"Proverbs, must not be passed over in our enumeration,--proverbs, the
philosophy of the common people; short, pithy, homely sayings that embody
the concentrated essence of the common people's wisdom. It has been
difficult to give a perfect definition of a proverb, so crowded is it with
the life of shrewdness and experience; yet so easy and negligent is it,
and saucy as it were. Its characteristic excellences are shortness, sense
and salt. It is the wit of one man, the wisdom of thousands."--_Macbeth._