Tag Archives: proverb

“Pray for what you want but work for what you need”

Nationality: Indian American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: Bengali

“Pray for what you want but work for what you need”

The informants mother constantly tells her this, and she says that it has followed her from childhood and it is something she still uses today. The phrase promotes appreciating the things you can work for like food and shelter, while seeing everything else as something extra. It is okay to have desires, but if you’re constantly working for something better and bigger you’ll never be satisfied. By combining praying and working the phrase puts equal responsibility on the individual as well as the God that they are praying to. God can’t provide everything, but if you work hard for what you need he may reward you with the things you want.

“Good things come to those who wait”

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Santa Barbara, CA
Performance Date: April 2013
Primary Language: English

“Good things come to those who wait”

Informant Analysis: “My parents actually didn’t tell me this one, our teachers at school would tell us all the time, like, probably before snack time or something to calm us down because we were impatient kids, but I remember it even though that was a long time ago. I don’t really follow it as a motto or anything because I think you usually have to put some effort in if you want something to happen, but I guess patience is important as well”

Analysis: This proverb, which I would say is pretty well known in America, seems to promote passivity, which goes against the usual future and action oriented American proverbs like “actions speak louder than words” and “he who hesitates is lost.” The idea behind this proverb relies on our ideas of “fate” or “luck” in which patience, or inaction, somehow magically leads to some kind of success, whether that be personal or professional. It is probably best used, and more effective, when told to children, as the informant describes. It gives them reason to slow down or wait because they are guaranteed a reward in the end. Past childhood, it may not be the best method to ensure success because not everything is based on luck, and without some kind of effort or work one won’t get far.

The Turkey and The Tree

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Pacific Palisades
Performance Date: April 21 2013
Primary Language: English

Matt’s dad told him this joke once he started working the summer before going to college. The joke was meant to be a funny story that provided Matt with a moral.
“There was a Turkey who really wanted to get to the top of a tree, but he didn’t have the strength to climb the tree. The Turkey walked around trying to figure out what he should do. He came across a Bull and began to explain that he really wanted to get to the top of the tree, but he needed more strength. The Bull told the Turkey that he should eat some of his droppings because they would provide the Turkey with some nutrients that would give him strength to get to the top of the tree. So, the Turkey ate a little bit of the Bull’s droppings and climbed up a few branches in the tree. The next day the Turkey ate a little bit more of the Bull’s droppings and climbed a few more branches of the tree. Within four days, the Turkey made it to the top of the tree. The Farmer walked outside that day and saw the Turkey standing on top of the tree. The Farmer shot the Turkey and then ate him for dinner.”
Moral of the story: “Bullshit might get you to the top, but it won’t keep you there.”
The joke provides a truth that in order to be successful, you need to understand your job as much as possible. Pretending to know how to do something or know something might work for a little bit, but once you have to perform it or talk about it you won’t be able to succeed.

“Como Me Ves Te Veras”

Nationality: Colombian
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 21 2013
Primary Language: Spanish

A saying that Daniel and his family say is “como me ves te veras,” which means: how you see me is how you’ll be too. The significance of this proverb is that the person doing the looking is the only one perceiving. Therefore, how you look at someone reflects a part of yourself. Daniel’s parents or grandparents would say this to him when he they caught him negatively judging someone else. They would say it in order to express that when you judge others, you are judging yourself.
Another proverb that Daniel and his family use is: “perro que ladra no muerde,” which means the dog that barks doesn’t bite. Usually the animal who speaks up or yells the most is putting on a front. He is showing aggression but won’t usually take action.
Both of these proverbs speak a good amount of truth to them. These proverbs in Daniel’s family helped establish some of his morals growing up.

“You never know what goes on behind closed doors.”

Nationality: American
Age: 55
Occupation: Asset Manager
Residence: Nashville, TN
Performance Date: 3/20/2013
Primary Language: English

The informant learned the proverb from her mother.

“It means that when you meet people you never know what their real life is like at home when nobody’s watching.  It stuck with me because as I’ve grown older, I realize how true it is for so many people. I mean you read the papers and see these horrible things happening to children. Sexual and physical abuse and verbal abuse.  People hiding these things. And I think she had that in her family. She had an abusive father.  It was her own very quiet way of telling me, [the proverb]. She was saying ‘be understanding about other people when they may not be acting perfectly because you don’t know about their lives.’  Have empathy.  I think that’s what she was trying to say.  Even if their not perfectly nice, maybe they are coming from a place that they need more understand than the average person.”

The informant said that she would tell this to her children when they had issues with others in school.  Sometimes she would see signs of something awry in their lives that would make the child act out.  The informant wanted her children to be compassionate like her mother had taught her to be.

Annotation: Denise Richards utilizes a variation of the proverb commenting on the difficulties in her life with Charlie Sheen in an interview with Fox 411:

McGevna, Alison. “EXCLUSIVE: Denise Richards: ‘No One Knows What Goes On Behind Closed Doors'” Fox News. FOX News Network, 10 Feb. 2011. Web. 21 Mar. 2013. <http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/02/10/denise-richards-people-quick-judge-situation/>.