English proverbs (R)

English proverbs (R)

Proverbs are popularly defined as short expressions of popular wisdom. Efforts to improve on the popular definition have not led to a more precise definition. The wisdom is in the form of a general observation about the world or a bit of advice, sometimes more nearly an attitude toward a situation.

R

• Rather be a dog in peace, than to be a man in chaos.-Chinese Origin-宁为太平犬，莫为乱世人
  • Rather be a dog in a peaceful land, instead of being a man in a land of war.
• Reality is not only stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine.
• Reality is often stranger than fiction
• Repetition is the mother of memory.
  • Latin: REPETITIO MATER MEMORIAE
  • equivalent to: Eternal repetition is the price of knowledge.
• Revenge is a dish best served cold.
• A rising tide lifts all boats
  • This traditional proverb is sometimes attributed to John F. Kennedy because he repeated it several times, but he disclaimed originality in his address in the Assembly Hall at the Paulskirche in Frankfurt, West Germany, 25 June 1963:
    • As they say on my own Cape Cod, a rising tide lifts all the boats.
• The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
  • Earlier variants of this proverb are recorded as Hell is paved with good intentions. recorded as early as 1670, and an even earlier variant by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux Hell is full of good intentions or desires.
  • Similar from Latin: "The gates of hell are open night and day; Smooth the descent, and easy is the way" — Virgil, the Aeneid Book VI line 126
• Robbing Peter to pay Paul
• A rolling stone gathers no moss.
  • Interpretation: A person who is active will not grow stale.
  • Alternative interpretation: A person who does not stay in one place very long will not develop roots or meaningful connections with others.
  • Philip K. Dick in We Can Build You (1972) conceives a world where the latter interpretation has become the norm and the former indicative of a mental disorder.
• Rome wasn't built in a day
  • meaning: great things take time to build/accomplish
• The rotten apple injures its neighbors.
• Rules were meant to be broken.