Worth a Thousand Words: Cultural, Literary, and Political Proverb Studies by Wolfgang Mieder

Worth a Thousand Words (University Press of Mississippi, 2025) brings traditional proverbs into the modern era, analyzing proverbs under four headings: American proverbs, proverbs in politics, proverbs in literature, and proverbs in culture. Within these sections, a wide array of proverbs and the topics they express are addressed and shown to still be relevant to the political and cultural landscape of today. This new book discusses the global spread of American proverbs and the reliance of proverbs in politics and everyday life in America and internationally. It also examines proverbs in literature such as Don Quixote and Destined to Witness, as well as proverbs in fairy tales.

Proving the pen is mightier than the sword, Wolfgang Mieder’s book demonstrates the ubiquity of proverbs. By recognizing and documenting the proverbial linguistic patterns of our culture, people, and systems, Mieder shows us how creative language serves as the guideposts for a free and idealistic world for ages past and ages to come.

Dr. Wolfgang Mieder is university distinguished professor emeritus of German and folklore at University of Vermont. He received the AFS Lifetime Scholarly Achievement Award in 2012.