Question

Complete the following proverb:
Excess of ______.
a. anything is habit.
b. everything is bad.
c. anything is success.
d. everything is success.

Answer 1

Hint: A proverb is a popular saying which holds a lot of meaning usually which impart a lesson or some moral value.

Complete answer:
Questions regarding proverbs can be answered easily if the proverb is known. But what about the time when the proverb is an uncommon one? In that case, we will try to deduce meaning from the given options and logically choose the correct answer by eliminating improbable answers.

Let us look at option a: Excess of anything is habit. This does not logically make sense since excess of anything cannot be a habit. If we do something excessively, it does not mean we have a habit of doing that thing.
If we use option b: Excess of everything is bad. This holds true in real life. If we get something in excess, it will be bad. Excess wealth leads to people being selfish. Excess of depression leads to people committing suicide. Excess of playing will be a waste of time and you cannot finish your homework.
If we use option c: Excess of anything is success. This does not hold true. If we play excessively, we cannot give time to studies and we will fail in academics. So, it is not a success.
If we use option d: Excess of everything is success. Of course this does not hold true. If excess of anything is not a success, then excess of everything will definitely not be a success.
Thus, through the elimination method, we can eliminate options a, c and d because they don’t make sense. Therefore, the correct option is option b.

Note: It is advised to students to learn probable and common proverbs. Proverbs are usually logical and have straightforward meanings unlike idioms which have metaphorical meanings.