proverb · Words worth keeping
Keep thy shop, and thy shop will keep thee.
Keep thy shop, and thy shop will keep thee.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Attend to the work that supports your livelihood. The shop is pictured as returning care through its ability to sustain the person who maintains it.
What the words are saying
Keeping the shop means giving the undertaking ongoing attention rather than expecting it to prosper without care. The reciprocal wording can encourage reliable service, maintenance and follow-through. It does not promise that diligence will guarantee an income: circumstances beyond the worker’s control can matter greatly. A careful reading concerns responsibilities that can reasonably be met, without making endless work a condition of worth.
Everyday example
A small team maintains its shared tools and responds reliably to requests instead of neglecting the work it depends on.
When to use it
Use it to encourage reasonable care for an ongoing livelihood or undertaking.
What it does not mean
Diligence does not guarantee income or justify harmful workloads.
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 1429 · Shop
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English