You can learn a lot about a country by its proverbs, I think.
Armenian proverbs:
- “It is better to carry stones with a wise man than eat pilaf with a fool”
- “You don’t water a camel with a spoon”
- “It is not he who has lived the longest, but he who has traveled the farthest, who knows the most”
- “If you do not know, it is not shameful, but if you do not know and say that you know, it is LIE”
- “Eat bad soup with a big spoon”
- “Never believe a woman who says she doesn’t want mayonnaise on her baguette”
- “The curtain reveals as much as it hides”
- “In attempting to fix the brow, let’s not damage the eye”
- “Clouds that thunder do not always rain”
- “He who speaks the truth must have one foot in the stirrup”
- “The serpent draws poison and the bee honey from the same flower”
- “You are as many a person as the languages you speak”
- “The kick of a quiet horse strikes strong”
- “May you grow old on one pillow”
- “Always tell the truth in the form of a joke”
- “Suffering was inflicted on rocks, but they could not stand it, so it was inflicted on man”
- “The wise horse cares not how fast a man may run”
- “Surprise is a better value in a sandwich environment than service”
I think there’s a wealth of cultural knowledge in there. The next time Bad Cop stiffs me in the deli, or Ab-Jek Has’el gives me the wrong order, I’m going to gaze serenely into the middle distance and pull out one of these little beauties.
Anyone for a quick game of diversophy? No? Oh you do disappoint me.
