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Proverbial Thursday – Pearls of Wisdom

Forestwood

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 generations 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 think so too.

lars stana

Another Norwegian Proverb this week to continue the series:

Det man förlorar på gungorna tar man igen på karusellen. – Norwegian proverb

The loss on the swings is won back on the

merry-go-round.

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Nietzsche features prominently in my selected quotes for they are always so interesting.

The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.

If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself-

Friedrich Nietzsche

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Have you struggled to find or escape from being overwhelmed by the tribe? Some of us like to walk our own path, and if that is the only way to achieve our dreams, then we must do it or let our dream slid away.

Do you Agree with Nietzsche? Science tells us that the losses catch up eventually but has that been your experience in your life so far?

A fortune cookie told me just last week:

“What appeared to be a loss will turn out in your favour.” – I am still waiting for the favour!

proverbial-thurs

Proverbial Thursday – Something to Ponder About

Published by Forestwood

A philosophic Aussie writes here at StPA, one who will readily admit to loving Scandinavia. I'm interested in global politics and what drives us to be who we are. Scratch the surface and you'll find a practical Environmentalist with an egalitarian bent, trying to unleash a little creativity via the written word. Scandinavian culture, literature and traditions are close to my heart, even though I'm Australian. Travel and courteous discussions greatly broaden the mind, so I travel if I can and am always up for a vigorous, respectful discussion. I'm an avid reader, a writer and I enjoy photography and crafts, particularly traditional art forms. I hope you'll find 'Something to Ponder About,' in my WordPress Community.

31 thoughts on “Proverbial Thursday – Pearls of Wisdom”

    1. Nietzsche often had so many controversial and thought provoking things to say. So many layers. It is a shame he was such a tortured soul. Such a brilliant mind.

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  2. Peer and social pressure. Conformity. If you don’t you get a label pasted on you. Feel pressured now to follow the crowd?
    The swing probably can be likened to life’s ups and downs. You win sometimes… heheh.
    And the merry-go-round? Remember they say what goes around, comes around? Karma, perhaps that’s what it is.

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    1. I like your interpretations and thoughts on this week’s offerings Mel and Suan. Did you experience peer pressure at school or work? If so, How did you deal with it?
      Karma helps us makes sense of life merry go round.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. To be honest we were not the star pupils… heheh… and so followed the flow. Only in university did we blossom and did well. We were too busy playing than studying, so did not recall being pressured!
        While we are not sure about Karma, we certainly believe one good turn deserves another. So if what goes around will come around – soon enough. Just need to be patient though

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      2. You sound quite social. It is important for children to play. They learn so much about their bodies and how they function, in their play. And that enables them to extend their brains more when they are older.
        As you did.
        Karma is reassuring for me in making sense of the larger life questions- Things that are beyond our control. I am happy to leave that to Karma to sort out.

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      3. Oh for sure we are! Heheh… Mel got his Taekwando black belt, Canoeing instruction cert and shooting badge all in school. Suan was in the school dance society that performed nationally… so yeah that “play” indeed helped.

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      4. It sounds like your school had a range of great recreational activities on offer and you made good use of them. Good on you! Unfortunately not all high school kid’s here will take up all those options even though the schools provide them. Some kids feel it’s cooler to just hang around with your friends looking at videos or things on the net and aren’t as involved as much in the community activities. This is a great shame for they miss out on valuable learning experiences that are useful in adulthood. My boys also did canoeing and Tai kwon do but shooting want an option. I think my son’s would have enjoyed that too. My daughter did circus arts rather than dance. She was a star juggler from 7 years of age.

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      5. Suan: Hey I was on the swim team too
        Mel: You did not win any medals…
        Suan: that’s not the point.
        Yeah, we agree. But we are talking about almost 30 years ago! Back then there were no social media platforms!

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  3. Fortune cookies don’t always know what they’re talking about! 🙂

    I wonder if the first proverb has anything to do with the expression ‘swings and roundabouts’?

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  4. This is perhaps the truest ‘proverb’ of them all:
    “All the good maxims have already been written; the only thing that remains now is to put them into practice.” –Blaise Pascal

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  5. As an Asian, I find that the Tribe expectation is pretty high; except that for most of my life, I spent a great deal of time & energy fighting and moving away from that. Several decades on, I am beginning to move towards rejoining the Tribe. Strange, but maybe is the realisation that time with the older folks really is precious and coming to an end. Fortunately, Singapore is small, and my parents are still living here. Both my siblings are living abroad, so I think they feel the pinch more.

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    1. What an interesting journey you have had, Purple pumpernickeland thanks for sharing your valuable insights here. The moving away or outward focus you mentioned, in your younger life might have been necessary for you to escape the pressured and expectations of family, career and or, study results, perhaps? This break sounds like it helped you to establish your own identity in your own way and on your own terms. Sorry of what Nietzche was suggesting? Now that you feel confident in your own self, you can value and begin to appreciatewhat the old tribe can offer. Older family, also by their nature, impart less expectations on members, it seems, than younger parents or family members. Age and experience had perhaps, taught them many lessons and thus, priorities and family expectations change as the years pass by. Age seems to confer a broader acceptance of any behaviourthat once might have been deemed aberrant. Age allows older people to see a bigger picture and sort its relevance / irrelevance in terms of prioritise the big battles and ignore the pretty irrelevant issues. I am not Asian so my tribe has different sorts of pressures, so please tell me if I have missed the point you were making here.

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      1. You’ve got it spot on! I think pressures may differ amongst cultures, but the response to these aren’t so different. Ageing is a wonderful thing in a lot of respects, as it brings much needed understanding.

        Thank you for your in-depth and considered response! I enjoyed this conversation.

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      2. These common responses show us that different cultures have much more in common than at first glance. We can better relate to one another if we look for similarities instead of differences.
        Thank you also for a great discussion! I hope you’ll stop by again!!
        Regards from Amanda

        Liked by 1 person

  6. oh your favor/favour will come…. as I am sure you know.
    I loved the ending photo to complete the thoughts the flowers all upright and cheery with the strong verticals – leading to the strong structure and path –
    that photo kind of summarized your thoughts in the post – hm
    and I leave light and also chewing on the thoughts in the comments too –
    and for me – I wish I was closer to the tribe – but the reason we moved to the east coast was to be near the tribe somewhat – and so I am grateful for that

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    1. The favor/ favor will be welcomed when it does arrive, Yvette. Your visit and kind comment is also very much appreciated.
      The Nietzche quote has such amazing appeal as it seems to speak to people from all parts of the world. And this I think is the take home message. We all come from different tribes, yet all have many similarities. Ironically, it is being away from the tribe that is sometimes what makes us miss and bond with our home tribe more! But it is also possible to find a new tribe that fits like a glove while still appreciating what our familial tribe can offer. I am glad you were able to get closer to your tribe than what you must have had previously.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. nice reply!
        and I am very grateful for the option to have a friendship tribe and a family tribe.
        and being geographically closer to family tribe really means everything – and living farther than a day’s drive is just too far…

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      2. A day ‘s drive is a huge distance physically and mentally. It requires lots of preparation. We in the new worlds are often faced with the so called tyranny of distance. Europeans have much smaller distances, to travel, generally speaking. I just had to cancel a trip to some rellies loving 4.5 hours drive away for various reasons. It would be so much nicer to pop in here and there instead of driving an epic voyage!! I can empathise!

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      3. well the funny thing is that even three hours a way can be like day’s drive – (so i can only imagine that 4.5 takes a bit to travel). And when we lived in Florida – our sweet cousins lived only three hours away and so we thought “we will see them a lot” – but not so! because in reality – three hours is a hike! and then add traffic and well…
        anyhow, the “less than a day’s drive” is better compared to being at a two-day’s drive… ya know?
        but we are also in a spot on the east coast of the US where family can stop if they are going to other places along the coast. It has been very tribe bonding helpful…

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      4. Ah traffic!! I time my ‘epic’ journeys around those peak times but sometimes it is unavoidable. I think locating yourself at a ‘cross roads’ was a wise move!! Happy tribe bonding!!

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    1. WellI hope the fortune cookie comes true as I could use a good favor!! Walking your own path is important I think, for how can you achieve your dreams if you are living according to someone else ‘s desires?

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