Parallel & Proverbs
A weekly literary miscellany
A theme across cultures
Vigilance
Vigilance is the active cousin of caution. Caution warns. Vigilance asks something more: stay alert, even when alertness is uncomfortable.
The Spanish camarón que se duerme se lo lleva la corriente — “the shrimp that sleeps gets carried away by the current” — is a perfect compact image. It doesn’t tell you the current is dangerous. It tells you that being asleep in the current is the danger. A precise distinction.
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