Proverb

“Birds of a feather flock together”

This is a proverb that Mandy didn’t learn from anyone and came across on the Internet and realized that it strongly applied to her life and her circle of friends. When she described her friends, she said that she had become friends with them because of the activities they participated in. She described how every friend she has met in the past few years; she has met through activities that her and her now friends both shared. Thus when she came across this proverb, she realized that she really did choose friends that were just like her and because of that they all have stayed friends.

Mandy believes that it is necessary to have the same interests and share the same qualities in order to become friends. When I discussed this with her, I realized that I didn’t necessarily agree. I firmly believe in the other proverb of “opposites attract.” I don’t believe that true, long lasting friends can really occur between people who are almost identical. I will acknowledge that sometimes best friends can be found and kept when you only share identical tastes and ideas with that one person, but I feel like when you have a group of friends that are all just like you, it tends to be a little dull and uneventful. We both agreed that similar interests are important in forging a friendship, but I still believe that too many common interests will just make for a boring friendship.

The reason I found this proverb especially interesting is because of how Mandy discovered it. By discovering it on the internet, Mandy showed the new way that folklore is being spread. The fact that Mandy discovered this proverb on a random website while researching something else, means that someone else posted that proverb and was taught that proverb some other way. Thus while I do think that this proverb is very important, the way that she found it was far more interesting to me.

Spanish proverb

“A pan duro, diente agudo”

“To hard bread, acute tooth”

“Strong bread, makes sharp teeth”

Shannon was told this proverb by her Spanish nanny when she was about twelve years old. Shannon remembers being told this when she was going through an especially rough time in her life and was having trouble keeping up in school and staying strong. So one day, her nanny pulled her aside and told her this proverb that she had learned from her hometown in Mexico. Her nanny explained that it is experiences such as this one that allow us to grow as a person and become stronger and wiser.

Shannon explained to me that she has always held this proverb dear to her heart and it is one of the reasons she is such a strong person. Now whenever Shannon hits a rough spot in her life, she remembers that no matter how hard it may get, it cannot destroy her and in the end she will come out of the experience stronger and wiser and will have learned a valuable lesson. She explained to me that this proverb has helped her not to break down so easily when in a bind or when under pressure. She also believes that her nanny believes so strongly in this Spanish proverb because her family lived through a lot of pain and strife and if this one proverb was able to help lift their spirits then it must be strong and thus Shannon has always repeated it to others.

While I agree that some events can make you stronger, I believe more that sometimes-hard events might teach you something but not necessarily make you stronger. I believe they make you smarter but not necessarily stronger. I have been in many a situation where a tough situation has broken me down emotionally and physically and I have gotten sick or weak or over exhausted and while I do always make it out fine in the end, I usually come out of it smarter but I have never felt like a stronger person. However, I feel that it is important sometimes to note that the proverb might affect people differently depending on their personality. While I tend to like to work out things rationally and in an educated way without really worrying about whether or not my feelings get hurt, Shannon clearly uses this proverb to strengthen herself and not allow anything to stand in her way and that is what makes this proverb so powerful.

Proverb

“The early bird catches the worm”

Alex heard this proverb when he was young, around when he was eight years old, and was told this proverb by his mother. While he does not remember why he first heard this he remembers the other contexts it was used in. When Alex and his brothers would lie in all day and tend to be lazy, their mother would always repeat this proverb. His mother would use this proverb especially when it came to their schoolwork. His mother wanted to make sure that they all would be successful in school and complete all their work on time and a lot of the times none of the boys would do their homework until the hour before it was due. When this would happen, their mother would explain how those who are always ready to work and ready to jump on opportunities at the earliest time, it is those people who are the most successful.

Alex stressed that his mom believes that this proverb is meant to advise someone that they will gain an advantage if they do something immediately or before anyone else does it and that she really wanted to ingrain this in her son’s head. When I was discussing this with Alex, however, he felt that you didn’t necessarily need to be the first one there, you just needed to be on top of your life and although he doesn’t fully follow this proverb, it did help guide him in knowing how important it was to really work hard to be successful.

I agree with Alex on his perspective on this proverb. To me this proverb literally tells you to act early or right now to be successful. It is common sense that if you do something early or before anyone else, you will have an advantage and be successful.  This proverb is not only meant for children but is something that should be implicated by everyone in their lives and it is a proverb that my parents have also ingrained in my life and I truly believe that if you are the first one and always prepared for everything you will be very successful in life.