Personal Proverbs

Here are some personal proverbs. I call them personal only because I wrote them; they might apply to anyone, any time. That’s the nature of a proverb.

They all come from a reading of Genesis 42-45, the account of Joseph, then second in command in Egypt, and his brothers, still not knowing his identity. The number following the proverb is the reference that inspired it.

If famine persists in the land where you live and grain abounds elsewhere,
Don’t just sit and look at each other, get off your asses (or on your asses) and go!  (42:1-2)

Money is as good as the goods you need,
If the goods exist and you’re willing to spend.  (42:2)

If you must invest all, hold one back,
Why risk destroying yourself?  (42:4)

In a story, and life, only the reader and God sees all,
The players see only their part.  (42:1-6)

A dream revealed to the dreamer
May be best, for a time, kept concealed.  (42:7, 9)

A spy, though useful, is inherently a dishonest person.  (42:11)

Treat the weaker brother with respect,
He may, in time, rule over you.  (42:8)

There is a way to test a liar
And the wise will find it out.  (42:14)

A fearer of God will be just,
A fearer of God will be gracious.  (42:18)

Learn from others: The guilt of your justified passions
Can haunt you the rest of your life.  (42:21)

Does not Justice say, “I will have my day,
And for every act there will be pay”?  (42:22)

The accessors to crime will suffer right along with the others.  (42:22)

A blessing at first, is really a curse,
If supplied by one who deceives.  (42:28)

When things are extreme, very good, very bad,
We credit God, or fear him.
But he’s in fact as much in the middle.  (42:28)

A lie, once told, must be perpetually retold,
But nature will right itself, and the liar finally exposed.  (42:32)

Even the blessed can feel he’s the cursed
When everything turns against him.  (42:36)

If possible, be over-honest;
It’ll stand for you later.  (43:12)

Don’t be rash in your promises,
You may have to carry them out.  (43:9-13)

Beware of extraordinary gifts;
There’s something meant by them, and you don’t know what.  (44:2)

You cannot know the plans of God,
For he works them out long before.  (45:5)

Man only thinks he’s doing the action,
But it is God all along.  (45:8)

Raise a child to be God fearing and good,
And (s)he’ll be your care in old age.  (45:9-10)

If a man’s ways please the king,
Even his family will be honored.  (45:17-20)