Everyday WisdomDocumented1 min read
Things My Father Said That I Didn't Understand Until Now
Oliver spent decades half-listening to his father's short, plain sayings. He's only now realizing how much sense they made.
About the contributor
Oliver is a father of two who catches himself repeating the same lines now.
"Fix the small leak"
My father used to say you fix the small leak before it becomes a flood, and he meant it about pipes, but also about arguments, and also about debt. I rolled my eyes at seventeen. I quote it at my own kids now.
"You can't argue someone into liking you"
He said this once after I came home upset about a friend group that didn't include me. It took me another fifteen years to actually believe it.
The saying I still don't fully understand
He used to say "the work will wait, the weather won't," and I still catch myself trying to figure out exactly what he meant by it, decades later.