Everyone loves a fortune cookie, right? Fortune cookie quotes are easy to dismiss if you’re surrounded by friends and having a bit of a laugh. The cookie itself tastes neutral to me—neither good nor bad, but oddly addictive.
I want to inject more playfulness and fun into my writing as we move into the New Year. Testing whether fortune cookie quotes are actually wise over 14 days sounds like good fun to me. Plus, they made my daily Ninja Creami more delicious! Why 14 days? You may be expecting a profound answer; however, 14 cookies came in the box I purchased.
The origins of fortune cookies
Before we look at the fortune cookie quotes, if you are curious about the origins of fortune cookies, SBS Australia has a good recap. Contrary to popular belief, it appears the cookie’s origins are tied to Japan rather than China. Oh, and if you’re crafty and creative and are interested in making your own fortune cookies, check out this back-to-school spin on the concept. If you want to make them yourself, you can create all kinds of themes—Buffy the Vampire Slayer, anyone? Personally, I am a disaster in the kitchen, so my fortune cookies would likely be a hot mess.
Are fortune cookie quotes actually wise?
Enough banter, let’s check how wise these fortune cookie quotes are (in my opinion, of course).
Fortune cookie quote: “You are capable, creative, competent, careful. Prove it.”
These are qualities I believe each of us has to some extent... and then life happens, often getting in the way of our showing up as our best selves. The first sentence is spot on. We don’t need to prove we have these qualities.
Wise or foolish? Wise
Fortune cookie quote: “You will have many friends when you need them.”
Anyone who has lived long enough has likely learned this is not necessarily the case. I’ve increasingly become more interested in adult friendships as I have aged. It’s hard work to find and keep good friends in my experience. This quote from Brian A. Chalker comes to mind:
“People always come into your life for a reason, a season and a lifetime. When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do.”
Wise or naive? Naive
Fortune cookie quote: “You are never selfish with your advice or your help.”
Given that we are human, we all have our moments. Even if we genuinely believe we’re not being selfish in certain instances, we are always bringing our life experiences and biases to the table. Obviously, the wisdom and truth (or lack of it) rely heavily on who opens this fortune cookie!
Wise or naive? Naive, mostly because of human nature, as pessimistic as that sounds
Fortune cookie quote: “To light a candle is to cast a shadow.”
Interpretation is key with this quote. To me, this speaks to the balance between light and dark. Everything we do has a knock-on effect. For better or worse, everything in this world is connected.
Wise or naive? Wise
Fortune cookie quote: “There is a true and sincere friendship between you and your friends.”
I’d hope this is true of anyone you call a friend. As I mentioned earlier, friendships change in adulthood and in my experience, they are harder to maintain as life starts looking and feeling different for everyone.
Wise or naive? Wise
Fortune cookie quote: “You may attend a party where strange customs prevail.”
This one is odd. What ‘strange customs’ are we referring to? I guess if you saw this quote and found yourself in this situation, you’d be touting the fortune cookie as prophetic!
Wise or naive? Neither - strange
Fortune cookie quote: “Ignorance never settles a question.”
Gosh, with the rise of social media and artificial intelligence, this one has never been more relevant. It astounds me how much time people spend doomscrolling online and commenting on topics that will not change their lives. The 24/7 news cycle has also, in my opinion, spread misinformation and trained us all to think in three-second sound bites.
Wise or naive? Wise
Fortune cookie quote: “Many folks know how to say nothing. Few know when.”
Truth. There are times when silence is far more powerful than words. And there are other times when people should speak up but never do, for many different reasons. Mostly so they don’t rock the boat, in my experience.
Wise or naive? Wise
Fortune cookie quote: “The best way to escape a problem is to solve it.”
This quote reminds me that there is no running away from ourselves. Leaving the job, moving countries, going on a holiday or whatever else you may come up with. These temporary solutions hardly ever provide helpful answers because wherever we go, we’ll still be there. That’s why it’s necessary to do our inner work because the answers are not ‘out there’—they are inside of us.
Wise or naive? Wise
Fortune cookie quote: “When you make a decision you must be prepared to abide with the consequences.”
There are always consequences for every decision. So many people never dare to seek anything better or different because they are paralysed by fear and far too often, what others may think of them. Life is short.
Wise or naive? Wise
Fortune cookie quote: “Faults are thick when love is thin.”
The people who love us are not waiting to criticise our every move. That’s not love. When we’re not vibing with someone for whatever reason, we tend to focus on and magnify their faults in our minds. A good look in the mirror is typically in order if we are choosing to stay in a relationship without love. (I acknowledge this is a simplification, and people’s circumstances often have far more complexity attached to them.)
Wise or naive? Wise
Fortune cookie quote: “Trust him but keep your eyes open.”
There’s nothing playful about this quote.
As a 38-year-old woman writing this article, this one feels creepy, but it’s spot on. We’re living in a world where women often aren’t safe. Consider these statistics—and this is just here in Australia. It’s safe to assume many other countries are far more dangerous for women.
- Two in 5 women (39%) have experienced violence since the age of 15
- Women are more likely to experience violence from someone they know than by a stranger (35% vs 11%)
And of course, there are so many other ways one can interpret this quote regarding infidelity and so on.
Wise or naive? Wise
Fortune cookie quote: “To belittle is to be little.”
Now, this is fortune cookie quote gold! I’ve never met a truly confident, happy, successful person who belittles people. Why would they? When we are happy in our own skin and with our situation, we have little time to focus on anything outside ourselves. We’re too busy being present in the life we’ve created.
Wise or naive? Wise
Fortune cookie quote: “The laws sometimes sleep, but never die.”
What a gem to end on. If we’re alive, we eventually wake up. Perhaps my fortune cookie is trying to reassure us all about the direction of the world. Eventually, enough of us may wake up to drive change.
Wise or naive? Wise
There you have it. Fortune cookies were mostly wise, sometimes naive and in one instance, just plain odd. Over 14 days, the cookies didn’t reveal what would happen in my future. They gave me a moment each evening to open my fortune cookie and reflect. Ultimately, I was reminded that it was nice to have something to look forward to each day that wasn’t a grand moment, but brought a little bit of fun into my world.