proverb · Words worth keeping
He sins as much who holds the bag as he who puts into it.
He sins as much who holds the bag as he who puts into it.
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
Holding the bag is placed beside putting things into it, extending responsibility to a person who knowingly enables wrongdoing.
What the words are saying
The two roles distinguish the direct act from the assistance that makes it possible. The saying treats support as morally significant rather than automatically neutral. Its useful reading asks what a person knew, what they contributed and what choices they actually had. It does not establish legal guilt or justify blaming an uninformed bystander. Responsibility needs evidence and attention to pressure, intent and the circumstances of participation.
Everyday example
A participant refuses to keep equipment hidden after learning that it was taken without permission.
When to use it
Use it to examine knowingly assisting a harmful act.
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What it does not mean
No legal conclusion follows; knowledge, coercion and actual involvement require evidence.
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 (French-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 7; French section, paragraph 133; source wording: Autant pèche celui qui tient le sac que celui qui met dedans.
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.