proverb · Words worth keeping
Covetousness brings nothing home.
Covetousness brings nothing home.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Wanting more does not by itself produce a worthwhile gain. Desire must not be mistaken for the work or judgment needed to obtain something.
Example
Someone stops repeatedly comparing their possessions with a neighbour’s and decides what improvement they can actually work toward.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
Bringing something home suggests a tangible result, while covetousness describes an excessive wish to possess. The saying opposes an inward appetite to an outward achievement: concentrating on what others have can leave a person with no useful progress. It can encourage a shift from comparison or grasping to a realistic task. The broad statement is moral criticism rather than an economic law; it does not prove that every ambitious person fails, nor that people without resources simply wanted the wrong things.
When to use it
Use it to distinguish acquisitive wishing from constructive effort.
Keep in mind
Ambition and reasonable material needs are different from covetousness.
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