A PROVERB IS "A SHORT, GENERALLY known sentence of the folk which contains wisdom, truth, morals, and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed and memorizable form and which is handed down from generation to generation." "Elections have consequences" is such an expression--a pithy statement that sums up assumed and common wisdom, like "a stitch in time saves nine," "measure twice, cut once," and "drive for show, putt for dough."