proverb · Words worth keeping
A man laughs at others and weeps for himself.
A man laughs at others and weeps for himself.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Laughing at others and weeping for oneself contrasts responses to another person’s troubles and one’s own. It questions unequal sympathy.
Example
Someone notices that they dismissed another person’s difficulty but took a similar personal difficulty seriously.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
At others suggests the direction of laughter, while the supplied gloss describes hiding one’s pain behind a smile, a different idea. A qualified interpretation can examine self-centred reactions without asserting that everyone behaves this way or presuming motives from a single moment. Compassion need not stop at one’s own experience.
When to use it
Use it to discuss a specific imbalance in sympathy with the gloss difference clear.
Keep in mind
No universal selfishness or hidden-grief diagnosis is established.
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