Phraseology and Culture in English

4. Ralph Waldo Emerson and the proverbial worldview of New 
England
The prolific nineteenth-century preacher, rhetorician, lecturer, essayist, tran-
scendentalist, philosopher, pragmatist, humanist, and early paremiologist 
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) from Massachusetts may serve as a 
representative figure for the obsession with proverbs in New England at his 
time. He was intrigued by the wisdom expressed in proverbs throughout his 
long and active life. The many comments that he made on proverbs through-
out his voluminous writings add up to an impressive knowledge of this 
folklore genre (see La Rosa 1969; Mieder 1989a: 143–169). He went so far 
as to assemble small proverb collections, he theorized about the nature and 
meaning of proverbs, and this remarkable intellectual never shied away from 
using proverbs to underscore a particular observation or generalization. 
Metaphorical proverbs served him well, giving his demanding lectures and 
essays a refreshing and colorful style based on easily accessible elements of 
folk speech. 

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Yankee wisdom: American proverbs and the worldview of New England
219
As early as 1822, at the young age of nineteen, Emerson wrote these 
keen remarks into a notebook appropriately titled “Wide World” since it 
was meant to include old ideas and new thoughts on an all-encompassing 
and global scope: 
[...] the proverbs and familiar sayings of all nations [...] are the first gener-
alizations of the mind and have been repeated by the mouth of the million. 
As the peculiar language of experience, altogether independent of other 
purposes than as tried guides of life, proverbs demand notice. It was early 
found that there were a few principles which controlled society; that the 
mother of all the arts, the nurse of social feelings, the impeller of individual 
energies - was Necessity [i.e., the proverb “Necessity is the mother of in-
vention”]. These truths, ascertained by the progress of society, and corrob-
orated by the observation of each succeeding generation, were incorporated 
into these short maxims as rules for youth which maturity would establish. 
(February 16, 1822; Journals I, 87) 
Certainly Emerson is aware of the fact that proverbs are generalizations, 
that they are repeated over time by the folk, that they usually serve as truth-
ful and moral rules of life, and that these apparent truths couched in color-
ful folk speech have a definite purpose in both philosophical reflection and 
in everyday discourse. 
Often Emerson starts one of his reflective fragments with a proverb, 
quickly turning from its folk wisdom to a comment on human behavior or 
social matters, as for example in his remarks on the proverb Everything has 
its price:
Then every thing has its price. Little goods are lightly gained, but the rich 
sweets of tilings are in the ribs of the mountain, and months and years must 
dig for them. For example, a jest or a glass of wine a man can procure with-
out much pains to relieve his trouble for a moment; but a habit of Patience,
which is the perfect (cordial) medicine, he cannot procure in a moment or a 
week or a month. It will cost thought and strife and mortification and prayer. 
(December 7, 1829; Journals III, 169) 
Even when the sermonic Emerson wants to elaborate on humankind’s need 
to make a commitment to social involvement, he begins his short statement 
with a traditional proverb, citing it in a dialect variant to boot: 
One man may lead a horse to water, but ten canna gar him drink. It is so in 
the order of Providence with man. Heaven guards his freedom so carefully 
that nothing compels him to enter into the spirit of the festival to which he 
is invited. He may pout in the corner, if he will, and suck his thumbs. But

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220
Wolfgang Mieder 
the loss is his own. The company is large and can easily spare him; but he 
would do more wisely to conform himself to circumstances intended kindly, 
and carry forward the brilliant game. 
(April 23, 1831; Journals III, 250) 
In addition to arguing for a vita activa, Emerson also points out by means 
of the proverb Half is more (better) than the whole that in life it is often 
better to be satisfied with half what one can acquire with safety than the 
whole that cannot be obtained without danger. In other words, he argues for 
the golden mean or moderation in all things: 
A man is a method; a progressive arrangement; a selecting principle gather-
ing his like to him wherever he goes. “Half is more than the whole.” Yes, 
let the man of taste be the selector & Half is a good deal better than the 
whole or an infinitesimal part becomes a just representative of the Infinite. 
A man of taste sent to Italy shall bring me a few objects that shall give me 
more lively & permanent pleasure than galleries, cities, & mountain chains. 
A man is a choice. 
(January 22, 1836; Journals V, 114–115) 
Emerson clearly looks at proverbs as truthful generalizations and employs 
them as analogies of human conduct and social rules as he experiences 
them in his day. He certainly is aware of the fact that proverbs are handed 
on from one generation to another, especially in oral communication: 
[...] consider how much practical wisdom passes current in the world in the 
shape of vulgar proverbs. These little maxims of worldly prudence are a