Neither a borrower or a lender be,and other true sayings

[Sunflowerdays]

One of my granny's favourite quotes. I
was always taught this, and stick by it, much to the disgust of my inlaws,who have all sorts of complicated etiquette and expectations over lending and borrowing, which are so incomprehensible to me, that I just refuse to participate. I'm going to cause offence anyway.

Recent threads I've read on here make me feel justified in my choice. It's a minefield. Everyone has different ideas of what constitutes a gift vs a loan, and whether there's a time limit to the loan. I don't have the time or energy to navigate the various expectations, and I think I'd rather just buy my own baby clothes stuff before reselling or giving to charity,that way there's no confusion.

What other quotes, proverbs and sayings are old fashioned but 100% correct? As I get older I start to think there's something in "early to bed, early to rise" too

"It's easy to be wise after the event" is probably a good one for MN.

When someone comes on to post a problem it's easy for us to be wise once we know all the information and have time to think about what our favoured response would be, but when you're actually in the situation yourself you may well react differently. Half the time I read people's responses of "well, if it had been me, I'd have done/said....." and think, "yeah, of course you would have!"

No good deed goes unpunished, found this to be true many times

Look after the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.

A stitch in time saves nine.

A fool and his/her money are soon parted.

I agree, OP. I hate lending out my stuff as i either have to keep chasing to get it back, or it comes back broken;

Examples:

1. lent a smoothie maker out a trial, just before lockdown. Have had it returned and it started to leak. Have only just realised that the mixing jug has cracked. I can't prove whether it was me or them, but it's annoying.

2. lent a bag out and it came back with the zip broken. I was told by a neutral third party that it's no big deal and 'it happens'. But it didn't happen when I was using it.

3. a visitor asked to borrow a hoodie when they visited as they were cold. I still haven't had it back.

4. lent a relative a suitcase for their holiday. When I asked for it back, I was told I couldn't, as they had stored some stuff in it. Admittedly, I didn't need to use it, but it's not the point.

Just realised... I missed the point of the thread

😱

No good deed goes unpunished, found this to be true many times

Yep. Sadly this is often the case.

Never a borrower etc is from Shakespeare - it is amazing how many phrases originated there. Failing that it's the bible

'To thine own self be true'.

Understanding who you are saves an awful lot of time further down the road.

I don't know if it's old-fashioned, but I have come to live by: "When someone shows you who they really are, believe them".

Least said, soonest mended.

Taken me almost 50 years to figure out the value in that one!!

Fish and guests smell badly (need to go) on the third day.

You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar

Many a sound in an empty drum.

Meaning the people who say the least, have the more powerful speech when they do talk.

"No fool like an old fool"
All those older, fat bellied , hairy nosed, hairy eared men that that believe those younger , beautiful women are with them for their personality/fantastic lovemaking skills.
Dream on

Enough is as good as a feast ... and too much is worse than none at all.

Empty vessels make most noise.

(have we had that one yet?)

Never eat anything bigger than your own head.

Buy cheap,buy twice.

This too shall pass

Treat others as you would wish to be treated.

Truth and time tell all

"No such thing as a free lunch"

My mum used to say this to me growing up. And I used to think she was wrong, because of course things came for free.
I soon learnt that nothing is free.

People can only make you feel inferior with your consent.

I refuse to be looked down on, nor do I do the same to others.

Everything's a season. Meaning whenever something bad is happening, it will pass and it will be over.

'What's for you won't go by you'
'Drunk mind speaks sober truth'
'Shit or get off the pot'

The last one is not a saying I got from Granny.