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Proverbs

Many hands make light work

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Updated 5mo ago
by
Brighid McCarthy
View this proverb in Swahili
Mikono mingi kazi haba
A big job becomes less burdensome when shared with many others through teamwork and cooperation.

Interestingly, this proverb contrasts with another English proverb "Too many cooks spoil the broth." As my dad pointed out, "It's 'many hands make light work'... not 'many hands make right work!'"

While the origins of the proverb are unclear, it appears in John Heywood's collection of English Proverbs (1546), where he attributes it to the didactic poem How the Good Wife Taught her Daughter (late 1300s), a didactic poem that reminds me of Utendi wa Mwana Kupona.  

Similar proverbs:

Kiswahili
Mikono mingi kazi haba
Many hands, small work

Chinese:
人多好辦事
Many people, fine work

Russian: 
берись дружно, не будет грузно
Take hold of it together, it won't be heavy




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Other proverbs
One man's trash is another man's treasure
What one person throws away may be useful and valuable to someone else.

This saying is often used to describe either the diversity of human preferences or to express optimism that humans are quite creative when it comes to repurposing or recycling what other people throw away.

For example, entrepreneur Gibson Kiwago, founder of WAGA Tanzania, recycles old laptop batteries to power homes and businesses in Tanzanzia. Check out our E-Waste Reading List!

The notion that people subjectively assess quality has been around a long time. The saying derives from a 17th century proverb:
One man's meat is another man's poison.

Have you ever seen value in something that someone else threw away?
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Updated 5mo ago
by
Scott M
The pen is mightier than the sword

Meaning 


In this proverb, the sword signifies force and violence, and the pen stands for words. While the sword can conquer with force, the pen can persuade, inspire, enlighten and motivate people. Not everyone has weapons to force other people to do what they want, but everyone has the power to influence the world through what they think, say and write with words.

Silaha za siku hizi ni kalamu na karatasi.
Today's weapons are pen and paper.
 - Swahili proverb

Part of the reason this proverb is true is that words often motivate and regulate how people use violence and force. For example, through law, the words of leaders, judges and juries have the power to jail people or even kill them. Making a fiery speech to an angry mob might cause a violent riot (see Julius Caesar). 

You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war.
- William Randolph Hearst

The proverb also reminds us of the power of nonviolent resistance to bring about lasting political change, a principle advocated and demonstrated by figures like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela. (Check out Henry David Thoreau's classic Essay, "Civil Disobedience" and Sophocles famous play, "Antigone")

Origin


The phrase "the pen is mightier than the sword" became popular after Edward Bulwer-Lytton used it in his 1839 play "Richelieu: Or the Conspiracy" (page 47).  But the idea likely originated much earlier.

Some sources attribute the proverb to the Story of Ahikar (which is also the source of the proverb "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"). In this edition, the translator was unable to decipher the damaged manuscript and left the sentence unfinished. (Page 171/274) 
(FRAGMENTS)
Watch carefully over thy mouth ...... and make thy heart slow(?), for the word spoken is like a bird, and he who utters it is like a man without ...
... the craft of the mouth is mightier than the craft of ...... 
Could this be the original source of the proverb from over 2500 years ago? You be the judge...

A similar phrase also appears in the Old Testament: 
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.
Hebrews 4:12 (KJV)

And in Shakespeare:
 Many wearing rapiers are afraid of goosequills.
-William Shakespeare Hamlet Act 2, scene II (page 59)

Do you agree that the pen is mightier than the sword? Share your opinions below!

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Updated 5mo ago
by
Brighid McCarthy
1
The grass is always greener on the other side
This proverb refers to the tendency to imagine or dwell on the notion that other people have nicer things...like your neighbor having a nicer lawn. 

The original source of this proverb is Ovid's "Art of Love", a book of advice for men and women about finding and keeping romantic relationships, written over 2000 years ago, about 2 AD:
People don't resist the temptation of new delights. We always deem that other people are more fortunate than ourselves. The crop is always better in our neighbour's field; his cows more rich in milk.
- Ovid The Art of Love, Page 24

One lesson from this proverb is to focus more on what you have, ignoring what others may have that is better. Another lesson might be to put your attention on improving your own situation (like watering your lawn) rather than dwelling on the fact that your lawn (or situation in general) is inferior.

An interesting variation on this proverb is: "The grass is always greener where you water."

Similar proverbs from other cultures:

Hindi:
दूर के ढोल सुहावने लगते हैं
From far away the drums sound better
Chinese:
隔籬飯香
Next door's rice smells good 
Japanese:
隣の芝生は青く見える
The neighbor's grass seems green 
Russian:
соседняя очередь всегда движется быстрее
The other queue always moves faster 



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Updated 5mo ago
by
Brighid McCarthy
2
Ukitaka cha uvunguni sharti uiname
Methali yetu ya leo inasemwa pia kama:
Mtaka cha mvunguni sharti ainame
Methali hii hutumika kuwahimiza watu kufanya kazi kwa bidii na kujitahidi. Hatupaswi kutarajia kupata vitu tunavyotafuta isipokuwa tumekubali kuvitafuta katika mahali ambapo ni vigumu kupafikia.

Hapa kuna hadithi fupi inayoeleza methali hii, juu ya Mulla Nasreddin, mhusika mcheshi katika ngano za Kisufi.
Mulla [Nasreddin] alikuwa amepoteza pete yake sebuleni. Aliitafuta kwa muda, lakini kwa kuwa hakuipata, alitoka nje hadi uani na kuanza kuchungulia pale. Mkewe, ambaye aliona alichokifanya, akamwuliza: “Mulla, umepoteza pete yako sebuleni , kwa nini unaitafuta uani?” Mulla alishika ndevu zake akisema: “Chumbani kuna giza na sioni vizuri. Nilitoka nje kwenda uani ili kutafuta pete yangu kwa sababu kuna mwanga mwingi zaidi hapa.
- Usimulizi wa Houman Farzad. Imetafsiriwa kwa Kiingereza kutoka lugha ya Kiajemi na Diane L. Wilcox (1989), halafu nimeitafsiri kwa Kiswahili.

Kwa Kiingereza, kuna hadithi inayosimuliwa juu ya mlevi anayetafuta pesa (au funguo) karibu na taa. Hili ni toleo liliochapishwa katika gazeti ya Boston Herald (mwaka wa 1924): 
[Afisa wa polisi alikutana na mwanamume akipapasa-papasa akipiga magoti] “Nilipoteza noti ya $2 kwenye barabara ya Atlantic,” kasema mwanamume huyo. "Nini kile?" aliuliza afisa aliyeshangaa. "Umepoteza notiya $2 kwenye barabara ya Atlantic? Kwa nini basi unaitafuta hapa Copley Square?" “Kwa sababu,” akasema akiendelea na utafutaji wake, “mwanga ni bora hapa."

Hadithi hii imekuja kujulikana kama "Streetlight effect" katika sayansi.

Asante kwa mshiriki mwenzetu kwa kupendekeza methali hii! Je, una methali ya kupendekeza? Shiriki hapa!
...

Mchoro huu umetengenezwa kwa kutumia Akili Bandia (AI). Unafikiriaje?

Updated 5mo ago
by
Brighid McCarthy