Proverbs are the wisdom of the street.
Thank you all for sharing your thoughts on Wednesday’s proverb post. I enjoyed reading all your thoughts and rewrites of the familiar proverbs. One that several of you chose to edit a bit was about the pesky squeaky wheel that gets the oil or grease. Some of you were ready to apply that oil or WD40 or just replace the whole thing. That early bird had some different breakfast choices too. Here are a couple of takes on that one I found online.
The early bird gets the worm, but it’s the early worm that gets caught.
The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
One of my favorites this time was Marti’s that “Where there’s a will… there’s a dramatic scene in a murder mystery.” Maybe I need to have somebody reading a will in my work in progress or it could be I should just think about the better safe than… And then make sure some of my characters rush out and don’t do that better safe to give the story a little action. 🙂
As for that rolling stone, Connie was thinking rock and roll with her rolling stone gathering a crowd while Linda was thinking about salvation and that stone rolling away to show the empty tomb.
Lisa’s advice to put your best foot forward into a pretty shoe brought a smile.
All of your rewrites were fun. Thank you for playing the “Rewrite the Proverb” game. I hope you aren’t tired of it yet. We have this and one more post to go before I pick, by random, a winner to get a choice of one of my books. Deadline to enter the giveaway is midnight EST, January 31, 2025. You must be at least 18 to play and a comment on my posts gets you an entry. You get an extra entry each time you comment on a new post like this one.
I tried to come up with a couple of less familiar proverbs along with some that are very common this time, but maybe they were just less familiar to me. Anyway, the picture I chose to go with the post is sort of for the first one that I don’t remember hearing. The picture is of my good dog Oscar a few years ago. He wasn’t a swimmer, but he did like to find a puddle to sit in whenever we were walking on a hot day.
Every path has its puddle.
Not my circus, not my monkeys.
In for a penny, in for a pound
Don’t cross your bridges before you come to them.
All work and no play make Jack a dull boy
One of these days is none of these days.
Above are the proverbs as gathered in the wisdom of the street. Now we can have some wisdom gathered by imagination.
Every path has…
Not my circus, …
In for a penny, …
Don’t cross your bridges …
All work and no play …
One of these days is …
“Proverbs are mental gems gathered in the diamond fields of the mind.”—W. R. Alger.
So, how do you want to rewrite any or all of these proverbs?
Comments 28
Every path has speed bumps.
Not my circus, not my drama.
Don’t cross your bridges when they’re flooded.
All work and no play, is called being a workaholic.
I came up with these before reading the other comments, I guess I’m not the only one who’s seen bridges washed out!
Not my circus…those clowns belong to another family.
All work and no play…leads to a fat pocketbook.
Don’t cross your bridges…instead jump the puddles.
Blessings dear Ann.
Every path has a few potholes in it
Author
And sometimes we hit every one of those potholes, Megan. I’m trying to think how I can relate your path rewrite to me going down a story path in the book I’m working on. Sometimes I do hit a pothole that gives me a flat tire and slows down my story thinking.
Every path has a root to stumble over.
Not my circus, but it kind of resembles some of my relatives.
In for a penny, but watch out for all the insurance advertisements.
Don’t cross your bridges if you don’t like what is on the other side.
All work and no play makes for an aching back.
One of these days is too far in the future to worry about.
Author
I like your one of these days rewrites, Connie. Very wise advice. Don’t be worrying about things too far from now. I have discovered that sometimes what we worry about doesn’t happen but then something else pops up to be a problem that we didn’t worry about. As I’m sure you’ve read, we should always turn worries into prayers.
I like your other rewrites too. Not sure your relatives would be that crazy about one of them though. 🙂
Not my circus. I just feed the animals.
Every path has potential.
In for a penny because I’m cheap!
Don’t cross your bridges until you know they’ve passed inspection.
All work and no play is no fun!
One of these days is one less than two.
Author
I like your rewrite of Not my circus. Sometimes that’s how it can feel for a parent when things go a little crazy at home but everybody still has to eat. 🙂
I like the stay off those bridge until they’ve been passed as safe. Several years ago when my husband was in a Gospel quartet that traveled to singings in a big old bus, they took off across a bridge that had been inspected and had a sign up about no heavy vehicles should go over it. Thank goodness we made it over without incident. 🙂
Every path has little offshoots that deserve notice.
One of these days I am going to dream it and do it.
All work and no play is not the motto of the squirrels in our backyard.
Don’t cross your bridges without a furry friend by your side.
Not my circus but the band will play on.
In for a penny, a price i can afford.
Author
Great rewrites, Amy. I especially like your One of these days change. Dream it and do it. And sounds as if your squirrels have been having some fun at your house.
I have a picture of my daughter and her little dog on a bridge that would fit your don’t cross your bridges rewrite.
Love them all.
Every path has its tolls to pay along the way.
Thankful God is there to help us “pay them” as we go through life. Hope you have a great week, Ann! 🙂
Author
You are so right, Hope. We do all face some moments of payment on our life paths. And again I can relate this to my story paths. My characters have to face the results of whatever they do in the story. I need to find a way for them to lean on the Lord for help.
Every path has its own surprises
Author
I’m going to make a list of all these path wisdom proverb you all are coming up with, Sharon and keep it by my desk. Each of them has been something I should consider on my story path. I need some surprises in this new story I’m working on.
Every path leads somewhere. Don’t cross your bridges if they’re under water.
Sorry. That’s all I have. It’s too early in the morning. Lol
Author
It may have been early, Judi, but I think you were looking at that bridge right. Best not start across if you can’t keep your head above water. 🙂
Every path has a destination. Not my circus but that clown is my brother. In for a penny but you won’t get much. Don’t cross your bridges unless you want to be on the other side. All work and no play makes a worn out workaholic. One of these days is like any other.
Author
No problem about the double comment, Lee. Since I’m thinking on all the path rewrites with my story in mind, I do need to have an ending in mind for my story. Right now that ending seems a little vague since I have a lot of story to write before I get there.
Love the one about the circus and the clown. That one has me smiling.
It’s good I can have this play with all of you on my blog here to keep me from being the worn out writer workaholic. 🙂
Don’t cross your bridges, until you need to get to the other side.
Author
That’s an interesting rewrite, Lisa. Makes you think a little. The original versions sort of means don’t get ahead of yourself, but your rewrite seems to say, for me, look ahead and see what might be needed or not needed.
Every path has its twists and turns.
Author
Again, the same as Diana’s, your proverb rewrite has me thinking about writing my story. Every story road needs those twists and turns for sure. But our lives have plenty of twists and turns too.
Not my circus,…I’m more of a zoo girl.
In for a penny…doesn’t get you much ,these days.
Every path has a destination. Not my circus but that clown is my brother. In for a penny but you won’t get much. Don’t cross your bridges unless you want to be on the other side. All work and no play makes a worn out workaholic. One of these days is like any other.
Sorry..I messed up and posted twice.
Author
But there might be some monkeys in that zoo, Lisa. I guess it shows how old I am that I can remember buying a piece of bubblegum or a sucker for a penny. And a candy bar for five of those pennies. Of course pennies were harder to come by then too.
Every path has a journey.
Author
I like that, Diana. Since I’m working on a new book, it has me thinking along my story path. Every story is a journey for me with people meeting me along my story road.