proverb · Words worth keeping
It is an ill bird that defiles its own nest.
It is an ill bird that defiles its own nest.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The bird-and-nest image criticises damaging a place or relationship that supports you. A useful reading values shared care, while reporting wrongdoing or questioning an institution must not be dismissed as disloyalty simply because someone belongs to it.
Example
A resident reports a damaged shared entrance and helps arrange its repair, despite a neighbour’s concern that mentioning it will make the building look neglected.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
The nest represents the bird’s own home, and defiling it makes that support less fit for use. Figuratively, someone’s conduct may damage the shared setting on which they and others depend. The question is whether the action causes an avoidable injury, not whether it makes the group look bad. Honest criticism can reveal a problem that needs repair, and concealing that problem may do more harm. The proverb should therefore not be used to silence a member who raises a legitimate concern. Its constructive reading asks people to care for what is shared while allowing accountability, disagreement and necessary change within the place they call their own.
When to use it
Use it when avoidable conduct is harming a shared place or relationship.
Keep in mind
Honest criticism and reporting harm can protect a community; belonging does not require concealment.
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