Proverbs often contradict one another, as any reader soon discovers. The sagacity that advises us to look before we leap promptly warns us that if we hesitate we are lost; that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but out of sight, out of mind.

正如任何读者很快就会发现的那样，谚语往往自相矛盾。建议我们三思而后行的睿智会及时警告我们，如果我们犹豫不决，我们就会迷失方向;离别使两颗心靠得更近，但眼不见，心不烦。