proverb · Words worth keeping
Arms and money require good hands.
Arms and money require good hands.
In print by 1857 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
Powerful resources need capable and responsible handling. Arms and money put means with serious consequences beside the hands that decide how to use them.
What the words are saying
The resources alone do not guarantee a good result; the hands are part of the saying’s judgement. Good can involve skill, care and responsibility, rather than possession or status by itself. In a nonviolent setting, equipment or funds may increase the effects of a poor decision as readily as a sound one. Ask who is accountable, what knowledge is needed and how errors are checked. The source supplies no technical instruction about weapons or investing.
Everyday example
A group appoints a trained operator for borrowed equipment and agrees who will check its condition before and after use.
When to use it
Use it to connect access to consequential resources with competent, accountable handling.
What it does not mean
Possession does not prove competence; the saying is not guidance about weapons or investment decisions.
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 (Spanish-language collection)
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1857 AD · industrial
In print by 1857: recorded in A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857). 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
- A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857) (1857 AD)
Printed page 202; Spanish section, paragraph 4202; source wording: Armas y dineros buenas manos quieren.
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.