Topic

Proverbs

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Overview

The Book of Proverbs (, , "Proverbs (of Solomon)") is a book in the third section (called Ketuvim) of the Hebrew Bible and a book of the Christian Old Testament. When translated into Greek and Latin, the title took on different forms: in the Greek Septuagint (LXX) it became (, "Proverbs"); in the Latin Vulgate the title was , from which the English name is derived. Proverbs is not merely an anthology but a "collection of collections" relating to a pattern of life which lasted for more than a millennium. It is an example of the biblical wisdom literature, and raises questions of values, moral behaviour, the meaning of human life, and right conduct, and its theological foundation is that "the fear of God (meaning submission to the will of God) is the beginning of wisdom". Wisdom is praised for her role in creation; God acquired her before all else, and through her he gave order to chaos; and since humans have life and prosperity by conforming to the order of creation, seeking wisdom is the essence and goal of life. The Book of Proverbs is divided into sections: the initial invitation to wisdom, contrasting the wise and the fool, and moral discourses on various topics. Chapters 25–29 discuss justice, the wicked, and the rich and poor, while Chapter 30 introduces the "sayings of Agur" on creation and divine power. Structure

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“His many years had reduced and polished him the way water smooths and polishes a stone or generations of men polish a proverb.”
— Jorge Luis Borges, "The Man on the Threshold", in The Aleph (1949); tr. Andrew Hurley, Collected Fictions (1998).
“The wise man learns from the mistakes of others, the fool must learn from his own.”
— Reported by Joseph P. Fusco, Challenge to Love (1969), p. 104, as an "ancient proverb"; cp. the variant reported in Basic English Revisited: A Student Handbook (1980), p. 19: "We need strong minds, not strong emotions, to solve our problems. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others; the fool, from his own."
“Proverbs depend for their truth entirely on the occasion they are applied to. Almost every wise saying has an opposite one, no less wise, to balance it.”
— George Santayana, The Life of Reason, Vol. 5: Reason in Science (1906), Ch. 8: "Prerational Morality".
“The genius, wit, and spirit of a nation are discovered in its proverbs.”
— Francis Bacon.
“Maxims are the condensed good sense of nations.”
— Sir James Mackintosh, quoted on the title page of Broom's Legal Maxims (1911).
“Les maximes des hommes décèlent leur cœur.”
— The maxims of men reveal their hearts.

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

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Overview

The Book of Proverbs (, , "Proverbs (of Solomon)") is a book in the third section (called Ketuvim) of the Hebrew Bible and a book of the Christian Old Testament. When translated into Greek and Latin, the title took on different forms: in the Greek Septuagint (LXX) it became (, "Proverbs"); in the Latin Vulgate the title was , from which the English name is derived. Proverbs is not merely an anthology but a "collection of collections" relating to a pattern of life which lasted for more than a millennium. It is an example of the biblical wisdom literature, and raises questions of values, moral behaviour, the meaning of human life, and right conduct, and its theological foundation is that "the fear of God (meaning submission to the will of God) is the beginning of wisdom". Wisdom is praised for her role in creation; God acquired her before all else, and through her he gave order to chaos; and since humans have life and prosperity by conforming to the order of creation, seeking wisdom is the essence and goal of life. The Book of Proverbs is divided into sections: the initial invitation to wisdom, contrasting the wise and the fool, and moral discourses on various topics. Chapters 25–29 discuss justice, the wicked, and the rich and poor, while Chapter 30 introduces the "sayings of Agur" on creation and divine power. Structure

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“His many years had reduced and polished him the way water smooths and polishes a stone or generations of men polish a proverb.”
— Jorge Luis Borges, "The Man on the Threshold", in The Aleph (1949); tr. Andrew Hurley, Collected Fictions (1998).
“The wise man learns from the mistakes of others, the fool must learn from his own.”
— Reported by Joseph P. Fusco, Challenge to Love (1969), p. 104, as an "ancient proverb"; cp. the variant reported in Basic English Revisited: A Student Handbook (1980), p. 19: "We need strong minds, not strong emotions, to solve our problems. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others; the fool, from his own."
“Proverbs depend for their truth entirely on the occasion they are applied to. Almost every wise saying has an opposite one, no less wise, to balance it.”
— George Santayana, The Life of Reason, Vol. 5: Reason in Science (1906), Ch. 8: "Prerational Morality".
“The genius, wit, and spirit of a nation are discovered in its proverbs.”
— Francis Bacon.
“Maxims are the condensed good sense of nations.”
— Sir James Mackintosh, quoted on the title page of Broom's Legal Maxims (1911).
“Les maximes des hommes décèlent leur cœur.”
— The maxims of men reveal their hearts.

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.