Words worth understanding
Start with the thought in plain English. Then examine its imagery, practical application and limitations.
2,058 selected entries have editorial explanations. An explanation is not independent authentication of an attribution. Start with the individually source-checked classics ↗
proverb · Traditional
The saying treats a surplus as unnecessary when a need has already been met. Its useful question is whether extra provision serves a purpose, while reserves, sharing and uncertain future needs may make more than the immediate minimum worthwhile.
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Wanting to deny another person a benefit can be more destructive than wanting an advantage for yourself. Notice when comparison turns a desire into resentment.
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Resenting another person’s advantage does not by itself improve your own situation. Notice what you need or can learn instead of treating someone else’s success as a resource you have lost.
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The saying makes evening leftovers useful as morning fodder. It presents material left over at one time as provision for a later use.
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Attention and assistance may flow towards those already well provided for while someone in greater need is neglected. The cooking image criticises that imbalance, without proving that every visible advantage is undeserved or that need can be judged from appearance alone.
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A new attraction can persuade people to find money or time they seemed unwilling to spare before. The new ale-house image comments on enthusiasm for novelty, rather than proving that everyone can afford it.
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Each participant is directed toward their own allotted provision. The trough image can express order but needs scrutiny if it is used to exclude someone unfairly.
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The saying pictures a fiddler’s reward as food, drink and money. It combines sustenance and payment in a compact account of what the performer receives.
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A later participant may benefit from work or expense already borne by someone else. Building and buying contrast creating an asset with acquiring the completed result.
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One person can bear the cost of a display while another enjoys the benefit. The contrast questions whether extravagant hospitality serves the person paying for it.
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Buying more than is useful can leave someone needing to dispose of the excess. The proverb points to the consequences of an unnecessary acquisition rather than proving that resale is the only remedy.
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Do not abandon a worthwhile opportunity solely because of a smaller necessary cost. The toll pictures a limited expense on the way to a larger purpose.
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A change in circumstances can remove benefits that depended on those circumstances. Distinguish an external advantage from the skills, relationships or values that may remain.
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The saying makes a tailor’s pocket sound lively with very little money and a thimble. The small contents contrast with the impression created by their jingle.
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Care with resources now may make later life less burdensome. The easy chair pictures comfort made possible by earlier restraint.
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Acquiring and keeping resources is presented as a route to greater prosperity. The promised transformation of lead into gold gives that advice an extravagant image.
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Giving to people in need is pictured as enriching the giver. That increase may be understood as moral or communal value rather than a promised material return.
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The saying gives ironic attention to the rich while treating begging as a sufficient answer for the poor. A critical reading exposes the unequal concern rather than endorsing it.
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Money by itself does not constitute a fully flourishing life. Other conditions can matter, while having sufficient material resources remains a real and legitimate need.
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The prospect of wealth can distract people from relevant facts or objections. The saying warns about distorted judgement, without proving that every person will ignore evidence when money is involved.
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Money can open many worldly doors, but the saying denies it the same power over Heaven. It contrasts material influence with spiritual worth, rather than describing a purchase that guarantees access everywhere.
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The saying praises good ale as food, drink and clothing at once. Its extravagant list imagines one comfort supplying several kinds of provision.
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A fair amount can make an exchange satisfactory to those involved. Good measure connects accuracy and generosity with a happier arrangement.
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The saying welcomes October wind for bringing acorns and mast within a hog’s reach. It judges a seasonal force through the provision it is imagined to supply.
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