proverb · Words worth keeping
He that lives not well one year sorrows for it seven.
He that lives not well one year sorrows for it seven.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
A period of careless or wrongful living can have consequences that last longer than the period itself. One year and seven years create an exaggerated contrast in duration.
What the words are saying
The unequal numbers make the aftermath larger than the action that produced it. The saying can warn about habits or decisions whose repair takes sustained effort. It asks a person to look beyond an immediate choice and consider what may follow. The figures are rhetorical rather than a schedule for punishment, and living well can mean different things in different contexts. A useful reading identifies the avoidable conduct at issue while allowing room for repair, forgiveness and change instead of treating a mistake as a fixed destiny.
Everyday example
Someone neglects an important commitment for a short time and later spends much longer rebuilding the trust affected.
When to use it
Use it to discuss lasting consequences of a specific avoidable choice.
What it does not mean
The numbers are not a prediction, and past mistakes need not determine a whole life.
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
- A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases
Entry 984 · Lives
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English