Maya’s Own

There is nothing new in the search for happiness.

Neither is there any “secret” doctrine or teachings that will give you instant happiness. There are however many clues left by ancient and modern wise individuals giving a little insight and showing us the way to leading happier lives. Some of those sayings are so old that their origins are lost in antiquity. This doesn’t seem to matter, there are still as valid today as they were originally.

Old proverbs and sayings can be the key to happiness, they are little pieces of wisdom to remind us of what is important. More often than not we will remember some little piece of wisdom dispensed when we were children, it is usually meant as a reminder for deeper thinking.

IT IS NOT SELF INDULGENT TO SEEK HAPPINESS BUT A HUMAN DUTY, a happy life is what we should all seek, not through a filling of the senses but as a ” way of being” .

I selected a few of the proverbs that I grew up with and a few that seem to have come up since [Yoda]. Old proverbs and saying have a way of being in fashion for a time then return to obscurity for a while. A lot of the more modern sayings are just recycled ancient ones adapted to fit our times.

 Here is an example of the recycled saying:

• “Things can never touch the soul, but stand inert outside it, so that disquiet can arise only from fancies within”. Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

• “There’s nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so”. Hamlet [Act 2 scene2]

• As man thinketh so he is

• You are what you think you are

These are the more common proverbs and sayings I came accross. Stay tuned for my interpretation of those sayings in a later posting. I added the origins of the saying wherever I could do so, but I think at lot of the more common ones have been appropriated or adapted somewhere along the line.

• “The one being carried does not realize how far away the town is.” [Nigeria]

• All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are moveable, and those that move. [Arab]

• Throw dirt enough, and some will stick.

• Trust in God, but tie your camel. (Arabian)

• It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop. Confucius

• Half a loaf is still better than no bread” Irish

• “Put a silk dress on a goat and it remains a goat” Irish

• “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leasds to suffering” Yoda

• “Careful you must be when sensing the future, Anakin, the fear of loss is the path to the dark side” yoda

• Never look a gift horse in the mouth

• Cut your coat according to the cloth

• Never let the sun set on angry heart

• In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

• It is no use crying over spilt milk.

• Old friends and old wine are best

• Too many cooks spoil the broth.

• What can’t be cured must be endured.

• It is better to stay silent and be thought a fool, than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.

• Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

• A stitch in time saves nine

• There’s no use in flogging (beating)a dead horse.

• Laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him.

• Respect yourself and others will respect you. Confucius

• A fool despises good counsel, but a wise man takes it to heart. Confucius

• A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step. Lao Tzu