The Proverbial Proverbs – Part Two

I asked AI to respond to the recent WordPress writing prompt asking, What Proverb do you disagree with? I didn’t ask about any contradictions, but just asked Chrome Gemini AI to name the top three sayings: It came up with, “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover,” “Actions speak louder than words,” and “Better late than never.” Hmmm. These top three AI proverbs seem, at first blush, to be difficult to disagree with. They’re used so often, I figured I should move on to something else. But what fun is that? Let’s see how I can convolute this simple task and go off on tangents that can create a centripetal acceleration force that brings up, “If you can’t impress them with your Knowledge, baffle them with your Bullshit!” Or, just now, in the middle of a zoom meeting–I heard a first timer; “Two crumbs don’t make a cookie!”

The intent behind this truism is the oft used, ‘That’s the way the cookie crumbles,’ was spoken in the context of two broken emotionally unavailable people whom cannot a relationship, make. Certainly, the cookie monster doesn’t show any discretion or pace in the way he eats cookies!

Now on to proverb one, ‘Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.”

Meaning: You should not form an opinion about the value, character, or quality of someone or something based purely on their outward appearance. In taking this photo above literally, I can’t help but see that the title of said book–to be of more weight than the hardcover binding or jacket cover of the actual book itself. ‘First impressions count,’ I guess. I must say, I am much more judgmental about the cover, before I really actually read the ‘dust cover jacket,’ so to speak, of someone I’m intrigued about getting to know better. What with attention deficit disorder scaling to new levels since the advent of scrolling on an iPhone, true meaningful conversation, at least in passing, seems to be going the way of the Dodo bird.

Truth be told, I do judge a book by it’s cover, and may God help the soul that actually penetrates my thick skull of first look impressions, before any meaningful coffee date occurs.

On to ‘Actions Speak Louder.’ This seems to be true of protests around the US these days. But, to be honest,

I think the actions of protest are largely meaningless. Payola to hold up a manufactured sign. Definitions lost on being able to describe the definition of a King. Causing property damage and theft in the name of peace. It seems bizarre. So my for my take against ‘Actions speak Louder,’ I’ll go with words or names being much more important than sticks and stones.

Indeed, if I can ask a simple question which could be answered with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ and the person responds clearly and offers a good reasoning behind their answer, I am immediately drawn to them and they get entered into my attractive list waiting room. No long testing between going through my quiet hoops they must go through to be trusted. Oh, I’ll never let you know the laundry list of tests you must pass before I come up with a verdict of friend or foe–which can be crushingly unfair! I’ll just see if you have no angry reaction, and that you . . .

PS: If you’d like to see more of my sign collection, tap this following link: https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/douglas-griggs?tab=artworkgalleries&artworkgalleryid=1026659&page=1

Finally, the Proverb: ‘Better Late than Never.’

I do bring this up in my Chapter, “We’ve Been Waiting an Hour” in my Dao of Doug Series, The Art of Driving a Bus (nom de plume Douglas Meriwether) found in this link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FBPK4NB, very tongue in cheek and with some very cheeky dialogue, as with most of my anecdotal non-fiction esaay style humorous autobiographies–shall we say.

But this phrase does not apply at all to a bus that is late, because my experience definitely has showed me that people are not in the mood of better late than never when it comes to being out in the rain without a shelter and when I’m missing my leader.

Here’s another quick-shot list of Proverbs that have loopholes bigger than our US tax code, with 2026 changes going over 700 pages!

• Practice makes Perfect – bullshit. Failure is the best of all learning curves. My conversion I’ve found to be true is:
• Practice makes Progress
• Honesty is the Best Policy – for who? The insurance company? The cop issuing the ticket? The boss smelling alcohol on your breath? The reason for being late (and failing) a test? Once again, this is really about the opportunity in using the creative juices! Go for it!
• A Really good White Lie is the Best Policy
• Time is Money – I don’t know about you, but the hell with a cheap dime store watch! Rolex aside, we know that
• Money Talks – and what Walks? Put up or Shut up! ‘Nuff said.
• Don’t put all your eggs in one basket – No, open up the egg container at Safeway before you take them to the checkout, and make sure there aren’t any broken ones inside! The Captain and Tennille’s number one album had the best rendition of this song–and let’s not forget David Archuleta’s, Mama Told Me, American Idol 2008:
• You better shop around

PS: My Mama Told Me Not to Come – Three Dog Night – Oh yeah!

Well attention spans must be hitting the limit, so ‘bye for now.