The history of the creation of the aphorism "It is better to overdo it than not do it"

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:54

Aphorism deservedly occupies not the last place in the family of literary genres. And it is not surprising, because here a very deep thought is contained in a capacious phrase. This form is able to amaze with the unexpectedness of judgments, extreme expressiveness and implicit inner meaning. Often such statements are attributed an edifying connotation, but one should not detract from the he althy grain of satire. Moreover, aphorism is far from always befitting pathos and seriousness. The article will focus on the epoch-surviving catchphrase “It is better to be safe than sorry” and its immortal author. This man is remarkable in that, despite the lack of a great mind, many consider him the most beautiful pearl, replenishing the treasury of Russian classics and humor.

About the author

So who said: "It's better to be safe than sorry", giving this phrase to the world? This person is very remarkable. He is a playwright, poet and great philosopher, who won people's love and recognition, shone with his witty wisdom and created in the middle of the 19th century. The famous writer was born on April 11, but the year is exactlyunknown. However, biographers claim that this significant event took place at the very beginning of the mentioned century in the village of Tenteleva, Vologda province. The wit belonged to a famous noble family and was naturally endowed with an irrepressible passion for writing.

Portraits of him, created by the brush of famous artists, conveyed to posterity the disheveledness of recalcitrant curly brown hair and a proud stubborn look, in which complacency shines. Among the special features are two warts on the face and a band-aid on the neck that hides permanent cuts from the razor. Also notable is the ridiculous costume with a gaudy bow. Such was Kozma Prutkov. “Better overdone than underdone” is just one of his aphorisms. And this very outstanding, but peculiar person has spawned a great many of them in his life.

Details of the wit's biography

Education The author of the repeatedly mentioned phrase "It's better to be safe than sorry" received homework. And he was taught the wisdom of the sciences by a parish priest named John Proleptov. He assessed the knowledge of his ward with the marks “boldly excellent” and “edifying-commendable”, which, undoubtedly, promised the young man entering life success in all his endeavors.

More Prutkov Kozma Petrovich served as a cadet in a hussar regiment, but very soon left this occupation for a very good reason. Having fallen asleep one day from drinking, he saw in a dream a brigadier general, but not just like that, but naked withepaulettes, and, apparently, sensed a bad omen in this. Then Kozma entered the Ministry of Finance, where he was awarded the highest ranks, guided solely by his own conviction that "zeal overcomes everything."

Acting in the service in accordance with his principles, Kozma was carried away by numerous reform projects. But they did not always find a response in the hearts of contemporaries. On this occasion, Prutkov was usually terribly indignant and had a habit of falling into despondency, declaring disdain for him as disrespect for his great talents and experience.

Literary activity

But Prutkov achieved the most remarkable success in the literary field. True, his play “Fantasy”, staged on the stage of the Alexandria Theater, for some reason did not quite like Emperor Nicholas I. He considered it surprisingly stupid, which is why it was banned. But Kozma was not upset and began to create fables, ballads and epigrams. He created a lot of lyrics, mysteries, dramas, comedies and vaudevilles. And it was published in many publications respected at that time, such as Sovremennik, Entertainment, Iskra. And the number of his compositions constantly increased at a tremendous speed, growing like a snowball.

Great Phrases

His aphorisms were often perceived by contemporaries with a grin, but there was some charm in the work of the original wit Kozma. For example, the meaning of “Better to be safe than sorry” is difficult to understand even for the most educated people. Yes, and manyother catchphrases sometimes cut the ear. But they are easy to remember. It is believed that the author of unforgettable masterpieces died at his desk, not letting go of the pen. And it happened in January 1863.

What did the writer mean when he wrote "It's better to be safe than sorry"? An analogue in Russian (“correct”) of this strange phrase, apparently, could sound something like this: “Be vigilant, and even if it turns out to be unnecessary, this is still preferable to frivolity and gullibility.” But neither contemporaries nor descendants seemed to be able to capture the full depth of the author's thought.

Brilliant hoax

By the way, as you know, Kozma Petrovich Prutkov never existed in real life. However, not all of the writers of that time knew about this. The wit had his admirers, opponents and zealous critics. It is not surprising, because many famous writers of that time took him for a very real person. But the writer Prutkov, the creator of the phrase "It's better to be safe than sorry", was just a literary mask, under which not only one, but several talented writers of the middle of the 19th century worked.

Real Authors

More than others, Alexei Tolstoy took part in the creation of the hero, he was helped by the Zhemchuzhnikov brothers. Also, according to some reports, staff captain Alexander Ammosov andsome other figures. For them, it was a great way to hide from the yoke of brutal censorship.

Having created with their imagination the image of a typical graphomaniac and a narrow-minded person, they similarly ridiculed mediocre writers, mental stagnation and vices of that time. The team of these famous people created the aphorism "It's better to overdo it than not do it", as well as other wonderful statements of the unforgettable Kozma Prutkov.

Their literary character, who became a writer in his own right, turned out to be so remarkable that he went down in history and was remembered by posterity. Modern people still use his famous sayings in colloquial speech, sometimes without even knowing it. In the Bryansk Literary Museum there is an exposition dedicated to this hero. By the way, monuments were erected to him all over Russia.