Category Archives: Proverbs

“De grão em grão, a galinha enche o papo”

Nationality: Brazilian
Age: 53
Occupation: Dentist
Residence: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Performance Date: 03/17/2018
Primary Language: Portuguese

My mom is a very superstitious person and has a strong belief in faith. She has many sayings that she uses on a daily basis to teach lessons about life. I grew up listening to her proverbs and attempting to use them in my life because all of them are meaningful to her and I think it became meaningful for me too. This is her proverb and the story behind it:

“Eu costumo falar um dito popular: de grão em grão a galinha enche o papo. A primeira vez que eu ouvi foi a minha avó falando,  depois a minha mãe. Hoje em dia, sou eu que falo. Então é uma tradição de família falar esse dito popular. Foi passada de geração para geração e eu espero poder continuar com essa tradição. Isso representa para mim o não desperdício. Se você consegue guardar e não gastar demasiadamente, você vai ter no futuro. É importante porque é algo que todas as pessoas têm que ter em mente. Isso se aplica para muitas coisas mas principalmente o dinheiro, que é o que te faz conseguir viver. Outro também que eu costumo usar é: sabendo usar, não vai faltar. E acho que esse se aplica bem ao que eu falei antes. São relacionados e muito importantes para mim. Portanto, costumo falar com frequência.

The proverb is “from grain to grain the hen fills her belly.” My mom says that the first time she heard it was from her grandmother, then from her mother. Nowadays, she’s the one who says it. So it is a family tradition to speak this popular saying. It has been handed down from generation to generation and she hopes to continue with this tradition. It represents to her the act of not wasting/spending. She says that if you can save and not spend too much, you will have it in the future. It is important because it is something that all people have to keep in mind. This applies to many things but especially to money, which is what makes you live. I believe this is extremely important to keep in mind because little by little things get to an end. It reminds me to always try to manage my money in a way that it lasts. I apply this to my life with my college budget because if I start spending money on unnecessary things the money will soon come an end. I believe that life is always about balance and knowing what is worth doing. Therefore, I am always attempting to keep this in mind and as a family tradition I will pass it down to the future generations.

“C’est en forgeant qu’on deviant forgeron”

Nationality: Tunisian
Age: 19
Occupation: USC Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: 04/15/2018
Primary Language: French
Language: English

Tej is a USC friend and my partner in the soccer team. I met him during orientation and he has become one of my best friends in college. He was born in Tunisia but lived the majority of his life in the United States. Here’s his proverb story:

The proverb is in French, my dad always uses to tell me this in though situations: “c’est en forgeant qu’on deviant forgeron.” It’s like if you work hard you’ll succeed, practice makes perfect. It’s meaningful because I know that with hard work I will get to where I want to be in life. Dedication will pay off. My dad always told me since I was little in Tunisia, and continues to tell me. So when I first moved to the U.S. when I was about 9 years old I didn’t speak any English. It was very hard for me and I was having a tough time with my classes and everything but my dad just told me to keep working hard. So that’s what I did and now my English is almost perfect, I have no accent. And I mean I go to USC so I guess it all worked out in the end. Yet, I still apply it to any work I do, even with soccer, which is a meaningful sport to me. The more I practice the better I will be in that sport and that’s how I helped my team to win the league championship in during my freshman year. Beating UCLA at their home field couldn’t get any better.

I couldn’t agree more with this quote. Although I didn’t understand what it meant before the explanation, hard work does pay off and practice makes perfect. In life, the more you practice, the better you become, no matter what field you choose to pursue. I have heard many people say that willingness beats skill. If someone is good at something but doesn’t put the work to succeed, the other person who might not have the skill but who works hard will be the one to prosper and achieve the goal. Coming from abroad I didn’t know how hard it would be to get into a highly selective university like USC and I think that my hard work made me achieve my dream of studying in the US. Also, I believe that coming from his father also encouraged him to work hard and to believe in this proverb because it is someone who you look up to and this makes it even more special.

“You get what you give”

Nationality: Brazilian
Age: 22
Occupation: USC Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Performance Date: 04/15/2018
Primary Language: Portuguese
Language: English

My proverb is “you get what you give.” I heard this saying for the first time when I was 18 years old in my history class in high school. We were learning about the history of the Americas, and it was right after the college application process was done and a little bit before the decisions came in. So everybody from my class was a little nervous and we pretty much stopped talking about what we were learning in class. Our professor, who had studied at Columbia University, gave us that piece of advice. He pretty much said that it doesn’t matter where you go for college in this case what matters the most is what you put in, cause that’s all you are going to take out of the experience. And I think I’ve taken this advice to heart, because it’s essentially true. Every time I start a different project, you know, I have a decision to make. I turn on the mindset that I’ll get what I give and I’m only taking out what I put in. A good piece of work won’t come without my input.

In my opinion, this proverb proposes the idea that it doesn’t matter where you stand, you output will be based on your performance. Although coming from a person who studied in an Ivy League school might be easy to say, it suggests that he put in the work for his achievements. Luck is always involved, but it’s only a small portion of the consequence. There is progressive association with the determination and its benefits, it doesn’t simply occur. I also try to apply this to my life in every aspect that I partake. I know the person who said this quote and he is in fact a hard worker. An excellent teacher and a great person and coming from him is meaningful to his students.

“yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, that’s why they call it the present.”

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: USC Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California; Florida
Performance Date: 04/19/2018
Primary Language: English

One of my favorite expressions is “yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, that’s why they call it the present.” I remember my mom telling me this quote a few years ago and it really stuck with me. I think, we as people, me in particular, get caught up in things that have already happened to us. And I think this quote is important to just focus on the here and now cause time flies and in one moment it could all be over. And that’s why it says in the quote; today’s a gift and that why they call it present. And also tomorrow’s a mystery, we don’t know what’s going to happen. Sometimes we might get caught up in, you know, worrying about what might happen and what might not happen (pause). This quote just reminds me that it is important to treasure the time that we have in the moment with other people.

This quote, which could be seen as a proverb, shows how today is a blessing. It is yours to have at this very moment. You have control over your contemplations and your emotions. You are the only person who has the ability to relegate significance to your current conditions. Choose today what meaning you need to connect to occasions throughout your life. Try not to enable yourself to be oppressed to outsider implications forced on your from people around you. This is your gift. I believe it is important to not let you past influence your decision in a negative way. It should only bring benefits, because after all, the mistakes you’ve made in the past must serve as a lesson to you. Although I agree with the part that says tomorrow is a mystery, there are some implications towards the significance. It is in fact unknown but your current decision can have a huge impact on your future. The best way for a person to predict the future is by creating it; therefore, in my personal opinion, the future can be a mystery but it is in your hands to make it as foreseeable as possible.

“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.”

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: USC Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California; Oakland, California
Performance Date: 04/19/2018
Primary Language: English

My saying is “failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” I heard it most recently in my sports class. It’s actually a famous UCLA basketball coach who said it, and it’s really important to me because I think that preparation is very important in life. Mainly in sports, school, all around ethic. My dad also use to tell this in middle school and all throughout my life because it’s something that matters in any occasion. I take it really seriously and I really try to apply this to my life in every circumstance that I’m caught up.

I couldn’t agree more with this quote. I use it on a regular basis because it is the ultimate truth. If you don’t have a plan beforehand you won’t succeed. I have been in situations that I failed in achieving my goals and most of them were related to my preparation. I have heard this quote coming from Benjamin Franklin but I guess there are many adaptations of it. It is important to keep in mind that life has windows of opportunity that will allow you to succeed. Those windows might only appear once in a life time and it’s important to be ready. If someone has prepared correctly prior to the window of opportunity, one chance is enough for him or her to succeed. I’ll go back to the idea that skill isn’t everything and that preparation and dedication beats talent. Gavin is a very intelligent person and I believe that he taken this proverb to heart and applied it to his life too.