I can't think of a saying that my family has, but I once dated a man whose family I just adore and they had a standard toast that they would give . . . I always loved it. "Here's to us, and those like us . . . damn few left"

It was fun, funny, and bonding. Man, I miss those guys!

my dad says my grandfather invented this one: "there's no use being stupid unless you can prove it!"

which is the response to catching anyone doing something exceedingly foolish, the rest of us learning what not to do by way of example.

HI O G,

Thanks for sharing that comment. Their spirit lives on every time you share their words. What a great saying.

Thanks again.

Hi Unique User,

I wish I had heard that one growing up as a child. It would have made me think twice before my friends and I tired some foolish things, like placing a penny on the railroad track so that the train would flatten it as it rolled over it.

Thanks for sharing.

"Never get in a hurry just so you can wait longer."

Mom's advice when one of us got fidgety while standing in line.

"Always wear clean/nice underwear, you never know what's going to happen."

You could be in an accident & I suppose you wouldn't want the paramedics to see you in dirty or ugly underwear. As, I got older I realized it wasn't a bad idea, you never knew what could happen on a night out on the town :)

My family's advice was never in the form of parables or homilies. I got much great advice, but no sayings. Their wisdom allowed me to later construct many sayings as a therapist. My two favorites - both published, so if you want to use them, you will have to quote me - are:

"People who want to get married in the worst way ... usually do."

"Love is a belief that you are exempt from reality."

With all the good advice I got and the tidbits I gave back, the best one for me came not from my parents or the streets, but from an early Steven King novel, "Christine." The character was referring to the broken-down old car and said:

"You can't polish a turd."

That one has helped my to better understand inherently bad people, who, regardless of their lamentations and protestations to the contrary. often are what they are. I applied this especially to abusive men when helping their spouses and girlfriends make the hard decision of getting the hell out while the getting was good.

Belle Barth, a latter-day Borscht Belt comedienne had another one that I loved ...

"A good man is hard to find and vice versa!"