Sumerian proverbs

Six thousand years ago saw the rise of the Sumerian culture in the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers.   This is considered by many to be the first true Empire and the first State, even though the oldest cities on archaeological record date back to ten thousand years ago, or older.

All knowledge of Sumerian culture or history was lost to time, until several libraries of cuneiform tablets were unearthed and translated in a herculean effort of scholarship.

In the Bible, there is no mention of Sumer, although Abraham was from Ur, which was one of the great cities of the Empire.  Also, the Sumerian myth "Epic of Gilgamesh" has a flood narrative that is almost identical to the story of Noah, except the names and a few small details are different.

Here are a few Sumerian proverbs from that time; from the Time LIFE book on "The First Cities," 1973, p. 105;

"For his pleasure -- marriage;
on his thinking it over -- divorce."

"He who has not supported a wife or child has not borne a leash."

"When a poor man dies do not try to revive him."

"Wealth is hard to come by, but poverty is always with us."

"Possessions are sparrows in flight that can find no place to alight."

"Don't pick it now; later it will bear fruit."

"Tell a lie; then if you tell the truth it will be deemed a lie."

"Into an open mouth a fly enters."

" Who has much silver may be happy;
   Who has much grain may be glad;
   but he who has nothing can sleep."