Worth a Thousand Words

Wolfgang Mieder is university distinguished professor emeritus of German and folklore at University of Vermont. He has published well over one hundred books, including Behold the Proverbs of a People: Proverbial Wisdom in Culture, Literature, and Politics, published by University Press of Mississippi, and is the leading expert on proverbs in the world. He is the founding editor of Proverbium: Yearbook of International Proverb Scholarship.

• IntroductionAmerican Proverbs1. "Think Outside the Box"The Wisdom and Nature of American Proverbs2. "Proverbs Are Worth a Thousand Words"The Global Spread of American Proverbs3. "A Friend (Not) in Need Is a Friend Indeed"Friendship in Old, Modern, and Anti-Proverbs4. "Freedom Is Not Given, It Is Won"Democratic Principles in Modern American ProverbsProverbs in Politics5. "Do unto Others as You Would Have Them Do unto You"The Humanistic Value of Proverbs in Sociopolitical Discourse6. "Freedom Is Indivisible"John F. Kennedy’s Reliance on Proverbs7. "Concordia Domi, Foris Pax"Willy Brandt’s Non-German Proverbial RhetoricProverbs in Literature8. "Stringing Proverbs Together"The Proverbial Language in Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote9. "All Roads Lead to ‘Perverbs’"Harry Mathews’s Selected Declarations of Dependence (1977)10. "Black Is Beautiful"Hans-Jürgen Massaquoi’s Proverbial Autobiography Destined to Witness (1999)Proverbs in Culture11. "You Have to Kiss a Lot of Frogs Before You Meet Your Handsome Prince"From Fairy-Tale Motif to Modern Proverb12. "The Word (and Phrase) Detective"A Proverbial Tribute to OED Editor John A. Simpson13. "Injustice Anywhere Is a Threat to Justice Everywhere"From Classical to Modern Law ProverbsProverb Index

"Proverbially, it is a picture that traditionally is ‘worth a thousand words,’ but in these powerful studies, it is eminent folklorist Wolfgang Mieder’s profound insights, riveting writing, and deep wisdom that merit innumerable accolades. Indeed, this book is his ‘timely deed that is worth ten thousand words.’ It builds nicely on the expansive foundation of previous collections, and choice ideas, to an understanding of everyday speech and its special significance for the way that people think and act. This set of essays connected well under the memorable linkage of words and worth may be his most original and varied to date. The reflective sage that he is, Mieder’s words here might also be his most relevant to issues political and cultural facing people around the world today." - Simon J. Bronner, author of The Practice of Folklore: Essays toward a Theory of Tradition