I love meaningful sayings. “Haste makes waste”, “a stitch in time, saves nine”, “don’t pick at it” and pretty much anything that helps summarize something in a concise manner. Poor Richard really knew his stuff.
Some old adages are more useful than others. That stitch in time reference, while still pertinent, just doesn’t need stating because people who procrastinate won’t care that you are trying to help until it is too late anyway. Don’t pick at it still gets lots of use, fortunately not with the company I keep though.
One of my favorite, and sadly often relevant, sayings is, “Never try to teach a pig to sing, it wastes your time and annoys the pig.”
So often we have to choose which battles we are going to fight. I try to look at things objectively when I can and that saying can bring me back to reality when I have been looking through rose colored glasses too long.
In instances of a battle with a pig, the pig always wins.