proverb · Words worth keeping
A fat kitchen, a lean will.
A fat kitchen, a lean will.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Spending heavily on present comforts can leave fewer resources for later purposes. A generous kitchen is contrasted with a small remainder.
What the words are saying
Fat and lean give opposite shapes to present consumption and what remains afterward. The kitchen stands for abundant enjoyment, while the will pictures the resources eventually left to others. The saying can prompt thought about a balance between today’s pleasures and future intentions. It does not require refusing hospitality or preserving every resource for an inheritance. Nor is it a rule about legal documents. Its useful application concerns whether a particular pattern of spending fits the purposes a person has chosen.
Everyday example
Someone realises that repeated elaborate events are using resources they had intended for a future project.
When to use it
Use it to compare present consumption with a stated longer-term purpose.
What it does not mean
It is not inheritance or financial advice, and enjoying resources is not inherently wasteful.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases
Entry 895 · Kitchen
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English