Meaning & Analysis
Each person should provide the cooks with the specific ingredients or instructions corresponding to their own personal tastes and preferences for a meal.
Insights
Autonomy and Personal Choice
The proverb serves as a broader metaphor for personal choice and autonomy, advising that individuals should make decisions and take actions in all life matters based on their own unique desires, values, and judgments.
Responsibility for One's Desires
It illustrates the principle that one is responsible for securing one's own satisfaction. If an individual desires a specific outcome, they must take the initiative to provide the necessary resources or direction to achieve it.
Clear Communication of Needs
The act of 'sending to the cooks' symbolizes the importance of clearly communicating one's needs and preferences to others, rather than expecting them to be intuitively understood. Effective outcomes rely on direct expression of will.
Domestic and Social Context
The proverb originates from a domestic context of large households with communal kitchens, where individuals needed to specify their preferences to the cooks to have their desired meals prepared. It reflects the practical reality of household management and the assertion of personal taste within a collective setting.
Psychology of Individualism
Psychologically, the proverb champions individualism and the validity of personal desire. It encourages asserting one's own preferences ('as he loves') rather than conforming to a collective or imposed standard, thereby validating subjective taste as a legitimate basis for action.
Agency and Accountability
The proverb underscores a principle of agency and accountability. To achieve a desired outcome, one must take direct, tangible action ('send to the cooks'). It suggests that satisfaction is not passive but requires initiative and clear communication of one's needs.
Rhetorical Devices
Metaphor
The kitchen and cooking serve as a concrete metaphor for the abstract domain of personal preference and action, making the advice practical and relatable.
Imperative Mood
The use of the imperative 'let him send' gives the proverb a strong, advisory tone, framing it as direct and actionable counsel rather than a mere observation.
Parallel Construction
The structure creates a clear link between subjective feeling ('as he loves') and a corresponding action ('let him send'), reinforcing the proverb's central message about acting on one's preferences.
Transcription
Quotations
As ye loue send to the cookes.
(Ilke a man as).
(Ilk a man as).
(Cook).
Cross References
Annotations
- That is, let every Man choose according to his liking.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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