Yiddish Wisdom

[NSB@S6K—In two previous posts about recommended books, [Ernest Van Den Haag/MUST READ – The Jewish Mystique Abba Hillel Silver:  Where Judaism Differed – 1] I  acknowledged the source of both books as some man I had not met, yet had been sending books about Jews/israel to me through my eldest brother.  I thought that such a gracious gesture from a stranger whose only information about me from my brother, is that I have interest in things-Jewish.  That was enough for him to start sending me books from his collection bought at estate and garage sales in the USA.  

 

Well, my curiosity about this man led to an arranged meeting over coffee; it turned out he’s a retired doctor of medicine, urologist, who had emigrated to the US and practiced medicine for many years in the state of Delaware.  Upon retirement he and his wife decided to return to the home country, leaving American-citizen-children behind.  An interesting man who’s so widely read he has become somewhat of a walking encyclopedia, he offered to give me all the books still in his possession that is about Israel and Jews.  In fact, he brought me yet another coffee table book, brand new, titled Yiddish Wisdom, with Chagall-like illustrations by Kristina Swarmer.  It is from this book that I’ve selected the entries featured below.  Enjoy, and thanks to “Dr. T” for this and other books to come which we will continue to feature here. Some of these sayings you will find familiar, you just didn’t know they’re Yiddish-sourced.]

  • “From your mouth into God’s ears!”
  • “One always thinks that others are happy.”
  • “No answer is also an answer.”
  • “The face tells the secret.”
  • “The tongue is the pen of the heart.”
  • “Jack of all trades, master of none.”
  • “You can’t ride in all directions at one time.”
  • “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.”
  • ‘If you’re going to do something wrong, enjoy it.”
  • “God takes with one hand and gives with the other.”
  • “A frequent guest becomes a pest.”
  • “A meowing cat can’t catch mice.”
  • “If you can’t do as you wish, do as you can.”
  • ‘A half truth is a whole lie.”
  • “A liar must have a good memory.”
  • “If you have money, you are wise and good-looking and can sing too.”
  • “The food is cooked in a pot and the plate gets the honor.”
  • “Money buys everything except brains.”
  • “In a quarrel, each side is right.”
  • “The pen stings worse than the arrow.”
  • “Time brings wounds and heals them.”
  • ‘Hope for miracles that don’t rely on one.”
  • “Ask advice from everyone but act with your own mind.”
  • “The husband is the boss—if his wife allows.”
  • “With honey you can catch more flies than with vinegar.”
  • “Easy to promise, hard to fulfill.”
  • ‘The gift is not as precious as the thought.”
  • “Loans will get you moans.”
  • “That place seems good where we are not.”
  • “You can’t get ahead with keeping quiet.”
  • “Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today.”
  • “Too much modesty is half conceit.”
  • “When one must, one can.”
  • “Still waters run deep.”
  • “When your enemy falls don’t rejoice, but don’t pick him up either.”
  • “The reddest apple has a worm in it.”
  • “When the stomach is empty, so is the brain.”
  • “An imaginary illness is worse than a real one.”
  • “Sometimes the remedy is worse than the disease.”

 

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