The River Wear at Stanhope in County Durham.
“Still waters run deep...” and the River Wear at Stanhope in County Durham provides proof of the old saw. The photographer is looking upstream from the churning ford and stepping-stones, towards deeper and calmer waters. The proverb reminds us that what is visible to the eye is not always a good guide to what is hidden underneath, and that the man who is placid and even dull on the outside may be full of secrets or turbulent passions within.
Proverbial Wisdom
On this page you will a find a selection of brief sayings, including short quotations from English literature as well as traditional proverbs. Choose a saying, and try to express the idea in different words as much as you can. In what circumstances might you use this quotation?
Note: Many of these proverbs and quotations are in archaic English, and neither grammar nor spelling has been modernised.
1. Repentance for past crimes is just and easy;
But sin no more’s a task too hard for mortals.
Sir John Vanbrugh (1664-1726)
The Relapse (Worthy), Act V, Scene IV
2. Pride,
Howe’er disguised in its own majesty,
Is littleness.
William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
Poems Written in Youth, VII
3. Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.
Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
Essay L, On Studies
4. Opposition may become sweet to a man when he has christened it persecution.
George Eliot (1819-1880)
Scenes from Clerical Life. Janet’s Repentance
5. A man may cry Church! Church! at ev’ry word.
With no more piety than other people —
A daw’s not reckoned a religious bird
Because it keeps a-cawing from a steeple.
Thomas Hood (1799-1845)
Ode to Rae Wilson Esq.
To get another set of proverbs, simply refresh this page.