proverb · Words worth keeping
Always taking out and never putting in, soon reaches the bottom.
Always taking out and never putting in, soon reaches the bottom.
In print by 1857 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
A supply is depleted when people continually draw from it without replenishment. The bottom of the container makes a limit visible, inviting attention to how a shared resource is maintained.
What the words are saying
The contrast is between taking out and putting in. A container cannot provide indefinitely if its contents only leave it. As an image for shared work or materials, the saying asks what renews the supply and who takes responsibility for that renewal. It does not establish that every recipient can contribute in the same way or at the same time. A fair arrangement considers different needs and capacities. Recognising a limit should lead to planning and care rather than blaming those who depend on what is available.
Everyday example
A craft group notices its shared supplies running low and agrees how purchases and donations will keep the next sessions possible.
When to use it
Use it to discuss how a finite supply or shared effort will be renewed.
What it does not mean
Different people have different capacities to contribute; scarcity is not proof that recipients are selfish.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional (Spanish-language collection)
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1857 AD · industrial
In print by 1857: recorded in A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857) (1857 AD)
Printed page 194; Spanish section, paragraph 4055; source wording: Adó sacan y non pon, presto llegan al hondon.
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.