proverb · Words worth keeping
Just as drawing water from a well increases it, it will dry up with sediments if left unused.
Just as drawing water from a well increases it, it will dry up with sediments if left unused.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
A well said to gain through drawing and deteriorate through disuse gives practice a renewing role. A figurative reading values using a capacity rather than leaving it idle.
What the words are saying
The precise traditional context is unverified, and the wording is not a reliable hydrological rule or water-management instruction. A qualified application concerns practice and maintenance, while recognising that rest can also be appropriate. Use alone does not guarantee improvement.
Everyday example
A learner returns to a neglected skill with manageable practice instead of assuming it will remain unchanged.
When to use it
Use this as an editorial reading of the source image, with its stated limits retained.
What it does not mean
No water-supply mechanism, universal practice benefit or duty to avoid rest 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
- 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
- Contributor-provided wisdom reference (2014 AD)
Supplied reference B; unit 329; PDF page 34; collection label: Tibet Province of China
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- Tibet Province of China