proverb · Traditional
Covetousness brings nothing home.
Wanting more does not by itself produce a worthwhile gain. Desire must not be mistaken for the work or judgment needed to obtain something.
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861 matching explanations
proverb · Traditional
Craft bringeth nothing home.
Clever manipulation may fail to deliver a lasting benefit. Craft here suggests scheming, rather than the skill of making something well.
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Crooked logs make straight fires.
An imperfect-looking input can still serve a useful purpose. The crooked-log image challenges judging suitability by neatness alone, without making every flawed material adequate or excusing harmful conduct because it produces a desired result.
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Custom makes anything easy.
Familiarity and repetition can make an activity easier to manage. The word anything exaggerates that benefit, without proving that practice removes every difficulty or that lack of ease shows insufficient effort.
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Cut your coat according to the cloth.
The saying sizes a coat to the cloth available. As an analogy, shape an undertaking around the resources actually at hand.
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Deeds are fruits, words are but leaves.
Actions provide the useful result that words may only promise. Look for what has actually been done rather than judging commitment solely by an impressive statement of intention.
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Delays are dangerous.
Postponing a needed action can allow a problem to grow or an opportunity to close. Consider the consequences of waiting rather than assuming that delay preserves every option.
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Demand a task from a lazy person, and be ready to receive advice.
A supposedly lazy person answering a requested task with advice contrasts doing work with discussing how it might be done. The saying criticises talk that replaces an expected contribution.
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Demonstrate staying powerful.
The instruction asks for a demonstration of staying powerful. It values maintained capacity rather than merely claiming strength once.
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Desert and reward seldom keep company.
Doing something deserving does not guarantee a corresponding reward. The saying questions whether recognition follows merit, without making good work pointless or proving that every recognised person is undeserving.
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Desperate cuts must have desperate cures.
An extreme difficulty may call for a substantial response. The cutting-and-curing image stresses the scale of a problem, but it does not establish that a drastic action is justified or likely to succeed.
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Determination is not action.
Determination distinguished from action separates resolve from doing something. The saying questions treating an intention as completed work.
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Devil makes work for idle hands.
The saying has the devil find work for idle hands. It warns that unused time may be directed toward harmful conduct.
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Diligence is a good patrimony.
Steady effort can provide a lasting resource, much as an inheritance supplies something to build on. The proverb praises diligence as useful capital, without claiming that hard work removes unequal opportunities or guarantees material success.
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Do all the good you talk of; but talk not of all the good you do.
Follow through on the good you propose, and do not make every helpful act an occasion for self-praise. Let concern lead to useful conduct rather than only to declarations about your intentions.
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Do everything at the right time and one day will seem like three.
The saying makes well-timed action stretch one day into the apparent value of three. It praises suitable timing and coordination.
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Do not abstain from sowing for fear of the pigeons.
Some possible loss is not a reason to abandon an undertaking altogether. Compare the likely benefit and available protections with the cost of never starting.
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Do not hope to reach a destination without ever leaving the shore.
Reaching a destination without leaving shore is rejected as an expectation. The saying contrasts wanting a result with undertaking the journey it requires.
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Do not look where you fell, but where you slipped.
Attention directed where one slipped rather than fell gives a beginning cause priority over the final visible consequence. The saying asks how a setback started.
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Do not praise the beginning until you see the end.
The saying postpones praise for a beginning until its ending is known. It warns against treating a promising start as proof of a successful whole.
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Do not shorten the donkey’s tail in a crowd; some will say it’s too long, others that is too short.
A donkey’s tail judged both too long and too short in a crowd portrays conflicting opinions about one change. The saying warns that pleasing every observer may be impossible.
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Do not spur a free horse.
A willing contributor may not need additional pressure. The freely moving horse warns that unnecessary urging can strain cooperation, while still allowing clear expectations, constructive feedback and attention to whether help is needed.
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Do not steal a loaf from him that kneads and bakes.
Taking the product of someone’s work without permission wrongs the person who makes it. The kneading and baking bring the labour behind the loaf into view, rather than treating the finished thing as ownerless.
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Do not try to squeeze blood from a stone; God has not placed any in there.
Blood sought from a stone pictures an impossible demand on something lacking the required capacity. The reference to God gives the limitation a religious expression.
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