Beware the Devious Adage
by Chuck Schultz
People like neat phrases that set forth wisdom or truth. An adage is such a phrase that sets forth a general truth and that has gained credit through long use. An adage, a venerable declaration, often passes as conventional wisdom.
For example, Lightning never strikes twice in the same place is commonly heard. People may believe that is true, even when they also believe that lightening repeatedly strikes the same lightning rods.
Political pronouncements and advertising slogans mimic adages so that they will receive the same kind of credibility. Adages and even political statements have some truth in them, but comprehending their relevance requires you to distinguish what is accurate and evaluate it in relation to particular conditions. Even when an adage has a lesson, the lesson may be irrelevant to the situation at hand.
Distinguishing the lesson contained may not be straight forward. A statement may be false on its face while the intended irony carries its own wisdom. For example: There are two kinds of secrets: those that are too good to keep and those that aren’t worth keeping.
We can say Practice makes perfect – which is untrue if you practice a flawed action or if you tire and become slapdash. Taking a break leads to more and better performance, but don’t take a break when you have your finger in the dike.
Do unto others as you would have them do to unto you seems like a good idea until you meet someone who wants people to try to deceive him because he like the challenge of beating them at their own game.
Many popular adages like this come with opposite pairs:
Never put off till tomorrow what may be done today. – Wait and the issue may resolve itself.
Better safe than sorry. – Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
He who hesitates is lost. – Look before you leap.
Flattery makes friends and truth makes enemies. – An enemy will agree, but a friend will argue.
The moral is: A wise person draws independent conclusions; an ignorant person follows conventional wisdom. Sometimes.