The Root of All Evil

Have you ever wondered where all those phrases and saying that we use came from? It seems that everyone, from our parents and grandparents to teachers, friends, co-workers, and even strangers are never at a loss to share some snippet of wisdom with us.

Perhaps you have heard these before?

"a drop in the bucket"
"a man after his own heart"
"ask a foolish question, get a foolish answer"
"by the skin of my teeth"
"can a leopard change his spots?"
"eat, drink, and be merry"
"fight the good fight"
"God save the king"
"how the have mighty fallen"
"(love of) money is the root of all evil"
"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"
"physician, heal thyself"
"the blind leading the blind"
"the salt of the earth"
"the straight and narrow path"
"the streets (of the city) were paved with pure gold"
"those who live by the sword shall die by the sword"

One suspects that these sayings, proverbs, and maxims must have been written down at some point, but by whom? People often attribute many popular sayings to Benjamin Franklin. Old Ben was indeed a wise lore master, and did give us a good number of sayings.

Next on the list comes Shakespeare. Many of the pithy lines of dialogue he wrote get quoted, and are probably among the best-known Enlglish-language quotations.

However, one of our greatest sources of wisdom and insightful sayings is what some might consider a very unlikely source: The Bible.

But wait! Isn’t the Bible just a bunch of rigid rules to be followed, all those "Thou Shalt Nots" and other exhortations to uphold our morality? Yes, it has all those, but it also contains an awful lot of general wisdom — "common sense," if you will.

The Bible even helps us predict the weather. You know that old saying red sky in the morning, sailors take warning? Yup. It’s from the Bible. [Matthew 16:3]

My intention, however, is not to start a debate on religion, nor on the validity of the Bible. I recognize that there is as much hypocrisy and contradiction as there is benevolence and comfort… and that’s just Christianity! Add all the other world religions into the mix, and "consensus" is just a word in the dictionary between "consecutive" and "consequence."

But when you peel back the man-made layers of the religious onion, and look into the core, you will find a commonality of teachings that inspire us to be kind to each other and treat each other with respect. These are words which provide us with guidance as to how to lead a good life.

All I am offering is a quick perusal of some of the sayings and wisdom contained in the Bible, and to point out how prevalent these are in our daily lives, whether or not we consider ourselves "religious."

Here are a few more familiar lines.

"a law unto themselves"
"a house divided"
"a man after his own heart"
"a soft answer turns away anger"
"a voice crying in the wilderness"
"apple of my eye"
"am I my brother's keeper?"
"an eye for an eye"
"at my wit's end"
"blind leading the blind"
"by the skin of our teeth"
"gave up the ghost"
"handwriting on the wall"
"in the twinkling of an eye"
"it is more blessed to give than to receive"
"labour of love"
"let he that is without sin… cast the first stone"
"letter of the law"
"many are called, but few are chosen"
"man shall not live by bread alone"
"no peace for the wicked"
"out of the mouths of babes"
"pride goes before a fall"
"put your own house in order"
"signs of the times"
"spare the rod and spoil the child"
"suffer fools gladly"
"the truth shall set you free"
"there's nothing new under the sun"
"to everything there is a season"
"turn the other cheek"
"turn your swords into ploughshares"
"vengeance is mine"
"weighed in the balances, and found wanting"
"what you sow, so shall you reap"

So, how many have you used? And yes, they all come from the Bible.