an word="Words">Wordsan> an word="and">andan> an word="Their">Theiran> an word="Stories">Storiesan>: an word="Proverbs">Proverbsan> an word="About">Aboutan> an word="How">Howan> an word="to">toan> an word="Live">Livean>26
an word="March">Marchan> 2011
an word="Now">Nowan>, an word="the">thean> an word="VOA">VOAan> an word="Special">Specialan> an word="English">Englishan> an word="program">programan>, an word="WORDS">WORDSan> an word="AND">ANDan> an word="THEIR">THEIRan> an word="STORIES">STORIESan>.
an word="Today">Todayan> an word="we">wean> an word="explain">explainan> an word="more">morean> an word="popular">popularan> an word="proverbs">proverbsan>. an word="A">Aan> an word="proverb">proverban> an word="is">isan> an word="a">aan> an word="short">shortan>, an word="well">wellan> an word="known">knownan> an word="saying">sayingan> an word="that">thatan> an word="expresses">expressesan> an word="a">aan> an word="common">commonan> an word="truth">truthan> an word="or">oran> an word="belief">beliefan>. an word="Proverbs">Proverbsan> an word="are">arean> an word="popular">popularan> an word="around">aroundan> an word="the">thean> an word="world">worldan>.
an word="Many">Manyan> an word="listeners">listenersan> an word="have">havean> an word="sent">sentan> an word="us">usan> an word="their">theiran> an word="favorite">favoritean> an word="proverbs">proverbsan>. an word="They">Theyan> an word="give">givean> an word="advice">advicean> an word="about">aboutan> an word="how">howan> an word="to">toan> an word="live">livean>. an word="We">Wean> an word="begin">beginan> an word="with">withan> an word="two">twoan> an word="popular">popularan> an word="proverbs">proverbsan> an word="about">aboutan> an word="staying">stayingan> an word="healthy">healthyan> an word="by">byan> an word="eating">eatingan> an word="good">goodan> an word="food">foodan>: an word="One">Onean> an word="is">isan>an word="an">anan> an word="apple">applean> an word="a">aan> an word="day">dayan> an word="keeps">keepsan> an word="the">thean> an word="doctor">doctoran> an word="away">awayan>.an word="Another">Anotheran> an word="is">isan>an word="you">youan> an word="are">arean> an word="what">whatan> an word="you">youan> an word="eat">eatan>.
an word="Several">Severalan> an word="proverbs">proverbsan> an word="about">aboutan> an word="birds">birdsan> an word="also">alsoan> an word="give">givean> an word="advice">advicean>. an word="You">Youan> an word="may">mayan> an word="have">havean> an word="heard">heardan> an word="this">thisan> an word="one">onean>:an word="The">Thean> an word="early">earlyan> an word="bird">birdan> an word="catches">catchesan> an word="the">thean> an word="worm">worman>. an word="This">Thisan> an word="means">meansan> an word="a">aan> an word="person">personan> an word="who">whoan> an word="gets">getsan> an word="up">upan> an word="early">earlyan>, an word="or">oran> an word="acts">actsan> an word="quickly">quicklyan>, an word="has">hasan> an word="the">thean> an word="best">bestan> an word="chance">chancean> an word="of">ofan> an word="success">successan>.
an word="Another">Anotheran> an word="famous">famousan> an word="proverb">proverban> an word="is">isan>abird in the hand is worth two in the bush. This means you should not risk losing something you have by seeking something that is not guaranteed.
Here is another piece of advice:Do notcount your chickens before they are hatched.In other words, you should not think too much about some future event before it really happens.
Another proverb warnsdo not put all your eggs in one basket.This means you should not put all of your resources together in one place because you could risk losing everything at one time. Many Americans learned this the hard way by investing all their money in stock shares, which then lost value. Another proverb saysa fool and his money are soon parted.This means someone who acts unwisely with money will lose it.
Here is more advice:If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.Also,never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
You might learn thathaste makes wasteif you do somethingso fast, resulting in mistakes.Most people would agree with this proverb:honesty is the best policy.
Yet another proverb advises us not to be concerned about something bad that you cannot change. It saysthere is no use crying over spilled milk.
Do you agree with the proverb thatchildren should be seen and not heard?Maybe you have told your children thathard work never hurt anyone.But other people say thatall work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.They believe it is not wise to spend all your time working and never having fun.
Finally, here is one of our favorite proverbs:People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.This means you should not criticize other people unless you are perfect yourself.
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This VOA Special English program was written by Shelley Gollust. I'm Faith Lapidus. You can find more proverbs and oth er WORDS AND THEIR STORIES at our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.