Proverbial Twists and Turns

Of the proverbial twist and turn

There is so much we need to learn

A word to the wise; you know the rest

Think before you act is really the best

Where there’s life there’s hope

Yet he died at the end of a rope

Whom the gods love die young

So the weak out live the strong

Where there’s a will there’s a way

Now it’s a relative I hear them say

A coward lives to fight another day

Heroes fight and in the dust they lay

You can’t have your cake and eat it

Quitters seldom win winners never quit

Worrying never did anyone any good

Yet worrying lives in everyone’s blood

What can’t be cured must be endured

But some adore what they need to cure

Why keep a dog and bark yourself?

Why use the Bible to prop up a shelf?

When the cat’s away the mice will play

It is good sense to keep trouble at bay

What goes up must come down

A mouth that’s up produces a frown

Variety is the spice of life

A woman a day, recipe for strife

Waste not want not

A yearning for waste might be your lot

Two blacks don’t make a white

Two wrongs don’t make a right

Darkness can never create light

But light brings darkness to sight

Two is company, three’s a crowd

‘Tis better to speak the truth aloud

Too many cooks spoil the broth

Not enough cooks brings boss man’s wrath

To every thing there is a season

For every thing there is reason

What is the season for treason

And your reason for joining its legion?

Truth may be stranger than fiction

But lies eventually lead to friction

Truth often brings conviction

But lies accompany dereliction

Time is a great healer

Procrastination is a great stealer

Pretension is a great squealer

But the Bible is the great revealer

There’s none so deaf as those who will not hear

There’s none so dead as those who will not care

There’s none so blind as those who will not see

And for misleading people still they charge a fee

There’s no smoke without fire

There’s no employment without hire

There’s no such thing as a free lunch

Every man for himself in a crunch

You can’t teach an old dog new tricks

Without straw you can’t make bricks

You are never too old to learn

Grasp the chance when it’s your turn

When in Rome do as the Romans do

Jews returning home so should you

When in China creativity is a must

Wherever you are you’d better adjust

Two heads are better than one

Night is darkest just before dawn

Be satisfied with your single head

Two heads you’re better off dead

Tomorrow never comes they say

Owe no man tomorrow pay today

Yesterday’s gone forever in the past

Today is limited; it just won’t last

There’s many a slip ‘twixt cup and lip

And is often caused by a careless grip

More in the mortar than just the pestle

Many a suspicion with which we wrestle

It’s better to give than to receive

It’s worse to doubt than to believe

It’s better to care than have to retrieve

The worst of all is the intent to deceive

There’s no fool like an old fool

The young fool keeps his cool

Where ignorance is bliss ‘tis folly to be wise

The man who knows all is a fool in disguise

The husband is always last to know

The wife is the one who told him so

The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world

That’s now in the hands of many a young girl

The fruit does not fall far from the tree

But the birds and the bees do have a spree

The leopard does not change his spots

But things in the distant appear as dots

The price of liberty is eternal vigilance

The cost of keeping it is constant diligence

Some lose it through repeated negligence

Lost of liberty is worse than indigence

Spare the rod and spoil the child

There’s more to gentle Jesus meek and mild

One man’s meat is another man’s poison

Keep sailing will never reach the horizon

Necessity is the mother of invention

Failure holds hands with good intention

Never give a sucker an even break

Never advantage of a sucker take

Marry in haste and repent at leisure

Honeymoon be a short lived pleasure

Always seeking an elusive treasure

But never took the correct measure

All that glitters is not gold

Look before you leap we are told

Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth

Sometimes the wind blows from the south

Let the dead bury the dead

So the living can live instead

For life is just what you make it

And the time there is is just a bit

Into every life a little rain must fall

Even new cars will sometimes stall

Hard work never did anyone any harm

Yet con-men live by dint of their charm

Good things come to those who wait

But those who wait are often late

Surely we need to get this one straight

One must work towards one’s fate

Everything comes to him who waits

Yet he who gets up is he who takes

Thin line between work and patience

Success comes via patient endurance

Many a true word is spoken in jest

And a bit of truth in every lie at best

A bit of lie contaminates all the rest

Nothing but the truth stands the test

Make hay while the sun shines

It’s then the lazy man reclines

Choosing to sleep the best of times

Never heeding the warning chimes

Man does not live by bread alone

Does not indulge in eating a stone

Can never for his own sin atone

Or reach the Lord on a telephone

It is easy to be wise after the event

Wised before should lead one to relent

For this outcome was never the intent

The best to be done after is to repent

In the kingdom of the blind the one eye man is king

In a nation full of seers it might be the same thing

Often much wisdom among them obscures the light

And the poor one eye man reveals simple insight

If a job is worth doing it is worth doing well

But to a poor worker this would never jell

For a bad workman always blames his tools

And what is sense to the wise is folly to fools

He who pays the piper calls the tune

He who sups with the devil should have a long spoon

He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword

But the best sword to live by is God’s Holy Word

Hindsight is twenty-twenty

History repeats itself a plenty

Honesty is the best policy

To ask, a good philosophy

Give credit where credit is due

A bad debt is no help to you

Flattery will get you nowhere

Won’t even know when you get there

Don’t wash you dirty linen in public

Especially if you are a public critic

Do as I say and not as I do

Suggests I am the fool, not you

A woman’s place is in the home

While the man continues to roam

A woman’s lot is being alone

She alone hears the children moan

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Sometimes it develops another wonder

While away a new relationship deepens

While the previous progressively weakens

Charity begins at home

And love is like the ocean foam

It swells and grows and glows

When it reaches you everyone knows

Better safe than sorry

Sorry was driving the lorry

Sorrow didn’t change the fact

Since safety never entered the act

Ask no questions and hear no lies

Bees follow honey and so do flies

All is well that ends well

Though the end I cannot tell

A rolling stone gathers no moss

He who roams may incur great loss

A thing of beauty is a joy forever

So if you have it leave it never

All good things must come to an end

And this poem has reached the bend

A woman’s work is never done

And this man’s work is just begun

Brevity is the soul of wit

At this point I think I’ll quit

Criticize if you must, I know you will

But writing these lines was quite a thrill

Stewart Russell © 2013