Question of the Week: What words of wisdom have been passed down in your family? [closed]

Question

What words of wisdom or advice have been passed down in your family?

Comments

Great question and fun chance to reminisce about some long-gone relatives.  (I'm going to think a while before answering.)

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Here's one: If you don't work, you don't eat.

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Got to get used to that Walker moniker now Eowyn.  LOL

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From my mother's side, one of the most important values I learned was care for your neighbors.

From my father's side one the most important values I learned was mind your own business.

These may seem mutually exclusive until I realized that I should help my neighbors without judgements or expectations.   You can be helpful and show concern for your neighbors without intruding into their business,

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I once asked my grandmother (who lived to be 94 years old) what was the secret of her longevity?  She said, "I wash my hands frequently."  Good advice then--even better advice now!

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One of my dad's favorites: "Pace yourself."

One I tell my kids: "Vigilance."

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My grandfather was a salty old cowboy born in 1906, and he was further seasoned by losing siblings young, the Great Flood of 1927, the Great Depression, having a brother fight in WWII, etc.  His wisdom could therefore be rather, um...Coarsely homespun.

For instance, one of his favorite sayings has stood the test of time when applied to farm animals, pets, and kids that were all 'finicky' about what was served to them:  "Leave it right there.  They get hungry enough, they'll eat it."   They always would.  And I learned to never, ever complain about what was served at a dinner table, lest I 'sit right there till I eat it'.

My grandfather was also integral, so much so that his epitaph was, "Lived by His Word".  If he said something was so, you did not have to doubt it.  He was so adamant in this respect that the 4th generation from him still values integrity.  

He passed away in 1999, and my heart still cries for him.

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Whenever anyone passed wind my grandmother would say:: "Pardon Mrs Ardern there's a chicken in your garden.....to which the reply was always, "Well go and chase it out then."

She grew up religious, her mother being a Minister's daughter and made me go to Sunday School as a child, and she always said that, "You have to go to church on Sunday morning, its the best sleep I get all week." I am grateful years later for what I learned in Sunday School although I don't sleep during the services but then I am still younger than she was when she said it..

Answer 1

Moderation in all things.

Comments

Big family, always fighting for a place at the table. Mother would always inform us ''Your place is in the cemetery!''

Answer 2

1. If you want someone to do something. Get them feel it was their idea to do it.

2. If you have one of something and two children. One child cuts it in half and the other gets first choice.

Answer 3

My father's two favorite sayings:

1. All good things come to he who waiteth,

    as long as he worketh like hell while he waiteth,

2. Wish in one hand and crap in the other and see which one fills up first.

My maternal grandmother's  was:

I cried that I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.  (actually came to find this is based on an old Persian Proverb)

My mother's was oddly enough:

LEE JAMES RUSSELL, you are in trouble now young man.

Answer 4

With the pandemic going on now, I can often hear my maternal grandmother, Nellie Long Marvin, saying "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." 

Answer 5

Turns out I don't remember as many things my parents or grandparents said (or might have said) as I expected to.

 

My mother was a nice person, and my recollection is that most of her advice was about being nice.  Did I need it?!  I know she used to say "If you can't say something nice about someone, don't say anything at all."  Didn't everyone's mother tell them that?  Mom also used to say "He (or she) only teases you because he likes you."  I don't know if I was the recipient of those words, or maybe the cause of them most of the time.  I still like to tease people, even sometimes on G2G , and occasionally resort to those words myself.

 

My father spent his childhood in the Depression, which shaped his behavior for the rest of his life.  When I was a child, I was very frustrated by his thriftiness.  He loved a bargain!  But I don't remember him preaching about that; he just lived it.  I do remember him saying "If something is worth doing, it is worth doing well."  And once when my brother broke one of his tools, I remember him saying "George, how many times have I told you to use the right tool for the job?"

 

It is hard to remember details from so long ago.  My schoolteachers were of the same era as my parents, thus shaped by the same influences.  There are many so-called words of wisdom that probably came from Benjamin Franklin and not my parents, grandparents, or teachers.  But I'll bet my father did say "A penny saved is a penny earned."  (After a little Googling, I guess Franklin didn't say that, but I'm pretty sure my dad didn't invent it either.  The Franklin quotes are fun anyway.)

 

Comments

I read an article a few weeks ago about all the saying attributed to Benjamin Franklin, when he never said any of them! It is what we were told though.

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Yes, but they're fun, aren't they?  Here's some more.

Answer 6

My dad told me that a good conversation is one where you learned more about the other person than they learned about you.  He didn't mean you should be secretive, but you should be more focused on engaging the other person in the conversation, rather than trying to tell them all about what you did. He was a school principal, then a preacher.

My uncle, a farmer, liked the phrase "I was born with nothing and I still have most of it left".

Comments

Your father was certainly a wise man, my husband actually has that very trait. I also very like your uncle’s quote—don’t think I have ever heard it before; he must have been a fun person.

Answer 7

"Wie zijn voorgeslacht niet eert is zijn eigen naam niet weerd" is a Dutch rhyme that roughly translates to English as, "Whoever doesn't honour his/her ancestry is unworthy of his/her name."

Answer 8

A little of what you fancy does you good . . . . and . . .Everything in moderation

Answer 9

A loose translation from German:

The faster I go the behinder I get!

Answer 10

Only a few things in life are not replaceable, your life, your children and your sanity, so if you can't fix it, help it, or change it, let it go...its not worth your sanity.

Answer 11

"Never ascribe to malice what can be explained by incompetence..."

Answer 12

My stepdad use to tell me, "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and take what comes."

Answer 13

My father, Vernie Morrow, would say "Be careful what you say about people because you never know who is related to who".

Answer 14

My paternal grandmother, Margaret Melinda (nee Elder) Morrow would say "you can catch more flies with honey, than you can with vinegar", referring to your personality or attitude.

Answer 15

From my maternal grandmother: Always buy a good bed and a good pair of shoes. Because you are always in one or the other your entire life.

Comments

Eric, I have never heard that one before, but I sure like it —especially about the shoes.

Answer 16

My mother...from her grandmother's proverbial philosophy of "waste not want not...."

"Use it up, wear it out
Make it do or do without."

Answer 17

My father’s guide to exam technique was “RTFQ”

In other words, if you want to get the marks, make sure you read and answer the question.

Comments

And make sure you answer the question that was asked, far too often people give an answer to a different question and then wonder why they don't get the results they expect.

Answer 18

My grandparents on both sides were very religious people - Quaker on my dad's side and Methodist Episcopal on my mom's.

My mom's parents ran a dairy farm - they believed that "God helps those that help themselves" - in other words to take the initiative to solve one's problems and stand up to adversity.  I have found this advice very helpful over the years, especially in these crazy times.

My maternal grandfather also had a saying about "a lazy man's load" that referred to trying to carry too much at one time, resulting in injury or dropping the items one carried.

If I think of any more I will add them later - these are the first two that came to mind!

Answer 19

Celebrate the bad times.

Whenever my wife and I suffered some loss or setback, we would always find some way to treat ourselves, even if we couldn't afford it.  I believe that this tradition played a big part in our lifetime marriage.

Answer 20

My maternal grandmother, when faced with tears or the desire not to cry, always said, "The more you cry, the less you pee."