proverb · Traditional
Doing nothing is doing ill.
Failing to act can be harmful when a real responsibility calls for action. The saying draws attention to omission rather than only to obvious misconduct.
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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.
4,000 entries with editorial explanations. The wider collection also contains entries still awaiting an individual interpretation.
861 matching explanations
proverb · Traditional
Don’t ask a hungry man to watch your rice.
A hungry person asked to guard rice depicts an avoidable conflict between immediate need and an assigned responsibility. The saying asks whether circumstances fit the task.
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Don’t bite off more than you can chew.
Taking a bite too large to chew compares excessive commitment with more food than can be managed. It asks that responsibilities match available capacity.
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Don't blow your own trumpet.
The instruction warns against blowing one’s own trumpet. It discourages conspicuous self-praise.
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Don’t bother to speak if nobody is there to listen.
Speech discouraged when nobody listens makes reception part of communication’s purpose. The saying questions effort directed at an absent or unavailable audience.
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Don’t build castles in the air.
Castles built in the air picture plans without a foundation. The saying warns against treating imagined possibilities as though they were already feasible.
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Don’t catch a leopard by the tail; but if you do, don’t let go.
A leopard’s tail not to be caught but then not released pictures a perilous entanglement once begun. The saying contrasts avoiding a situation with the difficulty of leaving it.
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Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched.
The saying warns against counting chickens before the eggs hatch. It cautions against treating an expected result as already secured.
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Don’t cut the bough you are standing on.
The saying warns against cutting the branch one stands on. As an analogy, it questions an action that destroys the support for one’s own position.
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Don’t fix it, If it aren’t broke.
The saying advises leaving a functioning thing alone instead of repairing it unnecessarily. It questions changes made without an identified problem.
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Don’t have too many irons in the fire.
The saying warns against having too many irons in a fire. As an analogy, it questions taking on more simultaneous undertakings than can be attended to.
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Don’t make a goat your gardener!
A goat appointed gardener gives responsibility an image of interests that may undermine a task. The saying questions suitability for a role.
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Don’t make a rod for your own back.
Making a rod for one’s own back pictures creating an instrument that later causes oneself difficulty. It warns against a choice with burdensome consequences.
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Don’t need to cut the tree to get the fruit.
Getting fruit without cutting down its tree favours meeting a need while preserving its source. The saying questions a destructive way of obtaining a benefit.
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Don't put all of your eggs in one basket.
The saying keeps eggs from all being placed in one basket. As an analogy, avoid making every resource depend on one possible outcome.
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Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
The saying warns against putting every egg in one basket. As an analogy, it questions concentrating everything where one failure could affect the whole.
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Don't put all your eggs into one basket.
Avoid making everything depend on one uncertain option. Separating your commitments can reduce the damage if a single plan, relationship or resource fails.
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Don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today.
The instruction discourages postponing until tomorrow what can be done today. It gives timely action priority over unnecessary delay.
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Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
The saying advises doing today what can be done today. It discourages delaying a task merely because tomorrow is available.
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Don’t put the cart before the horse.
Putting a cart before its horse pictures things arranged in an unhelpful sequence. The saying asks that prerequisites come before what depends on them.
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Don't run away with more than you can carry.
Taking on more than you can manage may leave the whole undertaking insecure. The carrying image encourages matching commitments to capacity, while recognising that assistance, tools or a different arrangement can change what is manageable.
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Don’t speak to the man at the wheel.
The man at the wheel represents someone occupied with steering. The warning asks others to respect the attention that a demanding task may need.
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Don’t spread all the butter on your loaf.
All the butter spread on one loaf pictures using a supply in one place. A qualified reading asks whether resources should be reserved or shared rather than exhausted at once.
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Don’t squander opportunity.
The instruction warns against squandering an opportunity. It asks that a possible advantage not be lost through careless use or neglect.
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