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Gregory Titelman, Random House Dictionary of America' Popular Proverbs and Sayings, second edition(2000) identifies a number of related expressions conveying this idea under the general title "Believe only half of what you see and nothing you hear":
Believe only half of what you see and nothing you hear. Question everything, especially rumors. The proverb ...
17
You may also like talk is cheap:
[Merriam-Webster]
: used to mean that it is easy to say that one will do something
(where used here means is used to as opposed to implying an archaic meaning)
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There's an idiom that goes not worth the paper it's written on:
[Merriam-Webster]
: not of real value : not legally valid
(A variation is not worth the paper it's printed on.)
This has a similar connotation to the paper does not refuse ink saying from the question—which leads into my actual answer.
Lee Gesmer, a lawyer, wrote a blog post that added a ...
9
I believe the word you're looking for is "medium". This explanatory page shows contexts where the medium refers to the binder and the surface. Or more generally, the Wikipedia page for the list of art media covers more categories of art.
3
Shifting our focus to the present day, (we see that)
progress...
That would keep the element of change denoted by fast forward
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Actions speak louder than words, which suggests that speech is less credible than actions, is widely used.
Another expression, with usage that extends beyond English, is A closed mouth catches no flies. It exists in many variants and in many languages, and sources attribute it to multiple people, but there seems to be no consensus about where it comes from. ...
3
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.usage.english/qoIklspnMN8
What's the adverb that goes along with the adjective "ugly"?
Believe it or not, it's 'uglily'. Ain't that ugly?
There's a verb 'uglify', meaning 'make ugly', and from there we derive
the noun 'uglification', which Prince Charles recently hit the
headlines for using. The ...
2
"Get it in writing!" or "I'd get that in writing" are used to indicate that something you are told orally --especially an agreement or contract-- is not as trustworthy as the equivalent in writing.
-- He says he'll give me my money back if the car breaks down in the first year.
-- I'd get that in writing.
In contrast, "Talk is cheap", suggested by ...
2
to break up:
Destroy the completeness of a set of related items
"The book dealer would not break up the set"
(source: WordWeb online)
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There are really two different tacks you can take here:
Doting for example, implies “excessively fond” and the implication can easily be taken to the extreme of doing things out of love rather than propriety.
He was cared for by his doting mother who acceded to his every whim.
Or you can take it from the standpoint of the asker being the ridiculous one:
...
1
You don’t want to have to jump through a lot of hoops:
to have to do a lot of things that seem difficult or unnecessary in order to achieve something — Colins
This idiom is appropriate in a wide variety of situations but here’s an example with computers:
Computers have learned to make us jump through hoops
Machines are supposed to be tools that ...
1
For a phrase more appropriate to software, I suggest bells and whistles:
[Merriam-Webster]
: items or features that are useful or decorative but not essential : FRILLS
// Sure, any car purchased in the future will have a battery of electronic assistants, but keeping the bells and whistles to a minimum and making them engage with the car will only ...
1
“ The words of a gossip are like choice food...”
(Proverbs 26:22 HCSB)
Moral lesson:
“Think before you swallow a spoken word into your heart.”
Comparing with the original post:
“Paper doesn’t refuse ink.”
This proverb points out a relationship between the elements of the medium that have no bearing on the worth of the written words. Like most proverbs, ...
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