proverb · Words worth keeping
A fat kitchen, a lean will.
A fat kitchen, a lean will.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Spending heavily on present comforts can leave fewer resources for later purposes. A generous kitchen is contrasted with a small remainder.
Example
Someone realises that repeated elaborate events are using resources they had intended for a future project.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
Fat and lean give opposite shapes to present consumption and what remains afterward. The kitchen stands for abundant enjoyment, while the will pictures the resources eventually left to others. The saying can prompt thought about a balance between today’s pleasures and future intentions. It does not require refusing hospitality or preserving every resource for an inheritance. Nor is it a rule about legal documents. Its useful application concerns whether a particular pattern of spending fits the purposes a person has chosen.
When to use it
Use it to compare present consumption with a stated longer-term purpose.
Keep in mind
It is not inheritance or financial advice, and enjoying resources is not inherently wasteful.
An interpretation of the words, not a claim about their 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
- Date unknown
- Culture
- English