a rolling stone...

[kctgreat]

gathers no moss. what does this mean exactly? if they say a person is a rolling stone, what does that say about the person? negative or positive?

[sir.prize]

Means that a person who is always travelling and changing jobs has the advantage of having no responsibilities. Negative or positive? The individual may say one thing, but others may differ.

[kctgreat]

thank you sir. may i have another?

is it a biblical proverb? what did it mean then? i'd like to think it's a negative. to me, a "rolling stone" person is a shiftless, irresponible, ne'er do well. any rebuttals?

[firetracie]

It's not a negative - just an observation.

A boulder will develop moss on it's surface through staying in the same place for a long time.

A person (stone) who never settles down (rolls) never develops (gathers) ties and responsibilities (moss)!

[kctgreat]

isn't a proverb suppose to teach a moral lesson? can't believe it's just an "observation."

my friend insists that a person who's referred to as a rolling-stone is a go getter, (a positive) constantly moving and achieving, not satified w/status quo. that is why "moss" (he insists that moss is a negative) doesn't gather.

i still think it's a negative. why else would there be a band named the rolling stones? they were no christian band. ;)

[fredpuli47]

Who said proverbs must have a moral? They often don't and this one doesn't .A proverb is simply a short pithy statement of a universally or commonly observed truth. The band the Rolling Stones took the name because it suited them.They were never in the same place for long, being on the road, and they weren't old ,boring, steady people but active, questing young ones. Now they are almost steady people: one has archaeology as a hobby, for a start!

The proverb is neither negative nor positive.

[kctgreat]

really? no moral lesson? i stand corrected then fred. trying to get my friend to change his mind, now that's another endeavor entirely. he claims moss is a bad thing. i keep on telling him moss is moss. a stone doesn't care if it has moss on it or not. but he said a person would care if there's moss on a stone. said stone has to be cleaned off. lol. go figure.

thanks for your input fredpuli and firetracie.