proverb · Words worth keeping
Many go for wool and come back shorn.
Many go for wool and come back shorn.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
An attempt to gain an advantage can leave the seeker worse off. Going for wool and returning shorn reverses the expected benefit.
What the words are saying
The person seeking something to take away instead loses something of their own. It can warn against an opportunistic plan whose risks have been ignored. It does not mean that every attempt to improve a situation is greedy or doomed. A careful application compares the expected benefit with the possible cost and considers how others are affected.
Everyday example
Someone abandons a proposed shortcut after recognising that it could cost more trust and effort than it would save.
When to use it
Use it to examine an attempted advantage that may reverse into loss.
What it does not mean
Seeking improvement is not inherently wrong, and a reversal is not inevitable.
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 1830 · Wool
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English