proverb · Words worth keeping
He gathers up ashes and scatters flour.
He gathers up ashes and scatters flour.
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
Saving a comparatively slight thing while wasting something more valuable reverses sensible priorities. The ashes and flour contrast asks whether apparent carefulness protects what actually matters in the situation.
What the words are saying
The person gathers the ashes but scatters the flour. The image places care and waste side by side, suggesting that attention has been directed toward the wrong object. Applied to a task, an impressive small saving may be offset by neglect of a more important need. Ask what value is actually being preserved and what the choice costs elsewhere. This is not a claim that ashes are always useless or that flour has the same value in every circumstance. The comparison works by examining priorities within a particular setting.
Everyday example
A team spends hours polishing an optional label while neglecting the instructions people need to use its service, then changes its priorities.
When to use it
Use it to compare a small apparent saving with a larger neglected need.
What it does not mean
Value depends on context; examine the actual tradeoff rather than treating any category as automatically worthless.
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 197; Spanish section, paragraph 4103; source wording: Allegador de la ceniza y deramador de la harina.
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.