Words worth understanding
Start with the thought in plain English. Then examine its imagery, practical application and limitations.
2,058 selected entries have editorial explanations. An explanation is not independent authentication of an attribution. Start with the individually source-checked classics ↗
proverb · Traditional
A demand for status can conflict painfully with limited resources. The saying exposes that tension but should not be used to deny dignity to people in need.
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Being bound suggests an obligation that limits what a person may choose. The saying stresses the force of commitments, but its demand for obedience must be qualified by the actual terms, fairness and circumstances rather than treated as a universal command.
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An assurance costs little when the speaker has no intention of fulfilling it. The promised-payment image asks whether words are backed by genuine commitment, without treating every delay or unfulfilled promise as deliberate deception.
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The saying values present life through its relation to a life beyond it. It expresses a religious priority rather than a factual dismissal of worldly relationships and needs.
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People who have comparable faults should be careful about attacking others for theirs. The glass-house image warns against careless accusation and invites self-examination, without making accountability depend on a critic being perfect.
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A critic may display the very fault they condemn in someone else. The two birds turn an accusation back on its speaker and invite a closer look at the critic’s own conduct.
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The saying expresses trust that divine care supports a person who uses resources well. A good spender’s imagined treasurer turns provision into a religious image.
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Giving generously while retaining what is needed calls for judgement. Consider both the recipient’s need and your own commitments rather than treating generosity as either giving everything or refusing everything.
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Refusing to engage can prevent rude speech from controlling a conversation. Deaf ears represent a deliberate choice to withhold attention from an insult.
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Freedom without regard for consequences or shared responsibilities can undermine a situation. The saying warns about excess rather than defining every legitimate limit.
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Well-founded praise can gain lasting recognition. Roots and growth picture an appreciation that develops because others find it credible.
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Criticism does not by itself disprove a true claim. The saying distinguishes hostility toward a statement from the evidence that makes it accurate.
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Responding to a wrong with another wrong does not make the first one fair or repair it. Accountability should address the harm without repeating it.
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Attention to an impressive image does not itself produce useful results. Compare claims of distinction with the work or benefit that would give those claims substance.
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Harmful conduct can continue more easily when hidden from appropriate scrutiny. The nourishment image suggests concealment sustaining a problem.
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Promises made in a crisis can be forgotten once the pressure passes. Storm and calm contrast the urgency that prompts a vow with the ease that tests its durability.
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Material comfort does not by itself provide knowledge, judgment or considerate conduct. The contrast separates receiving resources from the learning and relationships that help a person use them well.
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Actions can produce consequences connected with what was done. Sowing and reaping picture a relationship between preparation and the resulting harvest.
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A person may say while drinking what they usually hold back. The saying contrasts restraint with a moment in which private thoughts are voiced.
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Someone may offer an incidental excuse to cover a mistake. The musician’s supposed crumb illustrates avoiding an admission, without making every interruption dishonest or allowing an observer to infer deception from a pause alone.
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Unexpected quiet is treated as a reason to suspect children have done something wrong. The saying plays on an adult’s expectation of activity, but silence alone is not evidence of misconduct; a calm, curious check is fairer than an accusation.
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A person may betray someone whose work helped them. The roof-thatching image makes ingratitude vivid by turning the helper’s position into a vulnerability.
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The saying imagines thunder frightening a wrongdoer into honesty. It questions whether conduct changes only under the pressure of a dramatic warning.
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Older people who set a poor example can undermine the lessons offered to the young. The saying connects guidance with the conduct of those giving it.
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