Prentice Hall Encyclopedia of World Proverbs

Books on proverbs are plentiful but most cover the same common proverbs from European countries or colonies of those countries. The focus of most proverb books is a short piece of knowledge that can be used to illustrate a point or add something deep and meaningful to a speech.This book varies greatly from that format in that it supplies proverbs from many, many countries. What I find particularly interesting is that it gives you a chance to understand differences in culture by understanding their proverbs. For example, a common proverb in European countries is something along the line of "The squeaky wheel gets the grease". On the other hand, the related Japanese proverb is "The nail that stands up gets beaten down". Both refer to the same type of incident but show the cultural differences between the two. Not just a book of proverbs, but a book of cultural understanding. Fascinating read, great coffee table book, well organized, a must have for anyone who enjoys reading proverbs or just wants a good book around that is filled with valuable thoughts garnered over the years from a wide variety of cultures.

Great collection of proverbs from all over the world arranged by keyword of the proverb. What I found most interesting is reading proverbs from various cultures, perhaps worded a slightly differently, but all meaning the same thing. This compilation really demonstrates the truth behind the saying: It's a small world!

There are many collections of proverbs. Most cover primarily western european turf. This collection paints with a much broader brush, offering a wealth of proverbs from all over the world. The book offers over 18,000 proverbs, and half of them are from far flung languages, like Swahili, Yoruba, Basque, Egyptian, Lebanese, Serbian, Croatian, Thai, Vietnamese, Hindi, Tamil, Japanese and many more.It is no wonder. Wolfgang Mieder may be THE preeminent expert on proverbs. Check out De Proverbia, a journal of proverbs available on the net (which I have no connection to other than interest in proverbs.)A collection of proverbs or quotations is at one level, a string of precious gems of thought, loving selected and strung together by someone who has an infinite number of thoughts and ideas to choose from. Mieder does a great job in his selections.The book is organized by subject. Now some proverb and quotation collections clump their nuggets into a skimpy number of catchall subjects. But this book lists hundreds and hundreds of different subjects, making it more likely you will find the exact saying you are seeking. I've always felt that one of the great values of studying the proverbs of different cultures is it helps us to understand the way they thin, their values and the stories they base their reactions upon. This book takes us further along the path to greater understanding.I have over 400 books of quotations and proverbs, some dating back 300 and 400+ years. This is one of the best, because of its comprehensive inclusiveness.