I’ve long been a fan of the pithy proverb—a quote or bit of advice that contains truth in 20 words or less. The New York Times reports that “social media is an aphorism machine” but my love for the short and to-the-point adage is much more old school, coming from my Grandmother Brown who was known to say things such as “some folks are born in the objective mood.”

Grandmother did not have a lot of patience for complainers.  She always had a positive outlook, an attitude toward people that she passed along to my father. I wonder what they would think of our current era and the never-ending online rage machines? (That’s a rhetorical question . . . I know the answer.)

Six years ago I began showcasing these pithy proverbs in a feature entitled More to Consider. After using the fifth year to highlight some personal favorites, I am returning to my regular habit of collecting new ones and posting them in summaries twice a year. * So, as one of my favorites instructs us . . .

“Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”

Mary Oliver

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RIGHT WHERE WE NEED TO BE

I found this first quote via poet and songwriter Carrie Newcomer.

“The simple rose, at each moment of its slow blossoming, is as open as it can be. The same is true of our lives.”

Mark Nepo

Newcomer wrote that “there is so much wisdom in the flower that grows day by day into its own becoming . . . On countless walks in the woods, my friend Suzanne and I have engaged in quiet conversations about about music and art and the current state of our spirits. I remember on one particular walk when I was wrestling mightily with a pattern in my life I was working hard to change. It was the first of many times she would smile and say, ‘Carrie, you’re right where you need to be.'”

“And so it is with our lives, we are plants still growing, and we right where we need to be. We are becoming and we are whole at every stage of the journey.”

The song Before and After is the one Carrie shared in her post, so I felt it was appropriate here. It appeared on Newcomer’s album Kindred Spirits and she writes that “it is about the power of the stories that change us, that are somehow pivotal personally, communally and archetypally.” 

As we’re thinking about being in the right place now, a line from Emily Dickinson which I featured earlier this year also seems appropriate.

“Forever is composed of nows.”

Emily Dickinson

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THE DARKEST HOUR IS JUST BEFORE DAWN

The troubles of our time have led me to look for guidance about the importance of working through difficulties. The quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. is a reminder that he not only had the energy of an activist, but he also possessed the soul and vision of a poet/preacher.

“I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.”

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

One of our challenges as humans is—as Father Richard Rohr reminds us—that most of what we see is behind our eyes.

“Most of us do not see things as they are; we see things as we are.“

Richard Rohr

Historian and activist Rebecca Solnit speaks to me and my belief that memory and continuity are critical elements in shaping us into the people we are meant to be.

“The past equips us to face the future; continuity of memory tells us we are both descendants and ancestors.”

Rebecca Solnit

“To refuse to participate in the shaping of our future is to give it up.”

Rebecca Solnit

The Grammy-nominated 2020 album Ruthie Foster’s Big Band Live at the Parmount includes Woke Up This Morning, a freedom song created in 1961 from the old gospel favorite I woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus. The song was written by The Rev. Robert Wesby of Aurora, Illinois, who sang it in the Hinds County, Mississippi, jail after his arrest and incarceration during the Freedom Rides. Foster takes us to church and to the streets with her powerful version, and it seems like an important time to let the lives of those who lived through troubles in the past show us the way to respond.

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WALK TO BE TRANSFORMED

Pico Iyer has a quote that I’ve tried to internalize. We don’t travel just to move, we travel to be transformed.

“A person susceptible to wanderlust is not so much addicted to movement as committed to transformation.”

Pico Iyer

When we move about we are more likely to meet people who are not like us, and that is an opportunity for growth and transformation. On the other hand, when we stay in one place, we tend to lump people—in all their intricate, intriguing, and infuriating complexity—into categories.

“Categories too often become where thought goes to die.”

Rebecca Solnit

I’m also a believer in the power of myths—both good and bad. Writer David Maraniss has a good reminder of how myths are created.

“Myth becomes myth not in the living but in the retelling.”

David Maraniss

The wonderful singer/songwriter Nanci Griffith was joined by special guests, Tom Paxton and Carolyn Hester, to sing the Paxton classic I Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound. That seems an appropriate tune to pair with these quotes. And Kinky Friedman’s definition of an artist helps us remember what these talents give up to share their knowledge and vision with us.

“My definition of an artist is someone who is ahead of his time and behind on his rent.”

Kinky Friedman (1944-2024)

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A LIFE WORTH LIVING

Having the opportunity to see this wonderful remembrance of Albert Schweitzer while visiting Strasbourg, France earlier this year led me to reflect on his life and legacy. I think grandmother would agree with the sentiments of the Nobel laureate.

“Life becomes harder for us when we live for others, but it also becomes richer and happier.”

Albert Schweitzer

More to come . . .

DJB

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* After the initial More to Consider post pulling together the first group highlighted, I brought out Volume 2: A plethora of pithy proverbs followed with Volume 3: A profusion of pithy proverbs and Volume 4: A plentitude of pithy proverbs. I finally turned to the Super Bowl system (minus the pretentious Roman numerals) with I love the pithy proverb — Volume 5, Volume 6, Volume 7, Volume 8, and Volume 9. For Volume 10, I highlighted some personal favorites from the first nine editions.

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Photo of mug and sayings from Pixabay