A piece of the world’s wisdom, specially for procrastinators:
“If not now, when?”
(Jewish Proverb)
Just do it…
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Category Archives: Wisdom around the World
Caring and Sharing
I love the Burmese proverb: “If you see someone without a smile, give him yours”.
So when I saw these in the bakery (in Kuala Lumpur), first they made me smile, then they made me think of extending the principle.
How about “If you see someone without a bun, give him yours”….?
In the words of Saint Augustine…
“The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page”
What’s the word for….
The English language has more words than any other, partly because it has borrowed words from many other tongues. But it doesn’t have a word for everything! So I vote that we add a few more to fill a few of the gaps.
How about ‘hyggelig’ (Danish), meaning ‘comfy, cosy, intimate and contented’?
Or ‘sombremesa’ (Spanish), ‘after-lunch conversation around the table’? which might however sound less interesting if you are experiencing ‘abbiocco’, the Italian for ‘drowsiness from eating a big meal’…
I think the most useful word we could borrow, though, (can be applied to all sorts of situations, from relationships to organisations to politics), is the German word ‘verschlimmbessern’ – ‘to make something worse when trying to improve it’…
(With thanks to the excellent website babbel.com – check it out if you want to learn a new language! The clever,?multilingual people there have started to collect unique words from around the globe).
Yogi Berra on Travel
The late, great Yogi Berra is forever associated with the New York Yankees. As well as baseball, he’s famous for his memorable turns of phrase. At one level they don’t make sense, at another they are profoundly true (I think so, at least!)
His remarks range from the practical: “Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel” and “When you come to a fork in the road, take it”, to existential warnings: “You got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there”.
But my all-time favourite? “If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be”. Can’t argue with that….
Wombat Wisdom
Sitting on your Suitcase…
Packing for a trip reminded me of a Russian tradition: when you’re about to travel – all packed and ready to go – pause a while. And reflect… Where are we going? Where are we coming from? Where are we, just now? Wow. Existential, or what?
Pause for thought….
‘When man has cut down the last tree, polluted the last drop of water, killed the last animal and fished the last fish – then he’ll realise that he can’t eat money’
(Indian Proverb)
Celebrating Translation
Where would we be without translators and interpreters? Literature, diplomacy, travel, commerce – translation opens up new ideas and new worlds to us.
So , to all of you everywhere who use your language skills to help us understand each other:
Happy International Translation Day!
Silence is golden?
‘Those who know do not speak,
Those who speak do not know’
(Chinese Proverb)
travelling frogs 