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.
Weekly Proverb
“Man ska inte köpa grisen i säcken”
One shouldn’t buy the pig in the sack
Swedish Proverb
Is this proverb a caution similar to suggesting that a ‘buyer beware?” A warning against buying items, sight unseen? Or could there be a deeper hidden layer of meaning?
Weekly Quotes
“If you don’t stick to your values when they’re being tested, they’re not values:
they’re just hobbies”
-Jon Stewart
and this:
Social comparison is the thief of happiness.
You could spend a lifetime worrying about what others have,
but it wouldn’t get you anything
~ Marc and Angel
Join in the discussion by leaving a comment.
Everyone’s opinion is important. What is yours?
~ Amanda from Something to Ponder About
Something to Ponder About 
I’m almost catching up. We say here, “don’t buy a pig in a poke”. That’s southern for a bag you can’t see through. Exactly the same message. They haven’t come up with one that I know of that relates to something you can see. Bought some bakery goods that looked delicious but were flat in flavor. Oh how I wish they offered samples first. 🙂 Lots of things can look good when you buy them and you do all your research, like a car for example only to have them turn out to be a problem.
I used to read Marc and Angel all the time. Like their quotes and probably have many saved on my computer. I very much agree. comparison is the thief of happiness. No two of us are alike so how can we compare.
Og Mandino wrote that so beautifully. It’s what we call “act as if” you are happy, wealthy, beautiful, whatever you are feeling the lack of and soon you will find it to be true.
Jon Stewart is right on about values. They either are your values or you are just giving ‘lip service’ to them.
Hope you are doing well and ready for your spring.
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You are doing well, Marlene! And thanks for a comprehensive comment on this week’s offerings. Marc andAngel surely have some wise advice far better than some other suggestions from the social justice professions. I like the pig in a poke expression andI have a vague recollection of hearing it once before, but never knew it was a southern expression. I wonder if it had roots in Irish or British settlers?
I do know what you mean about being disappointed with the taste of foodstuffs. I think the current trend for loads of spices is an attempt to make bland processed food tastier. We have pineapple here on our pizzas. It’s a TROPICS thing. But the pineapple they add now is completely lacking in taste as we discovered when we visited a pizzeria recently touting and using fresh pineapple, on their pizzas. What a difference it made! The tinned varieties start out as fresh, but somewhere along the processing line, they lose all taste. Where is the quality control?
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The pig in a poke could have come from the Irish or British and adopted by people in different regions and carried along. I picked up so many off expressions in my travels. I love pineapple on pizza. 😉 But you are right, the tinned are flavorless in comparison to the fresh.
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It would be great if we could have access to fresh food again. The gut biome would benefit and thereby also our mental health.
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Hmmm. I was just thinking of something profound to say. Then I thought of: Happiness is a state of mind.
‘Is that the best you can do?’ I chided myself. Then I considered it a bit. Hey it’s not bad! Some definite food for thought there!
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Simple but to the point. Attitude is everything. Focus of attitude is even better. What you said is profound. Worth remembering, hey?
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It worked surprisingly well for something totally off-the-cuff.
One remembers, though, that people like Churchill or Noel Coward were constantly giving quotable snatches in their everyday speech.
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I haven’t featured Noel Coward on my blog at all. Do you have a favorite quite of his?
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A few I enjoy:
Your motivation is your pay packet on Friday. Now get on with it.
Extraordinary how potent cheap music is.
Work is more fun than fun.
And, I think, the favourite of most:
I like long walks, Particularly if they are taken by people who annoy me.
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I had a chuckle at the last one! He was a character, wasn’t he? Cheap music can raise a lot of attention and angst!
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I like Jon Stewart’s quote best. It really is a reminder to be true to yourself and your values. Funnily enough, I think Mandino’s quote is too long to make its point strongly. And the reference to new garments seemed out of place.
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Fair point about the Mandino quote, Peggy. Being succinct certainly increases the impact of the words, and sometimes creates more nuances than read, at first glance. Perhaps those who feel insecure or inferior, can feel more self important when dressing smartly – that feeling one gets when wearing new clothes for a job interview, perhaps?
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Wow! Lot of input !!!
The pig in the sack, of course, makes us think of all the food, household goods and everyday objects, whichcan damage our health. Maybe we also think about the circumstances under which they are made, but maybe we continue and want to get to know each person and each heart before we let it into our lives?
The values that are being tested are probably one thing that everyone fails sometimes. Habits and pleasant things and are hard to change. Can we say our vices are addictions? It does not matter to talk and preach and it is the worst thing to judge others if you do not act that way yourself!
And I think, then it’s not even hobbies but lies!
The social comparison is the thief of luck ….. funnily enough I interpreted it the other way round and it works the same way …. when I see how poor many people are compared to me, it also makes me sad.. Of course, when I was a kid, I also looked at what other children got and I did not. But I do not know that feeling for a long time. There are things that I want, which I can usually fulfill at some point. I do not care what others have. Because not the possession makes happy life, but the experiences that you have in life and the love that you give and receive. The man with the most of money on earth can be the poorest man on earth. To look at the poor people also makes you sad, but you realize that giving can make you happy … so it has a value!
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An interesting perspective on the pig in the sack. I had thought of things unseen, but no that they WOULD be detrimental. A good spin on the saying. Not just let the buyer beware, but that the buyer should AVOID!
To Values: If you don’t stick to them they are lies. What good are values that we don’t stick to. We are just tall grasses swaying in the wind, or cast adrift, without direction or aims! I do believe we need values to ground us and to feel stable! Younger people don’t think too much about them, but they are gradually building up their own values, role modelled by many of those closest to them.
You appreciate also the value of social justice, in your reflections on the “thief of luck” – comparing oneself to anyone in terms of economic or other status, always ends up making someone lesser than another person. Someone is lower and the other is uppermost! However you apply a covenant to that comment saying that it is not always about money alone. Giving and helping others can indeed make you a very rich person. There is so much emphasis on possessions and material wealth in our society. Far too much and it does not bring lasting happiness. Even the ridiculously wealthy are not always happy. They might obsess about losing their wealth, fall out with their closest ones, and/or become mean people.
It was great to hear from you again, Anie. I always value the input from you and my other followers who enjoy my friday posts.
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Thank you so much. I enjoyed reading all this different thoughts. In Germany we say, by the way, ‚ do not buy the cat in the sack‘…I wonder why all these animals? My thought that this „unseen thing“ can harm relates of course to industry food, medicine… the lobby of the chemistry enterprise…relating to people ( and animals) I think, that you never should compare, because each person is his own univers of beautiful places and different storms.
Yes we need stable values!!! And usually you get them in your family, where you should grow up feeling save in love, understanding and routines, but of course you get your input from friends aswell. Very dangerous of course if you just put your flag in the wind… especially in political things…. on the other hand life is a journey of learning and you always have to question your own values and adapt them….this can be very painful and sometimes you have to fight weather you put your own happiness on top or not.
Money rules the world…. there we come back to the pig in the sack… people judge the outside… beautiful, young, plasic bodies with rolex and expensive clothes… instead of the beauty inside…. why? Because to see the the real beauty of a person you need time and you need to come close …and this is not possible anymore in our world…because we prefer being anonymous and we have never time left…. I am glad if I have some time left to read your proverb ponderings…. have a nice week, Anie
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