proverb · Words worth keeping
Don't run away with more than you can carry.
Don't run away with more than you can carry.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Taking on more than you can manage may leave the whole undertaking insecure. The carrying image encourages matching commitments to capacity, while recognising that assistance, tools or a different arrangement can change what is manageable.
Example
A volunteer offered several new responsibilities agrees to one, discusses support for another and postpones the third until the earlier work is settled.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
The person runs away with a load that may exceed what they can carry. Beyond the literal image, the warning concerns responsibilities or opportunities accepted without enough attention to their combined demands. A commitment can look attractive while the time or support needed to fulfil it remains uncertain. The useful response checks the load before adding to it and considers which parts can be shared, reduced or delayed. Capacity is not a permanent personal ranking. Circumstances and resources can change it. The proverb asks for a workable arrangement rather than forbidding ambition or treating a request for help as failure.
When to use it
Use it when the combined demands of new commitments may exceed available support.
Keep in mind
Capacity can change with support; assess the actual load without treating ambition or asking for help as a fault.
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