Proverbs and sayings

Compressed advice.

What they do

A proverb states a general claim as folk wisdom: don't count your chickens, a stitch in time saves nine. They persuade by familiarity rather than by evidence.

Many come in contradictory pairs: look before you leap, and he who hesitates is lost.
That contradiction is a clue about how much weight they deserve.

In argument

A proverb is a rhetorical move, not a reason. Noticing when one is doing the work of evidence is a useful reading habit.