A wooden leg is better than no leg. [ Proverb ]

He begs a blessing of a wooden god. [ Proverb ]

To the counsel of fools a wooden bell. [ English Proverb, collected by George Herbert ]

Will any hang a wooden kettle over the fire? [ Proverb ]

He escaped hemp, but deserved a wooden halter. [ Proverb ]

The lyric poet may drink wine and live generously, but the epic poet, who shall sing of the gods and their descent unto men, must drink water out of a wooden bowl. [ Ralph Waldo Emerson ]

We are never without a pilot. When we know not how to steer, and dare not hoist a sail, we can drift. The current knows the way, though we do not. The ship of heaven guides itself, and will not accept a wooden rudder. [ Emerson ]

If all fools had baubles* we should want fuel. (*The fool or jester carried in his hand a wooden sceptre called a bauble. It was a short stick ornamented at the end with the figure of a fool's head, or with that of a puppet or doll. Jesters were still retained in Herbert's day.) [ English Proverb, collected by George Herbert ]