As we grew up our mothers always passed along little pieces of advice, mine always told me to "be sure my underwear was clean, in case I was in an accident." Like the ambulance driver or the attending nurse would really care, as I lay there covered in blood?

But clever sayings, quips of advice and words of wisdom are part of all cultures, especially in my Eastern European background. As a child we listened with only one ear but as we grew up we found ourselves repeating those words by reusing them on our own children. How many of us today though that our parents were not the brightest bulbs in the chandelier and now realize how really smart they were?

Marie True Evans, former Ms. Maryland reminds us that every ethnic group in the world has those pesky Proverbs and one of her favorite ones is Jewish... "To Love Mankind is Easy--to Love Man is Hard." Of course we have all use the Greek one... "The Apple Does Not Fall Far From the Tree." The Italians got in right when they use one of their old proverbs... "Listen at the keyhole and you'll hear about yourself." None of us appreciates nagging but the Spanish zero in on... "An ounce of Mother is worth a pound of clergy."

Two of the ones I seem to use frequently come from the ancient Chinese... "A journey begins with the first step" and, "One generation plants the tree; another gets the shade." And how smart are the Germans who tell us... "The old forget, the young don't know."

Some of the best humor comes to us as pearls of wisdom. Phyllis Diller reminds us... "Housework can't kill you, but why take a chance?" Or, "I want my children to have all the things I couldn't afford--then I want to move in with them." One we often hear repeated in the media is a pearl of wisdom from Nancy Reagan... "A Woman is like a tea bag--you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water." My bookkeeper has the right idea... "If at first you don't succeed, try another credit card."