General Wisdom

I group these prints together under the category of general wisdom: good advice and some things to consider.

Money answers for everything

10:19 NA "Bread and oil call forth merriment and wine makes the living glad, but money answers for everything."

For me nothing captures the mood of this quote like the scene at the end of a large meal at a restaurant. The table is littered with dirty dishes and utensils, empty glasses and bottles, and various detritus, to which the check is eventually added.

A few flies

10:1 GN "Dead flies can make a whole bottle of perfume stink, and a little stupidity can cancel out great wisdom."

It is from this verse that the expression "a fly in the ointment" is derived. However, I never felt much impact from the analogy. Might not the dead flies smell nice from the perfumed ointment, instead of the other way around? And if not, who cares of some ointment gets ruined? In any case, it's not a visually interesting image. I decided that the ice cream sundae with flies suited it better for the purposes of a print. When this is hung on a wall and seen from across a room, the flies are too small to be noticed, and the viewer just sees the hot fudge sundae. It is only when they come close to enjoy it that they see the flies and are repulsed. So no ointment, but I feel it captures the spirit of the quote.

You know not how life begins in the womb

11:15 GN "God made everything, and you can no more understand what he does than you understand how life begins in the womb of a pregnant woman."

While we certainly know a lot more now about the process of fertilization and gestation, there are still many aspects of genetics currently beyond our knowledge, not to mention the philosophical concept of wondering what lies ahead in the lifetime of what starts in the womb.

At evening let not your hand be idle

11:6 NA "In the morning sow your seed, and at evening let not your hand be idle. For you know not which of the two will be successful, or whether both will turn out well."

The subject of my print literally has his hands busy with television remote and beer, but spending the evening in front of the tv is a classic example of idleness.