He, who eats when full, digs his own grave with his teeth.
He, who eats when full, digs his own grave with his teeth.
Meaning in plain English
Eating when full compared with digging one’s grave through teeth warns about excess using a stark death image. The saying gives appetite a consequential frame.
Example
A reader considers when an optional activity has stopped being useful without using the image to judge someone’s eating.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
A responsible interpretation is not dietary instruction, a diagnosis or a prediction of death. Eating contexts and individual needs cannot be judged from this sentence. A qualified nonmedical application can examine whether continuing an optional activity still serves a purpose without shaming food or bodies.
When to use it
Use it only as a qualified excess image, without health guidance.
Keep in mind
No clinical outcome, eating prescription or body-based worth judgment is established.
Edsverb editorial interpretation · agent reviewed · 2026-10-05. This explains the saying; it does not establish its historical origin.
- Source
- Contributor-provided wisdom reference
Supplied reference B; unit 502; PDF page 47; collection label: Ottoman Empire/Turkey
Reuse and collection notes ↗ - Attribution confidence
- traditional · supplied collection
Preserved as printed; independently unverified. - Historical coordinate
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Translations and rights may differ elsewhere.
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