proverb · Words worth keeping
A friend in court makes the process short.
A friend in court makes the process short.
In print by 1893 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Someone familiar with a decision-making process may help another person navigate it more quickly. The saying can describe useful guidance, but it also invites questions about favouritism and unequal access.
What the words are saying
The friend in court stands close to people or procedures that an outsider finds difficult to reach. Their knowledge or willingness to speak can shorten a process that otherwise feels obscure. A broad reading concerns access to any organised group, not only a courtroom. Help can be legitimate when it explains the same procedure available to everyone. It becomes troubling when a private connection replaces fair consideration or exempts someone from shared rules. The sentence records the advantage a connection may supply; it does not establish that the advantage is deserved. Its application should distinguish guidance from a favour that disadvantages others.
Everyday example
A committee member explains where a newcomer should submit a proposal.
When to use it
Use it to discuss how connections affect access.
What it does not mean
A quicker process is not necessarily a fairer one.
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 proverb
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1893 AD · industrial
In print by 1893: recorded in Dictionary of Quotations (1893). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- Dictionary of Quotations (1893) (1893 AD)
Printed citation: Pr. · page_006
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.