proverb · Source-linked selection
Nurse, you are mistress whilst the child sucks, and after that nothing.
Nurse, you are mistress whilst the child sucks, and after that nothing.
In print by 1857 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The nurse’s importance lasts only while a particular need lasts. The address exposes recognition that depends on usefulness, inviting attention to how someone is treated after their role changes.
What the words are saying
The nurse is called mistress during feeding and nothing afterward. That abrupt reversal puts conditional status in view: service brings influence, then the person is dismissed when the immediate need passes. Read it critically as a contrast between usefulness and lasting respect. It does not establish how every nurse or household was treated. A role can end without erasing the contribution or dignity of the person who performed it. Gratitude should survive the moment of dependence.
Everyday example
A temporary organiser receives thanks and an accurate record of their contribution after the event ends, rather than disappearing from everyone’s acknowledgements.
When to use it
Use it to examine whether appreciation vanishes when a person’s immediate usefulness ends.
Put a useful idea into practice: try the free seven-day guide ↗
What it does not mean
Do not endorse dismissing a worker or reduce anyone’s worth to the service they provide.
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 (Spanish-language collection)
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1857 AD · industrial
In print by 1857: recorded in A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857) (1857 AD)
Printed page 198; Spanish section, paragraph 4132; source wording: Ama, soys ama mientras el niño mama, y despues no nada.
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.