You can always tell a Yorkshireman, as the old saying goes, but you can't tell him much. Something of that thought runs through Yorkshire Wisdom, a new book that includes sayings from the famous and not so famous folk of God's Own County. Will Ramsey picks out twenty of the best, and scroll down for his interview with author and firefighter Joe Moorwood.
• Don't do the right thing for the wrong reason. – Andy, of Hull.
• Gather the flowers, but spare the buds. – Andrew Marvell, 17th-century poet and politician, of Winestead.
• Don't ask who's to blame or how can I hide this, but what can I learn from this? – Pete, of East Yorkshire.
• Never mix cider and red wine. That's one of my life lessons. – Jarvis Cocker, musician and front man, from Sheffield.• You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know. – William Wilberforce, leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade, of Hull.
• Anyone who's ever overcome a serious addiction carries with them an inner strength and self-knowledge that can't be obtained in any other way. – Owen, of Bridlington.
• If in doubt don't react, observe. – Elaine, dinner lady from Rotherham.• Since I've had cancer I've realised that every day is a bonus. – Sir Geoffrey Boycott, cricketer, from West Yorkshire.• Most of the important lessons I learnt at school were in the playground. – Freddy, student, from Bradford.• When a thing's done it's done. And if it's not done right, do it differently next time. – Arthur Ransome, author and journalist, from Leeds.• Our inability to accept what is out of our hands is a childhood trait we all struggle to shake entirely. But, I can tell you, it's worth shaking. – Gary, retired police officer, from Leeds.• There is always a 'but' in this imperfect world. – Anne Bronte, novelist and poet from West Yorkshire.• Honest criticism is bloody hard to take, and the truer it is the more it smarts. – Vern, unemployed, from Leeds.• I think in terms of the day's resolutions, not the year's. – Henry Moore, sculptor and artist, from West Yorkshire.• Encourage your children to do whatever makes them happy, not what you think should make them happy. – Jasmine, sales assistant, from Scarborough.• One of the nice things about teenagers is that they don't know it's all been done before. – George, between jobs, from Sheffield.• If you've not grown up by the time you're 40, you may as we'll not bother. – Ho, barman, from York.• Let everyone regulate his conflict … by the golden rule of doing to others as in similar circumstances we would have them do to us, and the path of duty will be clear before him. – William Wilberforce, leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade, of Hull.
• You sometimes hear people say that happiness is all about appreciating the little things. I think that belittles the so-called little things. – Jules, of Beverley.
• Self-preservation, nature's first great law, all the creatures, except man, doth awe. – Andrew Marvell, 17th-century poet and politician, of Winestead.
Words of wisdom from the great, the good and the plain ordinary folk
JOE Moorwood's book Yorkshire Wisdom places the sayings of significant figures, including the anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce, alongside the thoughts of everyday people from the county.
Joe said: "Because of the down to earth nature of Yorkshire, it seemed wrong to ignore 'ordinary folk'."
So he enlisted the help of "extra ears" including his mother-in-law, who lives in Beverley, to gather quotes.
The finished book, published by Great Northern Books, sets quotes from well-known Tykes, such as the Winestead-born poet Andrew Marvell, alongside thoughts from the general public.
Mike, one of a number of Hull and East Yorkshire residents featured in the book, offers this gem: "We only live once. For the very lucky and the very unlucky this is probably enough."
For Mr Moorwood, a 36-year-old firefighter, the book captures something of the flavour of the county and its people.
"What I like about it is that they go from the serious and dark to the quirky and humorous," said Mr Moorwood, a father-of-one who lives in the Ecclesall area of Sheffield.
"There's perhaps a dryness that runs through it and a slightly hard edge to some of it that you know is possibly attributable to Yorkshire and not, say, East Sussex."
Author is the latest addition to what Mr Moorwood says is a "weird CV".
After teaching English in Vietnam, and then travelling the world, following graduation, Mr Moorwood began a career in PR back in Britain, before deciding to become a firefighter.
Mr Moorwood, who is based at a fire station in Chesterfield, just over the border in Derbyshire, has struck up conversations in pubs and at football matches across his home county for people's thoughts on life, love and work.
Suggestions have also come from a Twitter page he has set up, all of which left him with a "big pile of quotes", which he had to arrange into order.
The book, which is divided up into sections such as "Cradle to Care Home", and "Highs and Lows", includes quotes from fellow firefighters.
"If a man speaks in a forest and there is no woman there to hear, is he still wrong?"asks Chris, of Barnsley.
Yorkshire Wisdom marks Mr Moorwood's second foray into print.
His first book was a spin-off of The Meaning Of Liff, by The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Universe author Douglas Adams and comedy producer John Lloyd.
First published in 1983, The Meaning Of Liff was a "dictionary of things there should be words for".
After Mr Moorwood bought the book as a Father's Day gift, it became a family tradition to make up "liffs" of their own.
"It sparked an idea that I could do my own version for Sheffield," said Mr Moorwood.
"When, many years later, my wife became pregnant, I thought if I don't get it done now, it will never happen."
Realising that Sheffield wasn't big enough, he extended his hunt for words across Yorkshire, and the book offers alternative meanings for local place names.
In Mr Moorwood's Yorkshire Meaning Of Liff, Blubberhouses, a village near Harrogate, was defined as "holding areas used for guests on The Jeremy Kyle Show".
Norristhorpe, in West Yorkshire, is the noun for, "the first person in a motorway traffic jam to get out of their car and walk about sighing".
After Radio 4 announced it was looking for "Liff" submissions to celebrate the book's 30th anniversary, Mr Moorwood got in touch with John Lloyd and sent him a draft copy of the Yorkshire version.
"He said it had sat on his desk for a while until, with a heavy heart, he read it," Mr Moorwood said.
"He said he'd found himself laughing out loud and would help me to get it published."
Once publication had been secured, Mr Lloyd wrote the introduction – the first time after more than 40 years in the entertainment business he had endorsed an idea that had arrived "out of the blue".
Now his second book is completed, Mr Moorwood is wondering where his writing will take him next.
He said: "Everybody says they've got a novel in them, but I'm not sure everyone's got a good novel in them."
His dream of writing a young adult novel and "making millions" from the film tie-in remains, for the moment, just that.
Maybe he should take heart from Rupert, an RAF officer from East Yorkshire, who offers one of the book's most memorable quotes: "If you embrace fear, you embrace life."
