Category Archives: Proverbs

Chinese Proverbs

Nationality: Chinese-American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/27/16
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin

Piece:

When I was a small, my parents made me memorize some classic proverbs:

Men, at their birth, are naturally good

Their Natures are the same; their habits become widely different

“What do they mean to you?”

hmmm. I think there was a very high value on education and being conscious of my surroundings. I put family as a very high value, or I was socialized to be.

Informant & Context:

My Informant is a Chinese-American student at the University of Southern California, who speaks Mandarin at home with his family members. These traditional Chinese proverbs were translated by him.

Thoughts:

These proverbs really stress ideas of optimism. The first proverb, blatantly so, the second one does so by emphasizing the impact of ones surroundings on an individual. My informant definitely takes this as a positive thing—a call to be conscious and observant rather than morose that difference has arisen.

And That’s Why the Bear Lost It’s Tail

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/27/16
Primary Language: English

Piece:

“Do you have any Romanian proverbs?”

Well there’s this Romanian story about how the bear lost it’s tail. I don’t remember how it goes, but I remember it, because every time I did something that disappoint my mom, she would look at me and go ‘And that’s why the bear lost its tail’

“Does it have an exact meaning”

It does in Romanian, but that’s how it’s translated–it doesn’t really make the same sense in English.

Informant & Context:

My informant is a student at the university of southern California, originally from Sammamish, Washington and of Romanian descent. She described her family as very Americanized. This proverb originates from a Romanian origin myth about why the bear has no tail.

Thoughts:

It’s interesting to me that the informant does not actually remember the story, but simply the title—which has become a proverb in her family (if it was not already one). Aside from that, it doesn’t really have a direct meaning, instead it is more a vague association with shame and disappointment. It sounded like the phrase was used to be comedic—as more of a punch line.

Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining

Nationality: British
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Chichester, United Kingdom
Performance Date: April 25th 2016
Primary Language: English

“Every cloud has a silver lining”

This is a British proverb that means: In every unpleasant situation still has a positive aspect to it.

The informant is a childhood friend of mine of British descent. He claims to have heard this proverb multiple times throughout his life. This proverb is poignant for being a very ‘British’ proverb, for lack of a better word; at a literal level, the fact that a cloud refers to an unpleasant situation is very apt when considering the British obsession with weather. However, the most moving part of the proverb for me was that it was a message of hope – in hardship the person has to endure it, for there is hope to be found somewhere.

Das Billige ist immer das Teuerste

Nationality: American
Age: 86
Occupation: Retired
Residence: San Diego
Performance Date: 4/22/16
Primary Language: English
Language: German

German proverb: Das Billige ist immer das Teuerste

Literal translation: “The cheapest is always the most expensive.

 

According to the informant, this proverb means that opting for quality is always of greater value, speaking long term,  than opting for something cheap or for greater abundance. This is because quality will sustain if it’s an object and you will learn and improve to a greater degree if dealing with a teacher of some sort.

This is said to be a very old saying in Germany that has been passed down for both personal benefit but also civil. This acts as a reminder that even the property, means to a cause or service must be value in terms of quality and that the people should invest a greater deal of resources into these things to insure a prosperous collective.

The informant values this proverb greatly because when she was young she was subject to dealing with many faulty things and horrible teachers here in the states because of the disregard for quality. Part of this had to do with living through the Great Depression  but looking back she says that there were many instances where procuring quality would have saved her family a great deal of time, energy and money.

 

I selected this proverb from the informants repertoire because I felt it carried a great deal of merit in an age of synthetic and cheap knockoffs of quality products. Some people obviously still value nice well made things but too many fall for the short term trap. From a business end cheaper is better because it can ensure sales long-term. But if you look to the past many companies and groups of people made solid products regardless of the price. It is as though there’s been a shift of values for the sake of profit.

If we look at the creations of their German people, they are notorious for producing quality products  it is likely this proverb transcended its folk roots into mainstream production philosophy, at least to a good degree

 

The informant is retired but worked as a secretary for quite some time. She is of German descent and has a great deal of German folklore knowledge that she had learned from her relatives.

 

 

 

Aus Schaden wird man klug

Nationality: American
Age: 86
Occupation: Retired
Residence: San Diego
Performance Date: 4/24/16
Primary Language: English
Language: German

German Proverb: Aus Schaden wird man klug

English translation: Failure makes smart

According to the informant, Aus Schaden wird man klug is a proverb that reminds one of the essentialness of failure. We live in a world where many cultures devalue missteps instead of seeing them as being just as integral to progress as success.

The informant states that she came to know this proverb from her father who learned it from his German native father. It was when she first pursued playing the violin. She believed she could easily bypass others who found the instrument difficult to play well. Little did she know how difficult it really was. Ironically she played more poorely than her friends. After giving a few months she was ready to give up until she told her father of her intentions. This irked her father who then shared the proverb. This opened up her eyes as to how perceive failure. She embraced it and eventually came out of her learning rut. Since then she studied her failures more closely to better inform her next steps. This proverb she says holds an enourmas amount of value because it has fundamentally changed how she approaches mout things in life.

I found this proverb worth capturing because it provides a type of perspective on a matter, that is achieving success, that often comes from old and often overlooked wisdom, such as embracing failure. That is not to say there are cultures around the world who do not embrace failure today, but in the mainstream westernized way of thinking it has certainly been suppressed by many. What we must take away of from this is that understanding and appreciating antiquated thought may serve us in surprising ways. It is not something to reserve for the recepticals of time.

The informant is retired but worked as a secretary for quite some time. She is of German descent and has a great deal of German folklore knowledge that she had learned from her relatives.