proverb · Words worth keeping
He is not escaped who drags his chain.
He is not escaped who drags his chain.
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
Leaving a place or situation may not end the constraint it imposed. Notice what obligations, habits or pressures still limit a person after departure.
What the words are saying
The person has escaped the immediate enclosure but still drags its chain. That remaining attachment makes the escape incomplete in a practical sense. The image can describe an unresolved debt, an ongoing obligation or a pattern learned in a restrictive setting. It encourages identifying the specific constraint rather than assuming that physical distance or a new title has solved everything. Support and gradual changes may be needed. The saying does not show that a person caused their own confinement, nor does it make recovery a simple matter of deciding to feel free.
Everyday example
Someone changes jobs but keeps answering messages from their former workplace until they agree a clear end to that responsibility.
When to use it
Use it to identify a remaining constraint after an apparent escape.
What it does not mean
Some constraints are imposed by other people or material conditions. Do not turn the metaphor into blame for difficulties a person cannot simply discard.
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 (French-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 24; French section, paragraph 484; source wording: Il n’est pas échappé qui traîne son lien.
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.