noelle o designs

creativity + sewing + upcycling inspiration

books, life, tiny

maxims of wisdom


I stopped into a few yard sales on Saturday morning and among other delightful little things (a whole bunch of FREE), I came home with these figurines. The seller clued me into the fact that they each go along with one of Benjamin Franklin’s maxims of wisdom from Poor Richards Almanac, published in 1732. I couldn’t help myself, I mean what a great party game- see how smart your own friends are, a little pop-quiz for the teenage kid friends? Speaking of smart, I’ve got a problem… I can only figure out four of them, even after looking them up, duh. Here is what I- and everyone I’ve asked since Saturday, have come up with…


A penny saved is a penny earned.


A stitch in time saves nine.


This one I cannot figure out. Any ideas?


At first I though this was ‘A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’, but that doesn’t work. It’s got to be ‘Don’t count your chickens before they hatch’, but they don’t look like chickens.


I think this is ‘What’s good for the goose is good for the gander’, but what is up with the obviously angry goose?

Let me know if you have any ideas…

1 Comment

  1. VaLene Hulme

    September 14, 2011 at 1:01 am

    Those are so cute. As far as the frying pan – at first, I didn’t see the egg splattered on her head. “Out of the frying pan, into the fire”?
    “Don’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg”?
    “Out of sight, out of mind”?
    “A woman’s work is never done”?
    “It’ll all come out in the wash”?
    “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”?
    I don’t know – none of them seem like a perfect match.

    About the chicks/ducks, could it also be “put your ducks in a row?” They do kind of look like chicks.

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