proverb · Words worth keeping
Covetousness brings nothing home.
Covetousness brings nothing home.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Wanting more does not by itself produce a worthwhile gain. Desire must not be mistaken for the work or judgment needed to obtain something.
What the words are saying
Bringing something home suggests a tangible result, while covetousness describes an excessive wish to possess. The saying opposes an inward appetite to an outward achievement: concentrating on what others have can leave a person with no useful progress. It can encourage a shift from comparison or grasping to a realistic task. The broad statement is moral criticism rather than an economic law; it does not prove that every ambitious person fails, nor that people without resources simply wanted the wrong things.
Everyday example
Someone stops repeatedly comparing their possessions with a neighbour’s and decides what improvement they can actually work toward.
When to use it
Use it to distinguish acquisitive wishing from constructive effort.
What it does not mean
Ambition and reasonable material needs are different from covetousness.
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 338 · Covetousness
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English