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Proverbs may be divided into three classes : Proverbs of 
Observation, Proverbs of Reflection, and Proverbs of Action. 
Of these the first states consequences, the second goes deeper 
and gives principles, the third states duties. 
Proverbs of reflection are native to the east, where the 
aphoristic sayings of the ancients have still a wide circulation. 
In general they are marked by the quiet contemplativeness 
of the pundit rather than the practical qualities of the man 
of action, but the terse and biting wit of the following Arabic 
sayings has helped them to filter through into most European 
languages : “ He who lives in glass houses should not throw 
stones,” “ What you put into the pot you will take out in 
the ladle,” and the saying, “ A man is hidden behind his 
tongue,” seems to have anticipated the Frenchman’s famous 
mot by many centuries. 
The best known examples of the didactic proverb are 
found in the Book of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. In both 
books we have the reasoned teachings of the moralist rather 
than the common maxims of the crowd. But all Jewish 
proverbs are not severely didactic, sayings to be listened to 
with respect rather than remembered with spontaneity. 
Such sayings as “ While the shoe is on thy foot tread on 
thorns,” “ Many old camels carry the skins of young ones 
to market,” “ The axe goeth to the wood whence it borrowed 
its shaft,” show that their authors, with all their sapience, 
had a characteristic wit all their own. 
The proverbs of our Isles have a different sound from the 
weightier musings of the East. They come out with the 
smack of a rude wit and unhesitating spontaneity. There 
is in them, as a rule, the rollicking humour of the man who 
hits you on the shoulder or digs you in the ribs. They call 
a spade a spade in vigorous and realistic language, though 
it must not be supposed that sayings of striking beauty and 
effectiveness do not abound. But generally, in the proverbial 
sayings that have come tripping from the lips of our people 
for countless generations, forcefulness is more apparent than 
politeness. 
It has been said that the proverbs of a nation are a true 
index to the character of its people, for before they could 
become part and parcel of the common speech they had to 
pass the ordeal of universal suffrage. Dean Trench says that 
every tenth proverb in the rich Italian store savours of political 
knavery or worldly selfishness. But sayings of shrewd 
insight abound such as “ It is more easy to praise poverty 
