Proverb
A traditional saying that expresses a generally accepted truth — almost always anonymous.
A proverb is a short, traditional, usually anonymous saying that compresses common wisdom into a memorable form. Proverbs are the folklore wing of quotation: they travel orally across generations, often crossing languages and cultures with surprisingly little change.
Where aphorisms and maxims belong to identifiable authors, proverbs belong to the people who pass them on. Many proverbs are paradoxical or self-cancelling — "look before you leap" and "he who hesitates is lost" both appear in the same English tradition — which suggests the genre's real function is to give a speaker the right tool for the moment, not to legislate truth.
Proverbs are the most quoted form of speech on earth, and the least cited. When a proverb is misattributed to a famous figure, it is usually because the quote sounded too wise to belong to nobody.
“A stitch in time saves nine.”
Keep reading the glossary
An old, well-known saying that has acquired authority through long use.
A short, sharp statement that compresses a truth or observation into a single line.
A short rule for conduct, usually stated as a general principle.
Assigning a quote to the wrong person — the most common error in quotation.