I have 3 but would LOVE to hear more…
You can always have more but you can’t have less
This one’s from my dad and it really stuck with me. You can, and really should, apply this to any intoxicant.
On the pitch is off the streets
This is about getting restless kids, or kids who might be in a bad situation, into sports.
The axe forgets but the tree remembers
Translation on this one: People who cause hurt are less likely to remember than those it affected.
Many (maybe even most?) adages have an opposite.
“Reach for the stars”, but “sky’s the limit”.
“Knowledge is power,” but “ignorance is bliss.”
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder,” but “out of sight, out of mind.”
“Better safe than sorry,” but “nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
“The pen is mightier than the sword,” but “actions speak louder than words.”
“Great minds think alike,” but “fools seldom differ.”
“Too many cooks spoil the broth,” but “many hands make light work.”
Most of those don’t mean opposite things, though. They aren’t describing incompatible concepts. Even, “great minds think alike” and, “fools seldom differ” are more comments about different contexts than opposite meaning.
Right, and that’s kinda my point. I said that there are opposites, not that they don’t have any value at all. Context is key.
They are literally, technically, definitionally not opposites if they carry unrelated meanings.
I don’t think they all do, but we clearly disagree.
Yes, not all of them are wholly unrelated, as already said. That doesn’t make them all valid opposites.
This is missing a Carlin punchline to it and a message, but I can envision him saying it.
Sky is the limit means nothing is impossible, so they say pretty much the same thing about aiming high.
That one was a bit tongue in cheek, yeah.