proverb · Words worth keeping
Advisers are not the payers.
Advisers are not the payers.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The person offering advice may not bear its cost. Consider who will pay, work or face the consequences before accepting a recommendation, without dismissing useful outside judgement.
Example
A volunteer group asks how an ambitious event suggestion would affect the people responsible for funding, preparation and cleanup before agreeing to it.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
The advisers and the payers occupy different positions in the saying. A recommendation can sound simple to someone who will not supply the money, time or effort it requires. Bring those consequences into the discussion and let the people affected weigh them. This does not make every adviser careless or require an adviser to share every expense. The point is to make the distance between recommending and bearing a burden visible, so a decision can include both useful knowledge and the experience of those who must carry it out.
When to use it
Use it to make the costs and responsibilities of a recommendation explicit.
Keep in mind
Outside advice can be valuable; assess its reasoning alongside the burdens it would place on others.
An interpretation of the words, not a claim about their earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional (French-language collection)
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Date unknown