proverb · Words worth keeping
Better to be poor and healthy rather than rich and sick.
Better to be poor and healthy rather than rich and sick.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying prefers poverty with health to wealth with sickness. It ranks well-being above material possessions in its comparison.
What the words are saying
The two alternatives express a value judgment, not a complete account of life’s choices. A responsible reading appreciates health without romanticising deprivation or reducing a sick person’s dignity. Resources can matter, and the phrase establishes no treatment or financial recommendation.
Everyday example
A reader considers values beyond money while still recognising genuine resource and care needs.
When to use it
Use it to examine a value comparison without ranking people’s worth.
What it does not mean
No universal trade-off, treatment or judgment of human worth from health and wealth is established.
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
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- Contributor-provided proverb reference
Supplied reference A; unit 735; PDF page 105
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.