proverb · Words worth keeping
Horses run after benefices and asses get them.
Horses run after benefices and asses get them.
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
Those who pursue a reward may be passed over while less suitable recipients obtain it. Question how benefits are assigned without accepting the proverb’s insults as an assessment of people.
What the words are saying
The horses run after benefices, but the asses obtain them, creating a contrast between pursuit and reward. A benefice is the source’s particular benefit or office image; the explanation need not invent a historical incident behind it. In another setting, the comparison can question whether a selection reflects relevant effort, competence or fair criteria. The animals supply an insulting judgement, not evidence about actual candidates. Losing out does not prove the winner is unworthy, and effort alone does not decide every legitimate claim.
Everyday example
Applicants ask how a committee selected a role after its stated criteria seemed unrelated to the person appointed.
When to use it
Use it to ask whether a reward or appointment followed the criteria people were given.
What it does not mean
Avoid calling recipients foolish merely because someone else worked hard or wanted the same opportunity.
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 34; French section, paragraph 673; source wording: Les chevaux courent les bénéfices et les ânes les attrapent.
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.