A proverb is a saying or a phrase that is meant to express a truth. These truths are considered common sense. That means within that culture, it is something that is obvious to everyone. Proverbs make an appearance in almost all cultures. There is even a book of the Bible entitled Proverbs, composed of sayings and common sense truths of the ancient Israelites. People commonly look for information
. on proverbs in books, religious texts, word of mouth or online. Some popular types of proverbs are African, Chinese and English. When Hillary Clinton said that it takes a village to raise a child, she was repeating an African Proverb. The sites below link to some of the more popular types of proverbs.http://famous-proverbs.com/, has an extensive list of proverbs on its site. The sections are broken down by categories and authors. Categories include African, Chinese, German and Jewish. Some of the authors include Rabbi Hillel, George Santayana and Confucius. A few of the proverbs are:When danger approaches, sing to it. - Arab proverbSearch not a wound too deep lest thou make a new one. - Thomas FullerPhysician, heal thyself. - Hebrew proverbThe number of proverbs per section varies. Some such as the African proverbs, have hundreds. Others like the Gaelic proverbs, have very few.Quote Mountain has several biblical proverbs listed at http://www.quotemountain.com/proverbs/bible_proverbs_biblical_proverbs/. The proverbs are listed chapter by chapter and taken from the St. Joseph Edition of the New American Bible. They are all from the book of proverbs. This is an example of a proverb found on the site:Say to Wisdom, "You are my sister!" call Understanding, "Friend!" -- Proverbs 7:4The Phrase Finder at http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/proverbs.html, lists English proverbs A to Z. An example of one of these proverbs is:A fool and his money are soon parted More reference links: http://famous-proverbs.com/ http://www.quotemountain.com/proverbs/bible_proverbs_biblical_proverbs/
