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 (French-language collection)
Someone who refuses to use or share anything can experience possessions as perpetual scarcity. The saying criticises miserliness rather than people who lack resources.
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Meet obligations and treat people fairly before making impressive gifts. Generosity loses some of its value when it depends on withholding what another person is already owed.
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Care and generosity should include the people closest to you. Helping elsewhere does not excuse neglecting responsibilities to those who depend on you in everyday life.
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Help offered promptly can be especially valuable when timing matters. A useful contribution may lose much of its purpose if it arrives only after the need has passed.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
The speaker prefers a smaller benefit personally received to a larger one given elsewhere. The contrast exposes self-interest rather than establishing a fair rule of distribution.
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A small charitable gesture does not make a larger dishonest act acceptable. Consider where the benefit came from rather than letting a visible donation conceal the wrong that supplied it.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
A modest gift can still provide useful help. Its value depends on the recipient’s need and the way it is given, not only on its size.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
It is easy to be expansive with resources that belong to someone else. Obtain consent and respect limits instead of treating another person’s supplies as freely available.
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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.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (Spanish-language collection)
A small return can acknowledge a larger gift. The capon’s leg and wing make reciprocity modest, while leaving giving voluntary and avoiding the idea that every kindness creates a debt.
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The offer of cake to someone with a pie in the oven pictures giving where provision already exists. It invites attention to how help is distributed.
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A grateful response can invite generosity beyond the immediate request. The saying encourages welcome giving while keeping gratitude separate from entitlement, performance or a requirement to reward the giver.
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