Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
Ebook323 pages8 hours
Proverbs Are The Best Policy: Folk Wisdom And American Politics
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
About this ebook
Mieder introduces this survey with an examination of what characterizes American proverbs, what are their origins, and how they have spread internationally with the expansion of America's political role. He then turns to the origins and varied historical uses of what has become the defining proverb of American democracy, "government of the people, by the people, for the people." The employment of proverbs had no brighter exponent among the nation's founding generation than Abigail Adams, who was not without influence despite the exclusion from political office of women. As they have for so much, her abundant letters provide rich sources for politically charged proverbs. Though it is especially associated with Abraham Lincoln, "a house divided against itself cannot stand" is a biblical proverb that has proven of wide value as a political expression. Frederick Douglass's proverbial prowess paralleled that of his contemporary Lincoln, and he employed it effectively in his battle for civil rights. Given proverbs' enduring role in American politics, it is an interesting exercise to compare how United States presidents have employed them in their inaugural addresses, which have produced such gems as John F. Kennedy's "ask not" dictum. The bonds Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill formed through the World War II alliance were expressed in the proverbial language that frequently enlivened their correspondence. Having addressed these aspects of the proverb in American politics, Mieder winds up by considering the sociopolitical significance of the ambiguous proverb "good fences make good neighbors."
Author
Wolfgang Mieder
Wolfgang Mieder, Williston, Vermont, is University Distinguished Professor of German and Folklore at the University of Vermont. He has published well over one hundred books and is the leading expert on proverbs in the world. He is the founding editor of Proverbium: Yearbook of International Proverb Scholarship.
Read more from Wolfgang Mieder
Dictionary of Authentic American Proverbs Behold the Proverbs of a People: Proverbial Wisdom in Culture, Literature, and Politics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings"Right Makes Might": Proverbs and the American Worldview Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Proverbs Are The Best Policy
Related ebooks
"Right Makes Might": Proverbs and the American Worldview Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEnlightening Proverbs from around the World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHuman Nature in Politics Third Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCurious Phrases Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The Lost Art of the Great Speech: How to Write One--How to Deliver It Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Elements of Style ( Fourth Edition ) ( A to Z Classics) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ethics of Rhetoric Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Concise Dictionary Of Proverbs: Making use of Proverbs to write attractive English Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Visionbuilders' Manual: 9 Steps To Panoramic Success For Your Company, Career or Cause Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGolden Pot of Proverbs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOrganic Literacy: The Keywords Approach to Owning Words in Print Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Dictionary of English and Spanish Equivalent Proverbs Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Battlefield Colloquialisms of World War I (1914-1918) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRefiguring Prose Style: Possibilities For Writing Pedagogy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFive Chapters on Rhetoric: Character, Action, Things, Nothing, and Art Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Explaining Libertarianism: Some Philosophical Arguments Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHomer's Odyssey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Civility: George Washington's 110 Rules for Today Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTImeless Wisdom: Quotations from East & West Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Word In Your Shell-Like Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Write Clearly: Rules and Exercises on English Composition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWommack's American Adages & Aphorisms: That Propelled 20 Generations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Advancement of Learning Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Art of Worldly Wisdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Passage to India Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsConventional Gestures: Meaning and Methodology Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Billy Budd Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsContemporary African Wise Sayings: A Handbook for Juveniles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEnglish Prose A Series of Related Essays for the Discussion and Practice of the Art of Writing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFamiliar Quotations Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Anthropology For You
The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Way of the Shaman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bruce Lee Wisdom for the Way Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Survive in Ancient Egypt Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Africa's Ogun: Old World and New Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Folk Medicine in Southern Appalachia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Psychology of Totalitarianism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dark Matter of the Mind: The Culturally Articulated Unconscious Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Trickster Makes This World: Mischief, Myth, and Art Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5America Before: The Key to Earth's Lost Civilization Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Civilized to Death: The Price of Progress Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Regarding the Pain of Others Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Stories of Rootworkers & Hoodoo in the Mid-South Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A History of the American People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play It Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bright-sided: How Positive Thinking is Undermined America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why We Buy: The Science Of Shopping Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future---Updated With a New Epilogue Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related podcast episodes
American's Mission Statement read by Senator John F. Kennedy 0% found this document usefulEpisode 12: Discussing politics and religion in polite company w/ David Campbell 0% found this document usefulDylan Penningroth 0% found this document usefulBetter Angels 0% found this document usefulFDR on Democracy with Professor Harvey Kaye - Part 1 0% found this document usefulAMA time with Dylan, German, and Jerusalem: Your Weedsy questions, answered. 0% found this document usefulHow identity politics elected Donald Trump 0% found this document usefulENCORE: FDR on Democracy with Professor Harvey Kaye - Part 1 0% found this document usefulENCORE: FDR on Democracy with Professor Harvey Kaye - Part 2 0% found this document usefulFDR on Democracy with Professor Harvey Kaye - Part 2 0% found this document useful
Related articles
Why American Voters Were Primed For A President Who Talks Like Trump Los Angeles TimesArticle
Why American Voters Were Primed For A President Who Talks Like Trump
Feb 16, 2019
5 min readAmerican Mandarins The American ScholarArticle
American Mandarins
Mar 1, 2022
22 min readThe Books Briefing: The Leaders Who Weathered Historical Storms The AtlanticArticle
The Books Briefing: The Leaders Who Weathered Historical Storms
Apr 10, 2020
2 min readWe Have Always Loved Ranking Things, Particularly American Presidents Literary HubArticle
We Have Always Loved Ranking Things, Particularly American Presidents
May 8, 2019
11 min readIs the World Slouching Toward a Grave Systemic Crisis? The AtlanticArticle
Is the World Slouching Toward a Grave Systemic Crisis?
Aug 11, 2017
19 min readA Klansman’s Horrific Reign American HistoryArticle
A Klansman’s Horrific Reign
Aug 15, 2023
12 min readFrom Lincoln To LBJ, Doris Kearns Goodwin Examines What It Means To Lead NPRArticle
From Lincoln To LBJ, Doris Kearns Goodwin Examines What It Means To Lead
Sep 18, 2018
8 min readThe Nationalist Roots of Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary The Paris ReviewArticle
The Nationalist Roots of Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary
Mar 30, 2018
5 min readWhy Does Everyone in America Think They’re Middle Class? Literary HubArticle
Why Does Everyone in America Think They’re Middle Class?
Sep 28, 2020
9 min readWhere Gender-Neutral Pronouns Come From The AtlanticArticle
Where Gender-Neutral Pronouns Come From
Jun 4, 2021
6 min readHow the Federal Writers’ Project Shaped a Generation of Authors The MillionsArticle
How the Federal Writers’ Project Shaped a Generation of Authors
Oct 16, 2023
The Federal Writers' Project of the 1930s proved an education in art and empathy. The post How the Federal Writers’ Project Shaped a Generation of Authors appeared first on The Millions.
6 min readIbram X. Kendi Has a Blueprint for How to Be Antiracist The MillionsArticle
Ibram X. Kendi Has a Blueprint for How to Be Antiracist
Jul 10, 2019
There have been millions of pages written about what racism is and who is a racist, but there have been fewer pages devoted to the concept of organizing around antiracism. Now Ibram X. Kendi, a historian at American University, has produced a major w
5 min readTuesday New Release Day: Starring Cusk, Barry, Eltahawy, Foer, Klein, Kois, and More The MillionsArticle
Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Cusk, Barry, Eltahawy, Foer, Klein, Kois, and More
Sep 17, 2019
It's blockbuster season, which means new books from big names: Naomi Klein, Jonathan Safran Foer, Jacqueline Woodson, and Tracey Chevalier. The post Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Cusk, Barry, Eltahawy, Foer, Klein, Kois, and More appeared first o
8 min read'If You Ask Me' Is A Delightful Compendium Of The Thoughts Of Eleanor Roosevelt The Christian Science MonitorArticle
'If You Ask Me' Is A Delightful Compendium Of The Thoughts Of Eleanor Roosevelt
Oct 10, 2018
Editor Mary Jo Binker works with a wealth of material from the magazine column Roosevelt wrote from 1941 to 1962.
3 min readA Woman For All Seasons American HistoryArticle
A Woman For All Seasons
Jan 12, 2021
1 min readWhat’s the One Book That Explains American Politics Today? The AtlanticArticle
What’s the One Book That Explains American Politics Today?
Nov 4, 2022
6 min readQ&A: National Correspondent Leila Fadel Discusses 'Muslims in America' NPRArticle
Q&A: National Correspondent Leila Fadel Discusses 'Muslims in America'
May 24, 2018
4 min readBiden’s State of the Union Did Something New The AtlanticArticle
Biden’s State of the Union Did Something New
Mar 3, 2022
24 min read‘How To Be An Antiracist’ Opens A Vital Dialogue On Race The Christian Science MonitorArticle
‘How To Be An Antiracist’ Opens A Vital Dialogue On Race
Sep 20, 2019
Ibram X. Kendi spares no one from critique – not even himself – in this takedown of racism and the attitudes and policies that perpetuate it.
4 min readLost for Words Guernica MagazineArticle
Lost for Words
Jan 15, 2021
7 min readTrump Isn't the Apotheosis of Conservatism The AtlanticArticle
Trump Isn't the Apotheosis of Conservatism
Apr 15, 2017
6 min readFreedom of Thought The American ScholarArticle
Freedom of Thought
Mar 4, 2019
Oxford University Press, 220 pp., $18.95 REAL PRESIDENTS READ BOOKS. When the Library of Congress was destroyed in the War of 1812, the former president Thomas Jefferson offered his collection to replace it, commenting that “I do not know that it co
4 min readPreaching The ‘Quiet No’ Of Nonviolence The Christian Science MonitorArticle
Preaching The ‘Quiet No’ Of Nonviolence
Mar 29, 2022
The Rev. James M. Lawson Jr. is a Methodist minister whose theories and strategies of nonviolence were used in the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s. His new book – “Revolutionary Nonviolence: Organizing for Freedom,” a collection of his
3 min readSeven Moments From U.S. History That Matter Now TIMEArticle
Seven Moments From U.S. History That Matter Now
Jul 9, 2018
6 min readRocket On A Tricycle Metro NZArticle
Rocket On A Tricycle
Oct 24, 2018
7 min readThe Infrastructure Bill Should Look After Our Future, and Our Past The AtlanticArticle
The Infrastructure Bill Should Look After Our Future, and Our Past
Apr 15, 2021
5 min readThe End of Liberalism The American ScholarArticle
The End of Liberalism
Jun 4, 2018
7 min readThe Long, Ongoing Debate Over ‘All Men Are Created Equal’ The IndependentArticle
The Long, Ongoing Debate Over ‘All Men Are Created Equal’
Jul 3, 2022
5 min readA Nation Coming Apart The AtlanticArticle
A Nation Coming Apart
Nov 12, 2019
5 min readPolitical Lessons From America’s Past The AtlanticArticle
Political Lessons From America’s Past
Nov 11, 2022
2 min read
Reviews for Proverbs Are The Best Policy
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Proverbs Are The Best Policy - Wolfgang Mieder
Enjoying the preview?
Page 1 of 1