proverb · Traditional
To each his own.
The phrase allows each person their own preference. It recognises that people may value or enjoy different things.
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What does it mean?
Start with the thought in plain English. Then explore the imagery, a practical example, when to use it, and what the saying does not mean.
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134 matching explanations
proverb · Traditional
To Travel is to Live.
The saying equates travel with living. It presents journeys as a particularly vivid or meaningful experience of life.
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True happiness lies in what is eternal.
True happiness located in what is eternal gives lasting or transcendent value priority over passing experience. The saying expresses an ideal of permanence.
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Viewed from a distance, everything is beautiful.
Everything looking beautiful from a distance gives separation an idealising effect. The saying questions judgments made without close experience.
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Welcome is the best dish on the table.
A sincere welcome can contribute more to an enjoyable visit than an impressive offering. Calling welcome the best dish values inclusion and warmth, while leaving room for the practical needs that make participation possible.
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What one hopes for is always better than what one has.
What is hoped for always ranked above what is already held gives imagined possibilities an advantage over present reality. The saying examines the appeal of anticipation.
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When pleasure interferes with business, give up business.
Giving up business when it interferes with pleasure reverses the usual expectation that work should take priority. The saying makes enjoyment the preferred value.
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When the moon is shining, the cripple becomes hungry for a walk.
Moonlight making a person described with a disability term want to walk gives a welcome setting an image of renewed desire. The saying links atmosphere with participation.
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Where music is no harm can be.
Music is pictured as creating harmony or a peaceful atmosphere. The saying idealises an experience rather than guaranteeing that no harm can occur around it.
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Where the will is ready, the feet are light.
Willing participation can make an action feel easier to begin. Light feet picture the energy associated with wanting to take part.
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Who sings drives away care.
Singing can offer a welcome diversion from worry. The saying celebrates that relief without establishing that a song removes every burden.
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Why am I loth to leave this earthly scene? / Have I so found it full of pleasing charms? / Some drops of joy with draughts of ill between; / Some gleams of sunshine 'mid renewing storms.
The speaker wonders why life remains so hard to let go of when its pleasures have been brief and its difficulties frequent. It is a reflection on attachment to an imperfect life.
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Why wait for the storm to pass when you can go and dance in the rain?
Dancing in rain instead of waiting out a storm pictures finding enjoyment amid imperfect conditions. The saying asks whether life must be postponed until every difficulty ends.
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Yule is good on Yule even.
A celebration fits its own occasion. The saying links the enjoyment of Yule with the time set aside for it rather than treating festivity as suitable for every moment.
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