Harry Terhanian.com

gahrdzehss teh souduh seedahk eh

yehrp vor gahtzeenuh ehgahv ahndahr, dzahrehruh ahseen, “puhr-nehleekuh mehruhn eh”

This saying conveys the meaning that the trees cannot blame anyone but themselves for their difficulties because the handle of the axe that will cut them down is made from the trees of their forest.

jahnjuhn eench eh, vohr jahnjuhn eench beedee uhlah

Literally, this proverb says “what is a fly, and what do you think a fly will become (in the future). The implication is that a fly is insignificant now and it will remain insignificant in the future.

There is a famous story about King Canute the Great (985 or 995 to 1035), who was king of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden. It is said he commanded his royal throne, the elaborate chair on which he sat, be set by the sea shore. When he ascended the throne, he commanded the tide to halt before it wet his feet and robes. However, the tide continued to rise and wet him
without respecting his royal order.

He jumped up above the tide and said, “Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings, for there is none worthy of the name, but He whom heaven, earth, and sea obey by eternal laws”.
He then hung his gold crown on a crucifix, and never wore it again “to the honor of God the almighty King”.

King Canute proved to his immediate courtiers and to all men of all time that earthly kings and rulers are insignificant in comparison to the all mighty God of the creation.

“Can an insignificant fly ever become more than a fly?” is a proverb to remember the noble example of King Canute.

hahsarag pahnehmuh ahrhestavoruh ahrjekuh guh hahneh

dahree-eh muh hahrssdahnahl pohrtzoghuh, vetch ahmeesehn khehntahnotz gehrtah

shadeen hedevuh vahzetch, keetchuh tzheritz toghetz

shehvuh nehrss, jehrmahg toursh

When someone is troubled by a serious problem, they should learn to hide it from strangers

pahreen vor chee leenehr, chahruh ahskhahruh guh kahntehr

ahbahkayit hahmahr ahskhahdeh, ahbah dehs eench pakhduht guh pehreh

dzehranahs dzehree bahdeevuhn eemahnas

Those desiring greatness must develop modesty and self-discipline in personal life and genuine respect for others. A youth cannot measure correctly the value of experience that comes with old age. But as a person ages, he is able to understand the difference between callow youth and seasoned maturity that recognizes the value of careful consideration of consequences of one’s actions.

The wisdom of an elder can be invaluable for a youth to learn early in life. Many time people say, “If I only knew when I was young what I know now in my old age.”

gahm ahghuh bahgahs eh gahm mahghuh - either the salt is missing or the shaker

Endeavors remain incomplete because of inattentiveness or negligence. It is a great quality to be able to pay attention to details. It requires concentration of the mind to “get one’s ducks in line.” Intelligent work by which one can get something done the “first time” indicates good planning.

Every human is endowed with mind and intelligence. The mind is the sixth sense that receives information from the senses and then stores it. The intelligence makes value judgments to determine whether the information is relevant (good or bad) for one’s life. The intelligence is the discriminating power of the person. An Armenian proverb stresses this point, ehssuh eench keedeh, noushuh eench eh - an ass doesn’t understand the value of an almond. When a fly When the intelligence loses control and the mind runs wild, the person is in deep trouble and life threatening danger.

Good intelligence is respectable and often a rare thing as the Armenian proverb states,
khelhkuh vohsgeh tahk eh, ahmen mahrtoun kuhloughkheen chee leehnoum, intelligence it like a golden crown that is not appropriate for the head of (every) man (or intelligence is like a golden crown that doesn’t fit on everyone head).

Good intelligence is precious and rare. khehlogheen mehg, uhnkhehlkeen hahzahr ou mehg - the intelligent and well behaved are one(few), but the unintelligent are a thousand and one (or for every intelligent man, there are one thousand and one unintelligent (or dunces).

Without good intelligence or discriminating power to determine what is true and what is not true, one never can achieve any significant goal in life. For example, an Armenian proverb says, an ass went forty times to Jerusalem, but it is still an ass - ehsuh kahrahsoun ahnkam Yehrousaghehm eh kuhnatzehl, paiytz (ehli) ehs eh muhnatzehl.

One mark of an intelligent man is that he avoids the close company of foolish or ignorant men. An Armenian proverb says, yehgheer keedounee kehree, mee leehneer ahnkehdeen seerehlee - better an intelligent man’s slave, than the sweetheart of an ignorant man.

soudakhosoutioun yehrpehmehn guh haidneh juhshmahrdoutioun
juhshmahrdoutioun misht guh haidneh soudahkhosoutioun

A man who always lied was asked “Does truth exist?” He said, “Yes!”

A man who always told the truth was asked, “Does truth exist?” He said, “Yes!”

The liar was asked, “Do lies exist?” You may qualify your statement for clarity sake. He replied, “Yes,” lies exist for the purpose of masking the truth.”

The truthful man was asked, “Do lies exist?” You may clarify your statement for clarity sake. He replied, “Yes,” lies exist for the purpose of revealing the truth.”

For the liar, lies exist for masking the truth. He lies to hide the truth.
But for a truthful man, lies exist to reveal the truth for when they are spoken eventually someone will come forward to expose the deception.

Therefore, a lie may be spoken to cover the truth, but, in spite of that, the lie may reveal the truth.

But, the truth will always reveal a lie as a lie cannot stand in the face of the truth. It may take some time, but the truth will prevail.

Ahmehn pohrtzank mehg khuhrahd eh, votch pohrtzank guh vehrchanah, votch khuhraduh