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Words and Their Stories: Proverbs About How to Live | American Life | Learning English/*
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RSS FeedWords and Their Stories: Proverbs About How to Live??26 March 2011 Share ThisDiggYahoo! BuzzFacebookdel.icio.usStumbleUponTO DOWNLOAD the MP3 of this story, click on the MP3 link in the upper right corner of the page. Double-click any word to find the definition in the Merriam-Webster Learner's Dictionary
Now, the VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
Today we explain more popular proverbs.? A proverb is a short, well known saying that expresses a common truth or belief. ?Proverbs are popular around the world.
Many listeners have sent us their favorite proverbs.? They give advice about how to live. ?We begin with two popular proverbs about staying healthy by eating good food: One is an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Another is you are what you eat.
Several proverbs about birds also give advice.? You may have heard this one: ?The early bird catches the worm.? This means a person who gets up early, or acts quickly, has the best chance of success.
Another famous proverb is a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.? This means you should not risk losing something you have by seeking something that is not guaranteed.
Here is another piece of advice: Do not count your chickens before they are hatched. In other words, you should not think too much about some future event before it really happens.
Another proverb warns do not put all your eggs in one basket. This means you should not put all of your resources together in one place because you could risk losing everything at one time.? Many Americans learned this the hard way by investing all their money in stock shares, which then lost value. ?Another proverb says a fool and his money are soon parted. This means someone who acts unwisely with money will lose it.
Here is more advice:? If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Also, never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
You might learn that haste makes waste if you do something so fast, resulting in mistakes. Most people would agree with this proverb: honesty is the best policy.
Yet another proverb advises us not to be concerned about something bad that you cannot change.? It says there is no use crying over spilled milk.
Do you agree with the proverb that children should be seen and not heard? Maybe you have told your children that hard work never hurt anyone. But other people say that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. They believe it is not wise to spend all your time working and never having fun.
Finally, here is one of our favorite proverbs: People who live in glass houses should not throw stones. This means you should not criticize other people unless you are perfect yourself.
(MUSIC)
This VOA Special English program was written by Shelley Gollust.? I'm Faith Lapidus.? You can find more proverbs and oth er WORDS AND THEIR STORIES at our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.
Listen? Email? Print? Comments?Comments (67)27-03-2011liyuanyuan(china)I agree with you.Proverbs are very useful.
27-03-2011Leo Constantine(Viet Nam)That's so great. Thank you so much!
27-03-2011drac(China)i like this one most: If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. and this one: honesty is the best policy.besides, some proverbs are common sense among many nationalities, like haste makes waste maybe has the same meaning with ancient chinese proverb: "you want to behave quicker, always you'll end up being slower"
27-03-2011thanh nguyen(vietnam)that's a great show!
27-03-2011Nishi(Japan)There are also many proverbs in Japan. The proverbs are very meaningful, anywhere in the world.
27-03-2011ThaoN(VietNam)US 's interesting country ...I'm going to go USA this year...I hope everything 'll be ok!
27-03-2011Abdulhamid(Georgia)A friend in need is a friend indeed.VOA Special English is a best friend.Thanks for you help us.
27-03-2011Ahmed Mostafa(Egypt)Laugh to life, life laughs to you. This means when you look to the events in your life in a good view, you will have happy days.
27-03-2011Andrey(USSR)One else. Leopard cannot change his spot.
27-03-2011Crsytal(China)How perfect this programme is！I like it very much！
27-03-2011Muhmmad haseeb khan(Pakistan Karachi)it is wonderful and good for listening practice and increasing vocabulary . it is really useful in daily routine .. Thanks very much to voa for this article ..
27-03-2011Ahmed Abdella(Sudan)If you can't be sun don't be cloud .
27-03-2011Robert(USA)I happened onto this site in search of the true meaning of the book of proverbs. I have heard it said that proverbs are timeless words of wise men concerning the way to conduct ones life. This maybe true. Yet I believe it to be much more than that. Solomon the #1 author of proverbs asked God for wisdom and was one of the wisest men that ever lived. therefore if his wisdom came from God , wouldnt proverbs be an insight to the mind of the Lord. 2nd Tim 3:16 all scripture is inspired by God
27-03-2011Alex Smirnov(Russia (R.F.))The French philosopher René Descartes did famous assertion “I think, therefore I am”.The next expressions are saying “While there is life there is hope” and “Such is life”.What is life? The answer is “Life is not only File”.
27-03-2011Ahmad Abdul Kareem(Jordan)very nice thanks alot
27-03-2011fan(china)thanks
27-03-2011GamerH2o(China)I like "stay hungry,stay foolish".
27-03-2011jethere is an exception to every rule.
27-03-2011Jenny(Croatia)Every cloud has a silver lining.That means that if something bad happens to you,there's always and some good side of it.
27-03-2011Maki(Japan)Almost your proverbs are the same idea as our idea in Japan. We have an equivalent to each one. But one thing we don't have as a counterpart was that "Children should be seen and not heard," which is interesting the most to me. For sure, children may not learn respect to elders and may use impolite words. I know they are not intentional, seeing my kid. Advice proverbs occasionally encourage people to stay healthy and happy.
27-03-2011Musa Bangura(Sierra Leone)Here in S.Leone English Language is a compulsory subject and also a major criterion in university colleges. Idioms or idiomatic expression is part of the English Language syllabus for secondary schools which makes me familiar with most of the proverbs posted so far. Really making reference to proverbs/idioms in a speach or debate makes you a good speaker as far as i'm concern.
28-03-2011Valdir(Brazil)Very interesting. All these are saying in Portuguese, with some differences, of course. Some that I like and that can be incorporated into the VOA collection are: men and women die for their remedies more than by their disease, "and " you can understand my pain, but I just feel "
28-03-2011Redy(Indonesia)They are interesting... Very usefull....
28-03-2011Nimrod(China)it's so great!
28-03-2011Jing Yu(China)Thanks for your great job, Special VOA English! The proverb of "There is no use crying over spilled mill." reminds me of the positive attitude of Japanese, who are suffering severe hardship due to a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami. I hope everything will look up sooner.
28-03-2011tanduy_tin34(Viet Nam)Very nice. Thanks
28-03-2011Eric(China)Proverb is useful
28-03-2011Tanet.S(Thailand)Almost proverb if you are not own language ,it's difficult for understand. i think long time for study .
28-03-2011swan(china)People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
28-03-2011Sara(Sweden)The early worm is catched.
28-03-2011Proverbs are concise and simple words that carry precious meanings
28-03-2011Susumu(Japan)I agree with the most of these proverbs. Some of them are quite suitable for our traditional Japanese proverbs. I enjoyed it.
28-03-2011emy(egypt)(love me love my dog) meaning that if you loved someone ,you should accept his defaults.
28-03-2011Mariya(Kazakhstan)it's wonderful!Better late than never!
28-03-2011giorgi(georgia)thank VOA for excellent lesson
28-03-2011Yavuz(Turkey)If You are the last one, You are the frozenIf you get up early, You complete the half of the way
28-03-2011james(eng)thanks for everything
28-03-2011lowly(Haiti)People who live in glass houses should not throw stones(my favorite).
28-03-2011natachar.(Thailand)Thank you. I love this program that help me improve my Eng.
29-03-2011Fery Setiawan Andin(Indonesia)This proverb really.... interesting make me want to learn more. My favorite proverb is do not count your chickens before they are hatched. I absolutely agree with that You don't have to worry about the future, because you will used up your energy just do the best, do is something necessary to move forward.
29-03-2011wang-jijun(China)Thanks for sharing them and, especially for so workable explaination. I`d like to learn proverbs and old sayings.It is easy to read and remember but had to put it into practise.Life is meaningful, sometime is meaningless.I think good life is fixed by one`s inside habit,the ouside condition can change one a little, if not, It is just or less for one`s benifit reach!
29-03-2011Frankevery dog has its day
29-03-2011Cindy(China)I also remember one proverb "if winter comes,can spring be far behind."
29-03-2011tran le(Vietnam)so great!!! Thank u very much!!!
29-03-2011Mehdi(Iran)proverbs are useful and enjoyable to know and understand
30-03-2011Richard.Yuan(China)that's so good.
30-03-2011Della(China)uesful proverbs to learn
30-03-2011Kim Thoa(Viet Nam)It is useful for improve my language. And I know the proverb " First come, first service". Great!!!!!
30-03-2011Bill(Bulgaria)Francis Bacon said: "The genius, wit, and spirit of a nation are discovered in its proverbs." Proverbs are the wisdom of the streets, the children of experience.
30-03-2011Oleg(Ukraine)Haste makes waste is one of my favourite proverbs.Ii`s real true, when we are too busy we havt to stop haste and always think beforehand.Also I like the following proverbs: “Man proposes, God disposes”, “If you risk nothing, you risk anytihng
30-03-2011Tomes Dally(china)there is no use crying over spilled milk . I like this proverb very much and i want to make friends to learn english together . MSN: mengweishang@hotmail.com welcome to join me guys
30-03-2011FP(China)Do you repeat the articles in this column periodically? I remember I learnt / listened this story about five years ago. Anyway, thanks for hard work.
30-03-2011Sni(Vietnam)"There's no use crying over spilled milk". I'll memorise this proverb and consider it as one of my life principles. We should not waste time to repent something that passed over. The best policy is focusing on the present and trying your best to not let you regret for something you've done.
31-03-2011(china)proverbs are meaningful!
31-03-2011miki liu(china)all these proverbs are more useful, but like the the early bird catches the worm!
31-03-2011Huyen(Vietnam)My favorite proverb is "Rome was not built in a day"
31-03-2011lucy(Uganda)thanks alot and was mostly inspired by the proverb that said,an apple a day chases away a doctor.keep it up.
31-03-2011Jasmine(Korea)i love so much all the invaluable contents you kindly arrange here. How considerate! Can never fully express my deep appreciation for your unbelievable thoughtfullness at all. God Bless U~
31-03-2011Emanuel(ECUADOR)is very usefull for ′people who want to learn english that kind of proverbs
31-03-2011dog that bark don′t bite
01-04-2011sun(china)funny and useful
01-04-2011Zabi(Afghanistan)Good work! Proverbs are wonderful. My favorite in the list is ' There is no use crying over spilt milk' We have an equivalent to this one in Dari, which reads' when something has happened, it has happened. There is no use worrying about it.'
01-04-2011Tatyana Draganova(Bulgaria)Thank you a lot! When I listen slowly I understand .....Now I'm thinking about myself I'm not stupid women because today I understand all! That is great!
01-04-2011Ali M Sirat(Afghanistan)It is really enough good to listen the VOA special English, I'm sure through it the people would be able to improve their English ever the short period of time and I'm really grateful of VOA special English providers.thanks for your hard working and wish you all the success
01-04-2011Mohamad(Kurdistan of Iraq)There are more proverbs in Kurdish language, which have the same meanings in other countries or languages, but in different expression.Thanks very much for VOA for learning english.
02-04-2011Temine(Mauritainia)Thanks for this great show .keep on like this ,please.
05-04-2011Wiflg GothI agree with you. That's so great.
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