American Proverb

“American Proverb” is not a specific author but a generic attribution used for anonymous sayings that emerged through U.S. folk tradition. Such proverbs typically develop over time in everyday speech, work songs, sermons, newspapers, and oral storytelling, and their wording often shifts as they are repeated across regions and generations. Because they are communal rather than individual creations, they rarely have a single verifiable origin or first publication, and later collections may record multiple variants. In quotation sources, the label signals that the sentiment is widely circulated in American English but not reliably traceable to one writer. When possible, researchers look for the earliest documented appearance to clarify context and dating.