“Better the devil you know, than the devil you don’t !!”
~ Proverb
Our gray skies have passed, and it’s looking like it’s going to be a beautiful summer day here in the VI. TGIF !!
The past few days, I’ve spent pulling together my finances. And in doing so, I was reviewing some historical statistics which I keep for the villa. It brought to light the fact that I had dropped one of our listing agents a few years ago, one which didn’t seem to be performing as well as the others. Well, it turns out that the few extra bookings they provided are exactly equal to the drop we’ve been experiencing. Statistics are wonderful things! So I went out and added back our listing there, plus another commissioned agent. A proverb I often refer to in business is “you have to spend money to make money.” Fingers crossed that business will be on the upswing for next season !!
That old saying “Better the devil you know” has been traced back to a collection of Greek and Latin adages, titled Adagia, collected and annotated in Latin by Dutch scholar Desiderius Erasmus. What began as a collection of about 800 adages/proverbs in his first edition in 1500, expanded to over 4600 over the course of his life. There is also some suggestion that the proverb became popular in Ireland, around the time of King Edward “The Bruce”.
The saying refers to the fact that it is often preferable to choose or stay with people or things you know, despite their faults, than to risk replacing them with somebody or something new but possibly less desirable. I should have thought of this proverb when dumping my listing agent for another !!
I find myself using the proverb when dealing with something difficult … Better to get the devil out in the open.
In researching the origin of this proverb, I came across a wonderful List of Proverbial Phrases over at Wikipedia …
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_proverbial_phrases
Here’s some of my favorites from the first part of the alphabet …
* A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
* A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
* A penny saved is a penny earned.
* A picture is worth a thousand words.
* A man works from sun to sun, but a woman’s work is never done.
* Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
* All good things come to he who waits.
* All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
* Beggars should not be choosers.
* Better late than never. Better safe than sorry.
* Curiosity killed the cat.
* Do not bite the hand that feeds you.
* Do not cry over spilt milk.
* Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.
* Do not make a mountain of a mole hill.
* Do not put all your eggs in one basket.
* Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise
* Every dog has his day. (and I hope today is yours ♥)
What’s your favorite proverb that you find yourself saying time and time again ??
