What wisdom can a cookie bring?
\u00a9 Comstock Images\/Stockbyte<\/p><\/div>\n

Can Cookie Proverbs and Sayings Change Your Life?<\/h2>\n

We are often drawn to a peek at the future, whether fueled by fact or fantasy, proverbs or sayings, instinct or reason.<\/p>\n

We shake the Magic 8 Ball to answer our important YES\/NO questions and get answers such as \u201cSigns point to yes,\u201d \u201cOutlook not so good,\u201d or the annoyingly evasive \u201cReply hazy. Try again later.\u201d (Was this a forerunner to sassy Siri?)<\/p>\n

We sit in silence between worlds with our Ouija board and call on the spirits to guide us. We have our palms read or consult our horoscopes.<\/p>\n

Many ways to glimpse the future
\u00a9 iStock<\/p><\/div>\n

We study the colorful tarot cards for a glimpse of meaning about the past, present, and future, with messages from The High Priestess, The\u00a0Hermit, The Magician, or The Wheel of Fortune.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most common oracle in the U.S. comes in the form of a cookie\u2014the fortune cookie that arrives at the end of a meal at American Chinese restaurants or with every order of Chinese takeout.<\/p>\n

We crack open the folded cookie and pause for a moment, wondering how the words on that tiny piece of paper might have meaning in our life. Or are they just a nice way to end a Chinese meal?<\/p>\n

Is our personal fortune likely to find us?
\u00a9 jerkaejc\/iStock<\/p><\/div>\n

The Words of Fortune<\/h4>\n

The tweet-like messages range from poetic to practical, from vague enough to be true for anyone to specifics that can seem eerily prophetic.<\/p>\n

The language of the fortune cookie is intended to be universal\u2014inspirational proverbs and sayings, thought-provoking riddles, humorous comments on contemporary culture, and translations of traditional Chinese philosophy.<\/p>\n

Universal inspiration
\u00a9 EKaterina79\/iStock<\/p><\/div>\n

The writing strategy at Wonton Food, the largest producer of fortune cookies in the U.S., sheds some light and provides some \u201cOh, I see\u201d moments\u00a0<\/strong>about the fine art of fortune writing.<\/p>\n

The company ships nearly 5 million cookies a day to Chinese restaurants all over the U.S. They have a simple goal. They want people to finish their meal with a positive message.<\/p>\n

A philosophy for any culture
\u00a9 Angela King-Jones\/iStock<\/p><\/div>\n

Donald Lau, the sole Wonton Food fortune writer for decades has passed the pen to a new writer. But his philosophy is still at the heart of the messages.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they eat their fortune cookie, I want the customers to open the fortune, read it, maybe laugh, and leave the restaurant happy,\u201d Mr. Lau says, \u201cSo that they come back again next week.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company has experimented with more \u201ccautious\u201d messages\u2014reflecting the ups and downs of real life\u2014 but feedback from customers sent them back to more positive messages.<\/p>\n

Who wants this real-life fortune?
\u00a9 Robeo\/iStock<\/p><\/div>\n

Messages like \u201cThere may be a crisis looming\u2014be ready for it,\u201d \u201cYour luck is just not there\u2014 attend to practical matters today,\u201d and \u201cIt\u2019s over your head now. Time to get some professional help\u201d were a bit of a downer.<\/p>\n

The company also retired the iconic \u201cYou will meet a tall, dark stranger\u201d as it sounded a bit too ominous.<\/p>\n

Now, the fortunes are more philosophical than predictive. Some messages include a Chinese language lesson (an easy way to expand your Chinese vocabulary), as well as a string of lucky numbers.<\/p>\n

Motivational guidance
\u00a9 Nicolesy\/iStock<\/p><\/div>\n

The lucky number sequence can be used in many ways\u2014most often for lotteries or gambling investments.<\/p>\n

Wonton Food still remembers providing winning Powerball numbers in one random fortune number sequence in 2005. The 110 winners who shared $19 million in prize money had all heeded the lucky numbers of their Wonton Food fortunes. They will long remember that happy ending to a Chinese meal.<\/p>\n

Sometimes we wish for this kind of good fortune.
\u00a9 Photodisc<\/p><\/div>\n

Fortune Cookie History<\/h4>\n

The origins of the fortune cookie are murky. Some say the original idea came from China during the Ming Dynasty, when warriors delivered secret strategies inside tea cakes. Others trace the roots to Japan where rice cakes with fortunes inside (called tsujiura senbei<\/em>) were sold near shrines.<\/p>\n

Most everyone agrees that Chinese and Japanese immigrants to the U.S. in the early 1900s brought the idea to America and popularized the concept at Chinese restaurants.<\/p>\n

One theory is that Makoto Hagiwara, with the San Francisco Japanese Tea Garden, created the cookies in 1907. Another theory gives credit to David Jung, who distributed the cookies from his noodle company in Los Angeles in 1916.<\/p>\n

Sometimes there is just no answer.
\u00a9 Robert Kacpura\/iStock<\/p><\/div>\n

Whichever the origin, fortune cookies gained popularity in the U.S. after WW II and became a staple at Chinese restaurants throughout the country.<\/p>\n

And, while you will occasionally spot fortune cookies in the U.K. and Europe, they are a decidedly American phenomenon . . . and, ironically, still rare in China.<\/p>\n

If at first you don’t succeed, keep searching for that perfect fortune.
\u00a9 Yeko Photo Studio\/iStock<\/p><\/div>\n

Lasting Memories from One Smart Cookie<\/h4>\n

Most of us have had a fortune cookie saying that stays with us. Either we carry it in our wallet because it was so inspirational or we remember the cookie moment and the people with whom we shared the special fortune.<\/p>\n

Here are some of my favorites:<\/p>\n

\n
• The fortune you seek is in another cookie.<\/li>\n
• If you look back, you\u2019ll soon be going that way.<\/li>\n
• Do not mistake temptation for opportunity.<\/li>\n
• If a turtle doesn\u2019t have a shell, is it naked or homeless?<\/li>\n
• Don\u2019t let statistics do a number on you.<\/li>\n
• You will be hungry again in one hour.<\/li>\n
• That wasn\u2019t chicken.<\/li>\n
• Actions speak louder than fortune cookies.<\/li>\n
• Patience will find you this week. Wait for it.<\/li>\n
• Why not treat yourself to a good time instead of waiting for someone else to do it?<\/li>\n
• Ask not what your fortune cookie can do for you but what you can do for your fortune cookie.<\/li>\n
• Confucius say: If you think we\u2019re going to sum up your whole life on this little bit of paper, you\u2019re crazy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  Perhaps the best of all the proverbs and sayings is found in Iris Smyles\u2019 New Yorker\u00a0<\/em>list of creative fortune cookie messages:<\/p>\n

  One day you will think to yourself, If only I could meet someone who understands me as well as this fortune cookie does.<\/em><\/p>\n

  Don\u2019t worry. All signs point to YES.<\/p>\n

  

  Good luck!
  \u00a9 Brand X Pictures\/Stockbyte<\/p><\/div>\n

  Thank you to the New York Times article<\/a> by Jennifer 8. Lee, to the Time Magazine article<\/a> by Olivia B. Waxman, and to the New Yorker article<\/a> by Iris Smyles. For more information on the making of fortune cookies, visit the Wonton Food website.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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