If you were wondering how to make comparison in Japanese, well wonder no more. We will learn how to use 「方」 and 「より」 to make comparisons between two things. We will also learn other uses of 「方」 and 「よる」 along the way.
The noun 「方」 is read as 「ほう」 when it is used to mean a direction or orientation. It can also be read as 「かた」 when it is used as a politer version of 「人」. But that's neither here nor there. When we use 「方」 to mean direction, we can use it for comparison by saying one way of things is better, worse, etc., than the other way. Grammatically, it works just like any other regular nouns.
Use it with nouns by utilizing the 「の」 particle.
Grammatically, it's no different from a regular noun.
For non-negative verbs, you can also use the past tense to add more certainty and confidence, particularly when making suggestions.
The same thing does not apply for negative verbs.
The negative verb is only in the past tense when the comparison is of something that happened in the past.
You can think of 「より」 as being the opposite of 「方」. It means, "rather than" or "as opposed to". It attaches directly to the back of any word. It is usually used in conjunction with 「方」 to say something like, "This way is better as opposed to that way."
For those curious about the meaning of the proverb, dango is a sweet doughy treat usually sold at festivals. The proverb is saying that people prefer this treat to watching the flowers, referring to the 「花見」 event where people go out to see the cherry blossoms (and get smashed). The deeper meaning of the proverb, like all good proverbs, depends on how you apply it.
Of course, there is no rule that 「より」 must be used with 「方」. The other way of things can be gleaned from context.
鈴木：毎日仕事に行くのが嫌だ。
Suzuki: I don't like going to work everyday.
スミス：仕事がないよりましだよ。
Smith: It's not as bad as opposed to not having a job.
Words associated with 「より」 do not need any tense. Notice in the following sentence that 「食べる」 in front of 「より」 is present tense even though 「食べる」 in front of 「方」 is past tense.
You can also use 「より」 with question words such as 「誰」、「何」、or 「どこ」 to make a superlative by comparing with everything or everybody else. In this case, though not required, it is common to include the 「も」 particle.
You can also attach 「方」 to the stem of verbs to express a way to do that verb. In this usage, 「方」 is read as 「かた」 and the result becomes a noun. For example, 「行き方」（いきかた） means, "the way to go" or 「食べ方」（たべかた）means, "the way to eat". This expression is probably what you want to use when you want to ask how to do something.
When verbs are transformed to this form, the result becomes a noun clause. Sometimes, this requires a change of particles. For instance, while 「行く」 usually involves a target (the 「に」 or 「へ」 particle), since 「行き方」 is a noun clause, example 1 becomes 「新宿の行き方」 instead of the familiar 「新宿に行く」.
When you want to say, "depending on [X]", you can do this in Japanese by simply attaching 「によって」 to [X].
This is simply the te-form of 「よる」 as seen by the following simple exchange.
和子：今日は飲みに行こうか？
Kazuko: Shall we go drinking today?
大樹：それは、裕子によるね。
Daiki: That depends on Yuuko.
Another expression using 「よる」 is by using it with the target and the decided conditional 「と」 to indicate a source of information. In English, this would translate to "according to [X]" where 「によると」 is attached to [X].