Nuggets of old wisdom

[Patricia]

Do you have any nuggets of wisdom to share? Something your parents or grandparents or teachers may have told you in passing , but that you still remember? Old wisdom , is sometimes the best. Old proverbs, or even anecdotes to tell.

My fourth grade teacher was a nun , Sister Gemma. Once in class we heard an ambulance passing by and she told us to say a Hail Mary every time we heard one, for the person it was going to.
I still do it to this day and have taught my children the same.

Another instance is my mother would always get me and my brother to say three Hail Marys every time we left the house and sat in a rickshaw . When we visited my grandparents we had to sit in a little kayak like boat to cross the river to get to their house , and she would get us seated and then ask us to pray the 3  Hail Marys. Its awful , but I would laugh and ask her why? I would say, 'Yes like the boat is going to topple'.  Fool like me didn't realize, the river was deep and I couldn't swim.
And now I'm the one who says the 'Three Hail Marys' everytime I step out in my van and my teenager groans. History repeats itself.

I'll post more as I remember and hope you will post too.

[Shin]

I say a prayer every time I see one too! Though nobody in this life told me to! I have a feeling that it's one of those pieces of family wisdom that comes from the family above sometimes to people too!

I'll also pray for the holy souls everytime I drive past a cemetery. Usually 'Requiam Aeternam' and the St. Gertrude the Great prayer.

Let's see, my grandfather would say this, an my father would say it after him.

"People don't mean half of what they say."

So take it easy, and take it in stride. 

There's one more nugget to the pile! 

[Brigid]

At first when I read this I thought, "Noone in my growing up said anything wise." Then some things I remembered:

Once when I was real small my grandmother knew I was jealous of my cousin's love and the attention she got from my grandmother. She told me that whenever you love someone it always makes room for more and more love.

After my mother got angry at me she'd always say, "I love you, but I don't like what you did." and then give me a hug. I said and did the same thing with my daughter and now with my grandkids.

When I was small I opened the back door (we didn't have carseats or seatbelts then, but we did always sit in the back) while my grandmother was still driving. She got angry at me (unusual) and told me never to open the door while she's driving.  I think that's true for many things in life - not to open the door while driving.

When my parents were divorcing, my older (by 3 1/2 years) brother said to me, "Well, we can't leave each other. We're stuck. You're always my little sister." 

[Shin]

"Well, we can't leave each other. We're stuck. You're always my little sister." 

The wisdom of children!!!

I like those nuggets Brigid! A like them a lot!

[martin]

My Gran used to say, When considering a course of action if you have to ask if it's right or wrong then  8 times out of 10 it's wrong.
(If it was right you wouldn't have had to ask in the first place)

[Shin]

My Gran used to say, When considering a course of action if you have to ask if it's right or wrong then  8 times out of 10 it's wrong.
(If it was right you wouldn't have had to ask in the first place)

Good one! 

[Brigid]

My Gran used to say, When considering a course of action if you have to ask if it's right or wrong then  8 times out of 10 it's wrong.
(If it was right you wouldn't have had to ask in the first place)

  I really like that one.

[Patricia]

Once my friend in India was mad at me about  something she imagined I'd done and her mother told her 'Don't open your umbrella before it rains', meaning 'Don't judge or jump to conclusions before knowing all the facts'. She told me what her mother said when she realized that she was mistaken about what she thought I did.

[Shin]

More gold! 

[CyrilSebastian]

The Book of Wisdom   
Chapter 9 Verse 8 Solomon's Prayer     
You have bid me build a temple on your holy mountain   
and an altar in the city that is your dwelling place,   
a copy of the holy tabernacle which you had established from of old.