proverb · Legacy record
If you want praise, die. If you want blame, marry.
If you want praise, die. If you want blame, marry.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Praise linked with death and blame with marriage uses extreme contrast to joke about changing social judgment. The saying questions how recognition is distributed.
What the words are saying
The precise traditional context is unverified, and the sentence is not an invitation to die or a prediction that marriage brings blame. A critical reading can examine praise withheld during life and unfair relationship judgment without recommending harm or defining someone’s worth by others’ reactions.
Everyday example
Someone recognises a living person’s contribution rather than waiting for a retrospective tribute.
When to use it
Use it only as a qualified critique of recognition and social judgment.
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What it does not mean
No harmful action recommended or inevitable blame through marriage is established.
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
Ireland
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
- Contributor-provided wisdom reference (2014 AD)
Supplied reference B; unit 835; PDF page 74; collection label: Ireland
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- Ireland