proverb · Words worth keeping
Bread and water is better than cake and trouble.
Bread and water is better than cake and trouble.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Bread and water preferred to cake with trouble contrasts a simple option with an attractive but burdensome one. The saying values peace beyond luxury.
Example
Someone chooses a suitable simpler arrangement after considering the demands of an elaborate alternative.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
The image is not a nutrition rule or a reason to accept inadequate essentials. A useful application compares actual needs and attached difficulties rather than assuming every pleasure brings trouble. Modesty and comfort can both be chosen without ranking a person’s worth through possessions.
When to use it
Use it as a qualified needs-and-burdens comparison, not diet guidance.
Keep in mind
No nutritional adequacy or virtue through deprivation 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
Russia
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin.- Historical period
- Date unknown
- Culture
- Russia