful poem ‘ Daffodils ‘. Once he saw a sight of beautiful golden daffodils. This sight remained with him throughout his life. In the later years, Whenever he was in vacant or in pensive mood, he recollected the scene of the daffodils and this gave him great solitude and filled his heart with pleasure.
Life is full of simple, beautiful things. It is for us to make good use of them to our advantage. We don’t have to spend money on luxurious holidays and expensive pastimes in order to bring happiness to ourselves. We can do so with simple memories that we have collected during the good times of our lives, when we have experienced beautiful things. Because such experience will never be erased fro our memories.
A rolling stone gather no moss.
It is not good to keep on changing one’s place of residence or workplace or routine. Such a habit causes a lot of insecurity and instability. You are not able to acquire steady thoughts or the confidence in order to carry your day to day schedule. When one stays in one place for a long time, one gets familiarized with one’s surroundings and is able to go about one’s work with the correctness that is required for the job. Also people around know and recognize you and so you get help required when necessary. A person who keeps on changing his regular schedule frequently is known as a rolling stone. He cannot cultivate any true friendship or relationships. frequent change of jobs and homes affects one’s financial prospects negatively. He or she will not get people to help him or her when he or she is in trouble, because no one will know him or her well enough.

Hence it is better to stay in one place and reap the benefits that the environment has to offer one. This is preferable to changing one’s location or job every now and then.

The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.
the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand of the mother. The proverb therefore implies that the very same mother who rocks the cradle to put her child to sleep, also rules the world.How is this so?

The world ‘ rule ‘ in the proverb does not necessarily means to ‘ govern ‘. It is used in a wider sense i.e., to influence people, to guide and direct them and to lead them. It is the mother who moulds the character of the child. The child then grows up to be an important personality, perhaps someone who guides the destinies of the people of states or countries. What they have been taught on their mother’s lap will then be the guiding force behind the decisions they  make. No wonder it was that Abraham Lincoln said, ” All that I am or hope to be I owe to my angel mother. ” We have an example of Jijamata who inspired Shivaji Maharaj as a child with stories of great heroes. It was this inspiration that led him to lead the battle for Hindavi Swaraj and to establish the Maratha kingdom
You may not turn out to be a great ruler, but what you have been taught by mother during childhood will be the guiding force in all that you do during your lifetime
Neither a borrower nor a lender be.
One of the characters in a play by Shakespeare gives this advice to his son who is about to travel abroad : Neither a borrower nor a lender be. In other words, one should neither borrow money from other, nor should one lend money to other. Simply put, one should be careful in money matters. When you give money to someone, you are sure to spoil relationships with the person because the person in all likelihood is not going to repay you the amount. Neither should you borrow. If you don’t have enough money, make do with what little you have, rather than spoiling relationships with someone by borrowing money from him.
The advice given in this proverb is full of practical wisdom. Money gets in the way of healthy relationships. So don’t let money spoil relationships. Give your friends your time, your advice, your practical help in their times of crisis. But don’t give them money. And expect the same treatment in return
Handsome is as handsome does.
Everyone is attracted by a person endowed with good looks. But this does not mean that the person will behave as charmingly as his or her looks indicate. Handsome is as handsome does. The action of a person makes the person more attractive than he or she looks. People like Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi or Mother Teresa would not have scored over others by the standards of conventional good looks, but they are remembered all over the world as people who glowed with an inner light of beauty.
We expect a handsome person to behave in a genteel way. We are pained and surprised when such person turns out to be rude and mean. On the other hand, a person with plain, simple, ordinary looks can behave quite endearingly and you can learn to love and respect that person more than you would a stunningly attractive person. So, never judge a book by its cover, but by its content.
A little learning is a dangerous thing.
We have heard of quack doctors in the villages who try to cure serious diseases by their so called magical remedies. This is an example of a little learning being a dangerous thing, Finally when the patient dies they shift the blame on some supernatural powers and wash their hands of the tragedy.
Sometimes children try to imitate dangerous scenes from films little realising the danger they could lead to. Learning Yoga from someone who is not an expert at it could be dangerous. Certain asanas should not be tried unless the trainer is an expert. Listening to the advice of someone who is less educated than you can lead to wrong choices in life. Remember Lord Buddha’s teaching : Travel not with a foll. He further goes on to say that if the people you are travelling with are less clever than you or equal in cleverness to you, it is better to travel alone. In other words, it is better to have no friends than to have one who has little knowledge.
Some people try to repair domestic appliances on their own thinking that they can do the job themselves. Without sufficient knowledge they only spoil the appliance. They would do well to call the technician or the expert to do the job.
Impossible is a word in the dictionary of fools.
It was Napoleon Bonaparte, the great conqueror, who said, ” Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools “. Come to think of it, there is so much truth in this quote. How often we have thought that a particular plan is impossible. But then the situation changes and the plan becomes easy and possible. Those who think that something can never be done are not fools, I wonder rather say they are lazy, unimaginative, unambitious and weak of heart.
If Sherpa Tenzing ha said, ” Climbing Mount Everest is impossible “, his name would not have been in the history books today. If Wilma Rudolf has listened to her doctor and never got off bed, being paralytic, she would never have won three Olympic gold medals.
Doing and achieving depends on the strength of the mind and heart. Life keeps on testing us at every twist and turn. We come across hundreds of obstacles on your upward journey. It is for us to say, ” No matter, I can overcome this roadblock as well.” It is from such an attitude that all achievements and all successes originate. So instead of shedding tears when things become too difficult, let us like Walt Disney say, ” It’s kind of fun to do the impossible “.
God made the country and man made the town.
People in the city only know of the hustle and bustle and hurry and the flurry of modern, mechanical urban life. They are always surrounded by crows and noise and pollution. Indeed whenever man has tried to establish a settlement, he has brought with it innumerable problems. in order to construct a buildings, he does away with all elements of nature that make life so beautiful. And he fills his surroundings with stone and mud and dirt and smoke, creating massive concrete jungles, unfit for human habitation.
On the other hand, people in the countryside live in the soothing silence of the countryside, breathe fresh air, eat plain but wholesome and nourishing food, work hard in healthy conditions, and are happy and content. In fact, it is only these simple rural folk who know what true exertion is, what true appetite is, what true interfere with their environment. They live in harmony with nature.
Blesses indeed are they who enjoy the simple pleasures of village life
To err is human, to forgive divine.
In one of Shakespeare’s plays one of the characters says, ” The quality of mercy is divine “. Indeed to be able to forget the evil that others have done to you and to forgive them is divine. Jesus Christ, even on the cross, during his last moments, was able to say this about the people who had put him to death : father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing. Lord Rama showed no rancour against his stepmother, Kaikeyi, for sending him to the forest for sending him to the forest for fourteen years so that her son, Bharat, could be the king.
All of us are humans. We all have our weaknesses.No human being is prefect. So when someone does a wrong to us, why can’t we forgive them? When someone hurts  us it is because that person is human and little understands the harm that he or she is causing. Forgiving that person brings out the god-like nature that lies in man.It is not very easy to do, but once we do it, we will feel an inner peace and the spirit of reconciliation
Charity begins at home.
It is very easy to show the whole world that you are doing good deeds. Many people do this just to impress others. But when it comes to treating people who are near them well, they are very sadly lacking. They treat their children, family members, servants and people who are closely connected with them very badly.
If you really want to be good to others, it has to spread to all walks of life, and should begin we treat those who are not so close to us. Treating others well should be a habit with us . It should not be an attitude that we display only to gain name or fame. It should be the same when treating the smallest and the closest as well as treating the greatest and the farthest
Failures are stepping stones to success.
When you take part in some competition or activity, always take part from the point of view of participation, not from the point of view of winning. Taking part is more important that winning. It teaches you how to avoid the errors that will help to better yourself the next time. It also gives you mental strength to accept defeat in the right spirit. Everyone cannot win in a competition. Some has to win, someone has to lose. You also learn to be humble. respectful of someone else’s skill and maintain your spirit of learning. You play in the spirit of true sportsmanship.
The Olympic motto is ” stronger, higher and further “. That is what you should aim for life. Don’t worry about the failures. They are only stepping stones to success. All you have to do is try, try and try again. Then only will you achieve success.

Empty vessels make the most sound.
You will always find that a person with very little learning loves to jabber all the while and laugh and joke and make a lot of noise. Because the person doesn’t really have any substantial matter in the head and so hides this fact with a lot of meaningless chatter. But the person of real substance looks around, observes and when he or she speaks it is to say something really meaningful. that is what is meant by this proverb.
 Hence when we are in a conversation we should only take a fair share of the conversation and not keep prattling  on as if no one else people’s opinions and wish to hear them out too. It would also give the impression that we are not big mouthed who really bore the  others with our pompous talk.