A lean dog shames its master
If your dog's bones are showing it is likely that you are either cruel and negligent, ignorant as to the proper foodstuffs or very poor. Whatever, you really need to do something about it.
This old Japanese proverb tells us a lot more than that though. Apply the basic ideas to any walk of life or situation and it is teaching us the importance of looking after your responsibilities properly. If you neglect your children's education and it shows in bad behaviour it is to your shame. If your work is skimped and shows a lack of attention and care it reflects on you.
Do right by those you have a duty to or it will soon become apparent to your peers that you are not worthy of respect.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Lend your money to a city but never to a man.
Lend your money to a city but never to a man.
This is an old Japanese proverb that echoes the sentiments of "Don't put all your eggs in the one basket". Spreading your risk to allow for the fact that disasters and difficulties will always hit some members of a group is generally regarded as a good thing to do. Insurance works on the same principles of shared risk. Unit trusts were invented with the same idea - spread the risk of calamities amongst enough people, and for a small sum you get the opportunity of recompense when a loss occurs
On the other hand, if you are willing to take a risk and back a talented individual you might get spectacular gains that do not have to be shared with others. But if it goes wrong you might very well lose everything. High reward usually involves high risk.
This is an old Japanese proverb that echoes the sentiments of "Don't put all your eggs in the one basket". Spreading your risk to allow for the fact that disasters and difficulties will always hit some members of a group is generally regarded as a good thing to do. Insurance works on the same principles of shared risk. Unit trusts were invented with the same idea - spread the risk of calamities amongst enough people, and for a small sum you get the opportunity of recompense when a loss occurs
On the other hand, if you are willing to take a risk and back a talented individual you might get spectacular gains that do not have to be shared with others. But if it goes wrong you might very well lose everything. High reward usually involves high risk.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
The good seaman is known in bad weather
The good seaman is known in bad weather
In the romantic days of the old sailing ships when the tea clippers raced for home through mountainous and stormy seas this would have been a very powerful image for a universal truth: The true worth of a person is only really apparent when difficult times stretches them to the limit.
On the eleventh of the eleventh 1918 the Great War came to an end. It had killed and maimed millions of people but had also revealed the heroism and endurance of special individuals who had risen above the fear and carnage to perform heroic deeds of courage and valour. Many of them went unrecognised and unsung but their comrades knew and praised them.
Hard times bring forth heroes and heroes end hard times.
In the romantic days of the old sailing ships when the tea clippers raced for home through mountainous and stormy seas this would have been a very powerful image for a universal truth: The true worth of a person is only really apparent when difficult times stretches them to the limit.
On the eleventh of the eleventh 1918 the Great War came to an end. It had killed and maimed millions of people but had also revealed the heroism and endurance of special individuals who had risen above the fear and carnage to perform heroic deeds of courage and valour. Many of them went unrecognised and unsung but their comrades knew and praised them.
Hard times bring forth heroes and heroes end hard times.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Every man is a fool or a physician after thirty.
Every man is a fool or a physician after thirty.
In youth we take good health for granted and often test our strength and stamina to their limits. People trek to the north pole, cross deserts, climb mountains and endure all manner of deprivations in pursuit of adventure or glory. We assume that the body will recover after a little rest and nourishment.
Perhaps today we might think that the age here should be forty, and in the near future fifty, but there comes a point in all lives when we realise that we are not invulnerable and really ought to look after ourselves a bit better. This is when we start reading the adverts on how to stay young and fit. Or we continue our mad ways and drink, smoke and overindulge in all lives' excesses and rush thoughtlessly to an early grave.
Who really regrets the wild times and excesses of youth? If we lived in cotton wool all our days, as a doting mother might wish, our lives would be insufferably boring; but those who have reached the age of aches and pains sometimes wish they had been a little bit more sensible when young, perhaps striven a little less for unimportant goals, and kept more in reserve for an enjoyable seniority. Basically you make your choices and accept the consequences. After all, science might find a cure for everything - one day!
In youth we take good health for granted and often test our strength and stamina to their limits. People trek to the north pole, cross deserts, climb mountains and endure all manner of deprivations in pursuit of adventure or glory. We assume that the body will recover after a little rest and nourishment.
Perhaps today we might think that the age here should be forty, and in the near future fifty, but there comes a point in all lives when we realise that we are not invulnerable and really ought to look after ourselves a bit better. This is when we start reading the adverts on how to stay young and fit. Or we continue our mad ways and drink, smoke and overindulge in all lives' excesses and rush thoughtlessly to an early grave.
Who really regrets the wild times and excesses of youth? If we lived in cotton wool all our days, as a doting mother might wish, our lives would be insufferably boring; but those who have reached the age of aches and pains sometimes wish they had been a little bit more sensible when young, perhaps striven a little less for unimportant goals, and kept more in reserve for an enjoyable seniority. Basically you make your choices and accept the consequences. After all, science might find a cure for everything - one day!
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