AESOP’S RULES

Aesop (620-564 BCE), famous for Aesop’s Fables, was a Greek writer credited with a number of popular fables, although his existence remains uncertain and no writings by him survive. Numerous tales appearing under his name were gathered across the centuries and in many languages in a storytelling tradition that continues to this day. In many of the tales, animals speak and have human characteristics. Here are Aesop’s Rules to Live By:

“Avoid solutions that are worse than the problem.
It is great art to do the right thing at the right time.
The tyrant will always find a reason for his tyranny.
Those who cry the loudest are not always the most hurt.
Example is more powerful than reproach.
Liars are not to be believed, even when they tell the truth.
One man’s meat is another man’s poison.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Stretch your arm no further than your sleeve will reach.
Men are unreliable narrators of their own stories.
Notoriety is often mistaken for fame.
Honesty is the best policy.
The wise man says nothing in dangerous times.
Better the devil you know than the one you don’t.
He who is discontented in one place will seldom be happy in another.
Do boldly what you do at all.
The worth of money is not in possession, but in its use.
The quarrels of friends are the opportunities of foes.
When worrying about the shadow we often lose the substance.
Those who seek to please everybody, please no one.”

Not a bad way to start this new year.

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.” Jesus