A boisterous horse needs a boisterous bridle.

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.


This beautiful Arabian proverb explains the usefulness of a book. The book is compared to a garden in a pocket and the garden mentioned in this nature.


There are two important teachers in this world. One is the nature and the other is a book. Nature teaches us through experience and is considered to be the best teacher in the olden days. This is because man learnt a lot of things from nature like lighting a fire, the wheel and many more things. It also provided him with all the necessities for life.


When the times changed these experiences were written down in the form of a book. This was a step forward because man could record his thoughts and pass his observations from one generation to other. The printing press was invented by Gutenberg in 1500 A.D. and it helped in quick and cost effective printing of books on a large scale. So a lot of people who could not buy the look either because they were costly or they were rare started buying them. This free availability of books changed the society and was instrumental in spreading knowledge. So the book helped man in a very significant way and since it had the ideas of nature contained in it, it has been compared with a garden.


A boisterous horse needs a boisterous bridle.


This proverb is from Nigeria a country in the African continent. This proverb is based on the belief that that only a strong bit - a strong bit has a thicker and more sharply edged metal than a light bit – can control a runaway type horse as it can exert more pressure and pain on the corners of the mouth of a horse than a thin smooth edged metal bit. That is why, in modem times, race horses as well as well-fed horses prone to this behavior are ridden with bridles having very thick snaffle bits such as egg butt snaffle, loose-ring German mouth snaffle, etc. These bits slow down and stop an unwilling horse by exerting more pressure and pain in the mouth while pulling back the reins. This proverb means that as a BIT WITH FIRE (a very strong and sharp bit) is needed to stop or control a mad (runaway type, vice-ridden) horse, so also a very strong punitive measure is needed to discipline the recalcitrant.


The governor of a state in a democratic society, for example, behaves rashly and implements policies as he likes without any regard to the wishes of the people to such an extent that the suffering becomes unbearable. All advice and persuasion fails and there is a danger of the collapse of the state. Under such conditions revolutions take place and the governor is arrested and punished severely. An equivalent proverb in English is….


Desperate situations require desperate remedies.


This is a proverb that is used for advising people to handle rough situations with firmness and severity. It is the fiery bit that burns the vice-ridden mind and turns it into a disciplined and spirited steed that runs the course of life to win the blessings of God for eternal happiness.