Mom's Favorite Sayings
As I reflect on my growing up years, many of the sayings my mother used to repeat come back to me. Of these, probably the most prominent one is, "Things done by half are never done right". This was really pounded into me, and while I am working around, this saying comes to me often. I repeat it to myself whenever I am tempted to gloss over something or do it in a slipshod manner. Another way of saying somewhat the same thing might be:
"Be the labor great or small, do it well or not at all."
Most of the sayings that Mother used were in German, and since I could understand German quite well, I knew what they meant. However, German is a much more expressive language and they sounded much better in German. Much of the meaning seemed to be lost when they were translated.
She would use several of these sayings real often when we were knitting, crocheting, or sewing. It seemed like I was forever ripping my sewing and thereby I also had to sew my ripping. Usually when I sewed my ripping, it never turned out right, and Mother would say, "Immer mit gewalt", which when translated means, "Always to the extreme".
Some days I felt particularly lazy. I still have those days!! Then the old saying that comes to my mind is, "Morgan, morgan, nur nicht heute, Sprechen alle faulen leute." This means, "Tomorrow, tomorrow, just not today. So speak all the lazy people." A parallel to that could be, "Never do today, what you could possibly put off until tomorrow". That would be called procrastination!
After a hard day's work, the saying would be, "Nach getaner arbeit ist gut ruhen", -meaning, "After the work is finished it is good to rest". I often felt like resting before the work was done!
If we were served something for meals that we did not like, Mother would say, "Wer nicht will der hatt schon". This meant that if you don't want it, you must not be hungry. Nothing special was made for us. We either ate it or went hungry.
Another such saying which Mother NEVER used was, "Wer ordnung hallt ist nur zu faul zum zuchen". Translated it means, "Whoever keeps order is just too lazy to look". This could be a good rebuttal for anyone who didn't have his things in order.
Other sayings that come to me presently are, "Undank ist der welt lohn", meaning, "Thanklessness is the payment of the world", "Wer nicht horen will muss fuhlen", which means,"If you won't listen, you'll have to suffer the pain", "For dem essen hangt mann's maul, nach dem essen ist mann faul", meaning, "Before you eat, you're in a bad mood. After you eat, you are lazy". Many other sayings come back to me from time to time. These are some that come to mind now, and that have played an important part in my life.