Haste Makes Waste

My in-laws had a Biblical quote for almost everything. Funny, in a family of nonchurch goers. They employed Biblical quotes as a sort of cake topper on arguments. “The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite, but the belly of the wicked suffers want.” Proverbs seemed to get quoted frequently, and I seemed to be the recipient most often. Being that early on, I was unfamiliar with their argument style; my mouth was agape at breakfast, trying to figure out what this had to with my corn flakes.

It wasn’t capricious; it was part of their family culture. a series of set pieces trotted out to legitimize their positions. They could delegate entire chapters of Proverbs and Numbers for minutes worth of explanation or answers.

Eventually, I learned and employed the same in opposition. 

Going one step better, the book of Proverbs became the most dog-eared in my copy of the Bible. I found that if my wife offered a verse on haste, I could reply with, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage,But everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty.” I confounded the process. 

They were only operating on the family tradition while I was doing primary research – wily anthropologist.