The proverb: “A watched pot never boils.”

The informant is an American college student in Arkansas. She thinks she first heard the proverb from her mom. The proverb is pretty straightforward. On a literal level, the proverb isn’t fully true, because the pot will eventually boil. What it means is that a watched pot seems like it never boils, because it boils so slowly that it isn’t noticeable. The proverb’s message is that you shouldn’t be caught up with waiting around for things to happen; if you are patient, your prayers/wishes will be answered/come true–Be patient. Since the informant first heard it from her mother, I imagine her mom wanted her to be patient for something in her life that she was anxious about at the time.