21st Century Literature discussion
Question of the Week
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What Are Some Of Your Favorite Proverbs? (3/3/24)
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Fascinating, Marc!Well, as you might guess, the one that comes to my mind is from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
“He prayeth best who loveth best, all things both great and small.”
Created by Coleridge, but also used in Out of Africa and, of course, All Creatures Great and Small.
Kathleen wrote: "Fascinating, Marc!Well, as you might guess, the one that comes to my mind is from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
“He prayeth best who loveth best, all things both great and small..."
That's a good one Kathleen!
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Marc wrote: "Ok, I gotta ask, Kathleen--did you remember that it was used in Out of Africa and All Creatures Great and Small or did you look that up? Fascinating either way, but definitely bonus points if you r..."Oh no. The minute I read it in Rime I thought of Out of Africa. But you have to realize I've seen that film many times. :-) And All Creatures Great and Small was front of mind because of the recent PBS series. So what I'm ashamed of is I had no recollection it came from a Coleridge poem. :-/
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The direct source for "All Creatures Great and Small" was the hymn, "All things Bright and Beautiful". The other Herriot books in the series are named after other lines in the hymn. Although, you may still be correct. After seeing your post and the similarities, I looked into the hymn, and (per Wikipedia, the source of all knowledge) there is speculation that the hymn may have been inspired by the Coloridge.
The original source of my knowledge is far less lofty than yours. I originally knew the hymn because the mutants were singing it in "Beneath the Planet of the Apes".
Whitney wrote: " I originally knew the hymn because the mutants were singing it in "Beneath the Planet of the Apes"."I love this, Whitney! Love the way popular culture can lead us to great literature.
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Marc wrote: "Speaking of pop cultural influences, I'm pretty sure a bulk of my early classical music exposure was via Looney Tunes."👍😄
Not quite a proverb but Mrs Doasyouwouldbedoneby has stayed with me since I first encountered her at primary school. Along with her doppelgänger Mrs Bedonebyasyoudid
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I hadn't seen/heard this version, Lesley, but I can see why it stuck with you!
Marc wrote: "Lesley wrote: I hadn't seen/heard this version, Lesley, but I can see why it stuck with you!.."They are actually characters in The Waterbabies: A Fairy Tale for a Landbaby but I invariably misremember them as being in The Pilgrim's Progress
It's a more recent "proverb", but I like this one by Ursula K. Le Guin from The Lathe of Heaven:"Love doesn't sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new."
Maybe the best proverb for a bookclub might be:"Don't judge a book by its cover."
21st Century Literature
Books mentioned in this topic
The Lathe of Heaven (other topics)The Waterbabies: A Fairy Tale for a Landbaby (other topics)
The Pilgrim's Progress (other topics)
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (other topics)
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (other topics)
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(This question sparked by reading Hamnet and coming across the proverb "let sleeping dogs lie." I thought it might be Shakespearean in origin given the book, but turns out it's a 14th century French phrase: n'esveillez pas lou chien qui dort. Also cited by Chaucer and supposedly traceable in modern form to Walter Scott's novel Redgauntlet (1824). Who knew?!!)