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"Ancient Wisdom Rings Anew... Always Does, Always Has."
By Hank Moore

The fortune cookie style sayings of ace detective Charlie Chan are more than dessert for thought. Some are based upon classic philosophies. Others are interpreted by Hollywood film writers from proverbs.

The Oriental sleuth was created by Earl Derr Biggers and was a minor character in films in the 1920s. He was based upon a real-life Chinese detective named Chang Apana. Along with clever plot twists and different city settings for each adventure, the treasury of aphorisms delighted film goers for 20 years. There was a Charlie Chan TV series, and the old movies have continued running ever since.

As I learned when first discovering Charlie Chan on Saturday TV reruns, old knowledge has continuing reapplications in our present. The more that we seek out old truths and make efforts to apply toward our futures, success will be ours.

Wisdom from Charlie Chan:

  • "Knowledge is the only medicine to cure the itch of curiosity."
  • "Walk in fresh air helps clear mind, particularly if walk is in right direction."
  • "Men are never strong enough to fight the fate their own evil has created."
  • "When the trap is baited, there is no need for the hunter to hasten to spring same."
  • "The smoke of sincerity in your belief indicates the fire of truth."
  • "Journey of life is like tether of a stream...must continue with current."
  • "Waiting for tomorrow is waste of today."
  • "Theories like mist on eyeglasses...obscure facts."
  • "Drops of water on parched tongue worth more than gold in purse."
  • "Inconspicuous molehill sometimes more important than conspicuous mountain."
  • "If you want wild bird to sing, do not put him in a cage."
  • "Pleasant company turn lonely sandwich into rich banquet."
  • "When looking for needle in haystack, most sensible location is haystack."
  • "Question without answer like faraway water...not good for fire."
  • "Very wise to know way out before going in."
  • "Too soon to count chickens until eggs in nest."
  • "One grain of luck sometimes worth more than a rice field of wisdom."
  • "Men who seek trouble never find it far off."
  • "Frightened bird difficult to catch."
  • "Guilty conscience only enemy to peace and rest."
  • "To understand men, study women."
  • "Grain of sand in eye may hide mountain."
  • "Size of package does not indicate quality within."
  • "Wise precaution to accept applesauce with large pinch of salt."
  • "Curiosity responsible for cat needing nine lives."
  • "Kindness in heart more valuable than gold in bank."
  • "Perfect case like donut...has a hole. Optimist sees donut. Pessimist sees hole. Very typical to explain hole in donut, but hole always there."
  • "Silence is big sister to wisdom."
  • "Good tools shorten labor."
  • "Inquisitive person like bear after honey...sometimes find hornet's nest."
  • "Not always wise to accept simplest solution. Mind like parachute... only function when open."

One need only look at other icons of pop culture to reveal still other insights. The art is to review them as both nostalgia and today. Think about the paths that you took to get to the plateaus of knowledge. Cases in point:

"Things are never quite the same when you try to go back to the past. That's like when you leave gum on the window sill overnight and try to chew it the next morning."
-Beaver Cleaver, "Leave It To Beaver"

"If you want to call me that, smile!"
-The Virginian

"Every member of the Hall of Fame had one thing in common. They were always trying to improve."
-Red Barber, baseball Hall of Famer Ancient Wisdom, Page 3

"Who can explain it? Who can tell you why? Fools give you reasons. Wise men never try."
-Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein, "Some Enchanted Evening," from "South Pacific"

"When there's a smile in your heart, there's no better time to start."
-Peter Pan

"There are two occasions in a man's life when he shouldn't speculate... when he can afford it and when he cannot."
-Mark Twain

"If you cannot find a man, you must arrange for the man to find you."
-Zorro

"You've got to learn to play the other man's game."
-Hopalong Cassidy

"There's a little bit of failure in every success and a little bit of success in every failure."
-O. Henry (short story writer)