First you must understand what is meant by the phrase "Old Wives Tale". The general meaning is a long held statement that was once thought to be a truth but discovered to be false or just a false belief.

For example it was once thought that women could not learn as well or as much as men could and as a result an "Old Wives Tale" stated that in school girls could only be expected to learn of art appreciation or things that pertained to keeping house. The tale was girls or women can't learn math and science only boys and men could. In the more enlightened time we know that to be blatantly false but still some cling to that old wives tale as if it were an undisputable truth.

How about "An apple a day keeps the doctor away?" While certainly eating an apple every day might be healthy and good for you we all know that it will not prevent all illness or injury so it will not "keep the doctor away". What about it being unlucky to open an umbrella indoors, or breaking a mirror causing you to have 7 years of bad luck.

I know you can probably think of many many more examples; fore there are still hundreds of them in use.

If an "Old Wives Tale" is a falsehood what then is a" Pearl of Wisdom?"

A "Pearl of Wisdom" is often considered to be a statement meant to inspire. It usually is a truth that has stood the test of time without having been proven to be wrong.

One famous "Pearl of Wisdom" states that "All men (and women) are created equally". What this means, basically, it that from the moment you are born you have equal opportunity to learn or grow as a person, an equal chance to go from rags to riches or riches to rags. It means that weather you are born rich or poor you are born with the same opportunities if only you recognize this truth and pursue what you want to achieve.

I guess you could say that Pearls of Wisdom are truths that are passed down through generations so that future generations can learn them without having to discover them.