Well, it looks like I'm not the only one in the blogosphere who quotes Amritas and Pirqey Avot.
Monkey! Blog! notices the similarity between this Chinese saying:
Rather be chicken head, not be cow rear
And this quote from Pirqey Avot:
Be the tail of lions and don't be the head of foxes - (havey zanav la'arayot v`al t'hi rosh lashu`alim)
Unfortunately, he misses the point that their meanings are opposite.
Posted by David Boxenhorn at April 20, 2004 03:22 AMAh, well. Part of the reason I started a blog in the first place is to practice writing better. Among other mistakes, I do horrible things to points - bury them, forget to actually state them, beat around the bush for a few unnecessary pages before getting to them, etc.
I understood that they're opposite, which is why said 'I agree with the professor when he says, "I'd rather be the phoenix's tail"'. I should have finished by saying 'It goes against the Chinese saying, but agrees with Rabbi Mattia.'
Or some such. Thanks for pointing it out.
Posted by: H. Monkey at April 21, 2004 06:59 PM Permalink