Quote Originally Posted by alexsms View Post
this proverb is rarely used and heard..
Жаль.

I've never heard the pinecones/acorns proverb spoken by Russians, but I found it on the Internet somewhere and thought it was very colorful and expressive. I especially like it because it doesn't suggest that дубы are "better" or ёлки are "better" -- only that they're different from each other. (Both pinecones and acorns are edible by humans and thus worthwhile to "look for"... at least if you're a peasant with nothing else to eat!)