Main Context: “You give someone a fish, they eat for one day. You teach them how to fish, they eat everyday” Context: This piece of folklore was collected in a Taco Bell I work at. I asked my fellow employee if there were any sayings or proverbs that he knew. He gave me one and then after when we both took our breaks he told me this proverb. This time we were sitting down at a table in the dining area and eating. Background: Lee is a third generation American. However, his ancestral roots originate in South Korea. Lee said that he learned this proverb from his parents. He does not recall which one said it first but just stated that both of his parents constantly say this proverb. I asked Lee what this proverb meant to him and he replied: Lee: This proverb is not as meaningful as the other one. This proverb is more like… well my parents use it as a constant reminder that I should just copy or give someone answers. Like that doesn’t solve the problem. It only temporarily helps. Analysis: Proverbs are used as a shorthand form of communication to relay a truthful yet meaningful point. They hold weight through repetition and we could see this through Lee’s perception of the proverb. His parents are attempting to prove the point that he should just have something handed to him or to just hand anyone anything. He needs to learn or teach them how to do it. According to the proverb, this is because if you just hand them something, it will only temporarily alleviate the issue. If you teach them then they would know how to do it all the time. You can also see that this proverb hold its weight through repetition because Lee says his parents use it as “a constant reminder”.
Category Archives: Folk speech
Insight about Tomorrow
If you have one foot on yesterday, and one foot on tomorrow, you end up pee-peeing on today. Be present.
This quote was told to me by my brother. He is a very wise person and has a lot of insight for saying this under his sleeve. This was told to him likely by our father, which is surprising because I had never heard it before. The meaning of this saying is implying that if you focus on yesterday and tomorrow, you can never focus on what happens today. It mainly is telling the audience to be present and focus on where you are in your current moment. There are many quotes about being present, however, this one is particularly special because it has a joke and connotation to it. It talks about peeing which makes it have a lighter tone and my intrigue audiences to respond to it more than they would a more serious quote.
Riddle about the Future
What is something that is always coming, but we will never get to? Tomorrow!!
This riddle is kind of tricky but one of those sayings that it is so obvious. Essentially, this riddle makes you think about what could potentially happen but you would never be able to get to, and there are so many possibilities for this. It could be about crossing an ocean, and never being able to get to the other side, but that’s actually possible. It could also be about going into space or and never getting to Mars, however it’s as simple as thinking about how we are always living in today and there’s a past present and future. Tomorrow is always going to be tomorrow, but we will never be up tomorrow because tomorrow will always be the day that you’re in, today.
Wisdom about Human Interaction
Small minds talk about people, mediocre minds talk about things, great minds talk about ideas.
This is a prayer that my friend’s mom always told her. When she was telling me about his parish she was explaining how people have the capacity to think however they want. When Making ideas, there are different Things that people associate with. When people talk about people, it is referring to the people that gossip, and there isn’t much substance to the conversation. When others talk about things, it could mean anything from my favorite fruit is an apple or my favorite place in the world is Africa. This kind of storytelling has some kind of significance to that person, however, it isn’t necessarily relevant or important to anything except themselves. Lastly, when people talk about ideas, it shows it they are innovative and thinking critically about how the world works and their place and it. This kind of thinking delves into creation and business models which could be considered great. Parents often tell this to their children to help them become the best version of themselves and to think about the world in many different kinds of ways.
Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worst
Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
This proverb is very commonly used. In any given situation I try to be the most positive that I can, and always prepare for something to happen even if it’s not probable. This proverb and what it meant to her. When you have a positive mindset it is much easier to attract great energy and not have something bad happen, however, there are coincidences where people think everything’s going fine and something sudden happens that is horrible. And an example where this proverb really comes into play was during my friend’s math class. Every day after class the professor would assign students homework. She said that the student should all prepare to hand in their homework to count as a quiz Grade but it was dependent upon their gas on a tour a coin toss. It’s not guaranteed that they will always guess right, but by preparing for the worst, which would be to hand in the homework or do not hand it in if you didn’t complete it, your grade would drop. Hoping for the best would be that you guessed right, and do not have to hand in your homework, so if you didn’t do it and you guys all gas right you would be saved. This proverb can be applied to almost any situation and is just a great thing to keep in the back of your mind on a day-to-day basis.