I find there to be profound wisdom in proverbs, sayings and quotes and I marvel at the way they are so succinct in communicating messages to the reader. Mostly anonymous, they come to us from past and from across cultures. They speak of the experiences of lives lived and lessons learned. Quotes, like proverbs, make us think more deeply about something.
Each Thursday, I post a Proverb or Saying and a quote that I find thought-provoking.
I hope you will too.
The greater love is a mother’s; then comes a dog’s; then a sweetheart’s –
Polish Proverb
“I would rather be poor with lots of stories to tell, then rich with nothing to say “-
Kari Lundgren
The Lundgren quote reminds me that someone could be wealthy, and also feel quite lonely, yet a person might conversely remain financially poor, whilst living comfortably in an environment where there is lots of humour, company and animated conversation. Being rich is not only about money.
The Polish proverb speaks of our early experiences of love and the unique and very special love that a nurturing mother/carer can give a child. Pet Dogs, and other animals, can also be incredibly loyal to their owners, but their affection is quite different to a maternal love. But how?
This proverb reminds me that people and others may have expectations around the term Mother. We expect Mothers to be loyal, reliable and caring and others less so, perhaps because they have not got as much to lose? A mother’s/primary carer’s love might be less self-centred, and more altruistic than others, as there is a strong drive in Mothers/primary carers to assist their children to do better, succeed, go forward in life, than themselves.
What do you think? Would you agree?
How does maternal love differ from other sorts of affections?
Something to Ponder About this Thursday
Something to Ponder About 
No-one is ever so poor as a filthy rich man. (gerard oosterman)
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Filthy (!)
rich, for a reason, I take it!!
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Filthy (!) rich for a reason, hey Gerard?
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Ill-gained riches. A crook!
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Since we don’t have pets, it will have to be mother’s love first, then sweet heart’s.
We will always be a child, not because we are not grown up but because mother will always cast a caring eye over you. “Have you eaten well?”, “How have you been of late? Share with me your woes”…
We believe our lives is testament to Kari’s words. It is far better to have memories and things to share than to have lots of material stuff and nothing to say. Can’t bring all that along when we pass on anyway…
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How very true, Mel and Suan. We earn the money and material riches, so it is good to enjoy them also rather than hoard them in the bank!
Mothers can be mothers, but also friends, confidantes, cheersquad, influencers, advocates, critics, sounding boards, historians, nutritional advisor, chef, carer, home help, companion, and much more! Thanks for the comment.
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I think our mother’s love are our first love, you know, from womb to birth, even conception, and in that there is a special connection. Or, maybe there is no love like the love at home, provided we come from a relatively average typical household. I think a lot of parents want their kids to succeed and try their very best to keep the kids level-headed.
I don’t know if this is off-topic, but I’ll share this anyway: This morning to work, I was on a packed train into the city, standing room. The train pulled into the station, and an African-looking girl toddler about 3 or 4 inched past everyone’s legs to the door of the train, dropping her batted, rather dirty Cookie Monster stuffed toy near the door. Her mum kept calling out to her a few feet behind – her mum looked like the typical white Australian woman. You can be a mother when you feel like it; sometimes maternal love can just be ingrained in each of us and felt to whomever we feel like taking care of.
What happened after that can be said to be rather sad. The doors of the train opened. I was standing far back from the doors. The adults all decked in office outfits all made their way forwards. None of them batted an eye to the girl who was making noise at the front of the door. And someone one of them, or perhaps a few feet, pushed the Cookie Monster out of the train, into that gap just before that platform.. In a way I saw it coming – in slow motion in a bad part of a movie but you can’t do anything – but I also felt bad. The little girl wailed for her Cookie, and you could certainly hear the frustration in her mum’s voice at what happened, yelling at her daughter then to say they’d get back Cookie or another one (I can’t be sure, I was out of ear shot) – towards her girl running rampant, towards the rush hour traffic
I don’t blame the mother’s attitude; I do think the mum was teaching her kid to behave and not get into other people’s way – and you could call it a hard kind of love. Not harsh, but simple hard love.
I don’t know. What do you think?
The second quote: so agreed with that one. We can have all the money in the world…but then what? Money can buy things like a house, clothes and keep us comfortable. But for a lot of us there is a lot of work going into getting that money…sometimes even working around the clock for it. And is it all worth it…it depends. I think we all go through phases in our lives and at some point, we may work harder for the money and be happier that way. Then again, if one is not so rich and is no the career-climbing kind of person but rather simply does things to just get by, maybe they do have the time to experience the finer things in life.
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Thank you for sharing that story Mabel. It is sad that the toy got lost but I can see both sides in this tale. As much as Mothers do their best to be level-headed and calm all the time, they are human and can’t always hide their frustration when things go wrong. In some ways, it is good for kids to see Mums make mistakes and to know that one’s Mum is not perfect and that she might sometimes lose her temper particularly when children misbehave or don’t listen to her words. Some children often have to learn the hard ways , through consequences in the same way this girl did. Sometimes it is necessary to be so firm inside you are conflicted about how firm is firm. Coincidentally my son was 2 when he leaned outside a steam train window and his sunglasses fell off on the tracks.(yes, he was 2! – it was a stage he was going through when he would insist on wearing a child’s pair of wrap around glasses everywhere we went. He started having a meltdown but luckily the train guard walked along the track next to our stationary train and grabbed them for him. If he didn’t get them back he would have thrown a hysterical meltdown so I WAS glad he got them back. I still have them and he is 24 this year! Lol.. These so called transition objects are merely an aid so their fuctional purpose is relatively unimportant. But they mean the world to a child!
It is funny how the quote rates romantic love behind a pet. That has me a little puzzled
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I agree with you that we all need to learn the hard way sometimes. Or else we will never learn. This is what makes us humble. But what you described with your sun and his sunglasses falling off his face – some of us can either be too young or naive to learn the hard way. It takes time.
I think for us adults some objects mean the world to us too. Like perhaps a pet. Or something we’ve had for a very long time. In that sense, there is always a naive child within us.
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You make a good point there, Mabel. It varies so much between individuals as to when cause and effect or consequences become learning moments. When we are young, mothers or other carers are instrumental in teaching us when we cross a line. Yet there are some who don’t ever seem to connect the dots at all and it is the authorities who might ultimately end up making them realise the consequences of their actions and those hard lessons. I had never thought of delinquency or criminality as a somewhat naive act before this discussion. Wrong, yes; aberrant, yes; even disturbed, but, in the sense referred to, I think it could also, absolutely, be naive. That certainly is, for me, a new way of seeing lawbreakers – as somewhat naive in their actions. Hmmmm.
Having said that, most of us are likely to have a naive child within us, as you suggested. And in the context of what I said above, about naiveté, I am thinking we therefore must have controls in our mind that keep that naive, inner child in check,so that we don’t lose control. What do you think?
Objects that are especially meaningful, special mementos and items that have sentimental attachment for us, are indeed difficult to let go of, whatever age. To lose all those things – say in a house fire would be completely devastating to someone like me, or most of us, I guess. That inner child has lost something of priceless value and we cannot see it or sense it any longer and we experience loss and grief.
I see it is I who has strayed from the topic now! But, as always, an absorbing discussion.
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I agree with you that we have certain things within us that makes us tick like a child, or remind us of our inner child at the very least. I think it’s a part of us that will never die…it’s a part of us that tells us what freedom is and what it means to have fun. As adults living the real routine world, sometimes these are easy to forget.
Yes, absorbing discussion as always, Amanda. I’m looking forward to looking through the quotes on your blog next week, and maybe also collate some quotes that resonated with me over the years too. Take care, and have a good week ahead.
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Thank you Mabel. It seems so long ago that I was a child, yet at times those memories are quite strong. I like that you are going to identify some quotes from our previous discussions and it will be fun to see which ones you choose!
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I can only agree with your words about a mother’s love, Amanda. The saying is that a mother’s love is unconditional, which I strongly believe to be true. The mother is the first carer, the person the babe and very young child clings to and relies upon for all it’s needs and comforts: a mother is always there for her child. As you say, altruism comes into play, too. (I realise there are exceptions here and there are mothers who feel little maternal instinct.) The love a dog gives to its master is different. As pack animals, dogs see their masters as leaders of the pack who are, therefore, to be obeyed. Loyalty to that leader is part of the package. But I think dogs, like most animals, respond to kindness and affection shown to them, and will respond in similar fashion. As for romantic love, that is different again. It can stop – or turn to another, perhaps undesirable emotion in some cases – if that love is spurned and/or trust is betrayed. In other words, romantic love can be the opposite of the unconditional love of a mother. (Again, I’m generalising here – there are always exceptions.)
With the second quote, I think the “stories” could be interpreted as the richness of a person’s life in general: the deeds a person does, the fulfilment of dreams and aspirations, or simply the joy of working towards those goals. A rich person, born to a life of luxury and ease, who sees no need to achieve anything in particular to improve his/her own life, is the “poorer” of the two in many ways. The rich person’s life is missing the “stories” or “experiences” that make a poorer persons life so rich and vivid.
I hope you had a lovely Christmas, Amanda, and that 2017 will be a wonderful and successful one for you. ❤
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Thanks for the very accurate assessment of the last Proverbial Thursday, Millie. Particularly, in regard to the Lundgren quote. Whilst life’s experiences are both good and bad, in inequal measure, it is the bad experiences that often build and develop our character, in more ways than the good stories.
I had a lovely Xmas Millie, quite relaxing actually. I do hope 2017 will be a year that surprises and delights you. Thanks so much for your visit to my blog.Your comments are always articulate and thoughtful.
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I think a lot of people would underestimate the quality of a pet’s love, but having lived with a 7-year-old Lab-Rottweiler cross over the years I can really understand how lovely a pet’s solidarity can be 🙂
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Pets are amazing companions, and I do believe they can feel and express love. There is nothing better than coming home to a wagging tail, a happy smile and a creature ecstatic to see you and ready to play. Those welcome home moments are special and it is hard for humans to compete with that expression of love! Thanks for you comment, Moony!
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