proverb · Words worth keeping
An old fox need learn no craft.
An old fox need learn no craft.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying presents an old fox as already knowing craft. It values experience as a source of shrewdness or skill.
What the words are saying
Need learn no makes the experience seem complete. A qualified wider application can recognise useful familiarity without assuming older people cannot be misled or have nothing left to learn. The animal image does not establish fox behaviour or a person’s competence by age alone.
Everyday example
An experienced worker uses familiar knowledge while still checking what has changed in the current task.
When to use it
Use it to discuss experience with room for continued learning.
What it does not mean
Experience does not guarantee complete skill or immunity to deception.
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
- Contributor-provided proverb reference
Supplied reference A; unit 259; PDF page 41
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.