Gems of Wisdom from our parents

poshpaws

My Dad used to tell me "before you say anything first ask yourself, Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? And if the answer to any one of those is No, then don't say it."

It's a pity the Johnson didn't run that through his head before he made his nasty comments about Savile.

My parents had several stock phrases; stop moaning or the wind'll change and your face will stay like it,
a starving child in Africa would be grateful for that (my cold, lumpy custard that I had been crying over for hours? Really?)

‘All our troubles are self inflicted’ said with a smile (thanks dad), for minor moans. Sometimes basically true - as in I chose who to marry, to have children, to take that job…

Many others here I recognise. Think I’ve passed most of them on

I had lots of advice from my mum.
Look before you leap.
Think twice then think again.
A fool and his money are soon parted.
I ignored it all.

"You're as God made you if you aren't as you ought to be"
Made no sense to me as a child. Makes no sense to my children now.

GrandmaSeaDragon

And even stranger, I said to the dog this morning, I’d give him his breakfast as soon as I’d “put my face on” (foundation and a bit a blusher these days). Was that Mum or Gran I wonder!

My mum used to say she had to "put her face on" too. I now say it!
When my children didn't want to eat their food, I'd say "Think of all the starving children in the world". When I downgraded our cat's food and she didn't want it, I heard my daughter saying to her "Think of all the starving cats..."!

Another 1 i just remembered.

You can't put old heads on young shoulders.

( My mum used to say )

...and "There's nowt so queer as folk."

The best advice was from Dad - "When in doubt say nowt".
That works on here too.
Probably comes from his mother, my Grandma,who told us off if we were cheeky -
"Hold your tongue !".

My grandad had a saying

"Pretty calfs make ugly cows"

Not very nice, but there was a element of truth to it.
Growing up, the girls in the class who were very pretty and seemed to get picked for all May Queen/Miss Pear type things , with a few exceptions mainly turned into fairly plain, ordinary looking women as they got older.
On the other hand, some of the plain girls in my year turned into real beauts!

I was a model at a hair salon when I was 13yrs - 16yrs. I would return home looking ridiculous but I thought I was the bees knees! I would then go to bed with my head hanging over the side of the bed so as not to get it messed up.

My grans' advice to me was "Hear nowt, see nowt and say nowt", she had three little brass monkeys that dad had brought from India. My dad changed it to "Hear all, see all and say nowt", that made a lot more sense.
My aunt has a saying,
Change the name and not the letter change for worse and not for better. We both did it she for the worse and me for the better.

SnowberryZ my Nan used to say, “Bonny babies grow up plain.” Much the same idea as yours.

My very slim dad used to say that the best way to keep your weight down was to 'push yourself firmly away from the table and say "no"'.
Need I say that his three daughters had selective deafness.

If we said we were bored our mother would say "Only boring people are bored." Then she would find us a job to do or send us for a long walk.

Im loving this thread.

From my Dad with regard to careers:

Be kind to people on the way up, -You may meet them on the way down

Marydoll

When I was grumpy, my mother would say, ^If the wind changes, your face will stay that way!^

Mum used to say something similar, followed up with ‘some might say it would be an improvement’ !!

When I was a child complaining about my mother to my gran she said 'You can have many husbands but you'll only ever have one mother'. It always stuck with me.

When I used to ask my Mum 'Why ........' she used to say 'Because Y's not Z and you can't change it' ?

Never a borrower or a lender be.

If you can`t say anything nice say nothing at all.
Live and let live.
Give an opinion only if asked.
A second out the mouth is a lifetime in someones head,so think before you say anything unkind.
Etc....................
Said by both of my parents.

Can't remember who said it, possibly an aunt - if I'd not put something back in its place - it still rings in my ears these days.

Don't make work for other people.

Marydoll

When I was grumpy, my mother would say, ^If the wind changes, your face will stay that way!^

My mother would say that, is it from Glasgow?

Tizliz

Marydoll

When I was grumpy, my mother would say, ^If the wind changes, your face will stay that way!^

My mother would say that, is it from Glasgow?

It is indeed?

Elless. I was told something very similar - “because Y is a crooked letter and you can’t straighten it”

Never a borrower or a lender be
Stop Titivating (when I used to put makeup on, front of mirror)