Words worth understanding
Start with the thought in plain English. Then explore the imagery, a practical example, when to use it, and what the saying does not mean.
4,000 entries with editorial explanations. The wider collection also contains entries still awaiting an individual interpretation.
proverb · Traditional
One person can bear the cost of a display while another enjoys the benefit. The contrast questions whether extravagant hospitality serves the person paying for it.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
Buying more than is useful can leave someone needing to dispose of the excess. The proverb points to the consequences of an unnecessary acquisition rather than proving that resale is the only remedy.
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A forgotten debt remaining unpaid distinguishes memory from completion of an obligation. The saying warns that ignoring a matter does not resolve it.
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Do not abandon a worthwhile opportunity solely because of a smaller necessary cost. The toll pictures a limited expense on the way to a larger purpose.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Fortune compared with variable olive abundance pictures changing circumstances. The saying contrasts plentiful periods with times of little or nothing.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
A change in circumstances can remove benefits that depended on those circumstances. Distinguish an external advantage from the skills, relationships or values that may remain.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying makes a tailor’s pocket sound lively with very little money and a thimble. The small contents contrast with the impression created by their jingle.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Frogs not drinking their whole pond picture use that leaves the supporting resource available. The saying connects consumption with the conditions sustaining it.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Managing what you have carefully can be a resource in itself. Frugality is compared to owning an estate because it helps existing means go further.
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Care with resources now may make later life less burdensome. The easy chair pictures comfort made possible by earlier restraint.
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The instruction asks for money to be obtained honestly if possible. Its condition makes honesty sound like a preference rather than a firm limit.
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Getting what is available and keeping what is owned presented as a route to riches values accumulation and retention. The saying offers a simple material strategy.
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Acquiring and keeping resources is presented as a route to greater prosperity. The promised transformation of lead into gold gives that advice an extravagant image.
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Charity never impoverishing anyone gives generosity an emphatic promise that giving does not diminish the giver. The saying praises sharing.
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Giving to people in need is pictured as enriching the giver. That increase may be understood as moral or communal value rather than a promised material return.
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The saying gives ironic attention to the rich while treating begging as a sufficient answer for the poor. A critical reading exposes the unequal concern rather than endorsing it.
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God saving money and the devil spending it gives thrift and expenditure opposing moral figures. The saying expresses a severe value judgment about resources.
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Money by itself does not constitute a fully flourishing life. Other conditions can matter, while having sufficient material resources remains a real and legitimate need.
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The prospect of wealth can distract people from relevant facts or objections. The saying warns about distorted judgement, without proving that every person will ignore evidence when money is involved.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Money can open many worldly doors, but the saying denies it the same power over Heaven. It contrasts material influence with spiritual worth, rather than describing a purchase that guarantees access everywhere.
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Gold having a price and learning being beyond price contrast market value with an immeasurable benefit. The saying gives understanding an elevated importance.
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Lent gold leaving with laughter and returning in tears contrasts the pleasure of lending with possible difficulty at repayment. It gives money an emotional journey.
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The saying praises good ale as food, drink and clothing at once. Its extravagant list imagines one comfort supplying several kinds of provision.
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A fair amount can make an exchange satisfactory to those involved. Good measure connects accuracy and generosity with a happier arrangement.
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