The origin of this phrase is from the Book of Ecclesiastes (Kohelet 6:9) in the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament). The original is a much deeper verse appears as: ‘טוֹב מַרְאֵה עֵינַיִם מֵהֲלָךְ־נָפֶשׁ’ meaning ‘Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire’. It is better to enjoy what you can see right in front of you than to constantly long for things you do not have. The philosophical commentary focuses on the human struggle with contentment. Because Ecclesiastes is a work of wisdom literature, Jewish and secular philosophers view this verse as a psychological blueprint for finding peace. The verse argues that appreciating an imperfect reality in the present is superior to chasing a perfect illusion in the future. In simple terms the original Biblical statement means ‘A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’.

In moderns Hebrew (as it appears in the title) the second half of the sentence was deleted and it was used as a shorter version of ‘I’ll believe it when I see it’. In my book I state, in the introduction, that phrases known to originate from the Hebrew Bible and the Jewish sages are eternal and are forever true and I........

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