Yesterday, The Sisterhood — inspired by the new television show “$#*! My Dad Says” — asked our readers and Facecbook fans to send in their mother’s (or grandmother’s, step-mother’s or mother-in-law’s) favorite sayings. They chimed in with these gems. Some are attributed; others were sent in anonymously.

• “With every generation an improvement.”
– Rose Magder

• “Even a fish wouldn’t get caught if he didn’t open his mouth.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

• “You don’t marry the man you can live with — you marry the man you can’t live without.”
–Hattie Seligman, z”l

• “If he had two brains he’d be a half-wit.”

And more:

• “Never pay retail.”

• ‎”You have to dance the way the music plays.”
–Grandma Weinstock

• “A fair is a place for showing animals and it comes once a year.”

• “I can’t afford to be that cheap!”

• “Only children and drunks tell the truth.”

• “It never hurts to do the right thing.”
– Norma Weinstein

• Mother used to say, “Finish everything on your plate; children are starving in Europe” to which my brother would reply, “Name me two.”

• “I wish you everything you wish for yourself.”

• “He should grow like an onion, with his head in the ground!”
– Esther Romm

• “Fool ‘em and live!”
–Blume Peshe Aronin, z”l

Email your favorite motherly sayings to [email protected]. Some entires will be published on The Sisterhood blog.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re near the end of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make a Passover Gift Today!

$90 $180

$360

Other amount