What is bad for one is good for another.
What is bad for one is good for another.
Meaning in plain English
The same event can disadvantage one person and benefit another. Assess its effects from several positions instead of assuming that everyone shares your gain or loss.
Example
A new bus route improves access to a hospital but moves a stop away from a small shop. Planners consider both benefits and the shopkeeper’s concern.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
A consequence changes meaning when the observer changes. A quieter street may help residents while reducing passing trade for a shop. The proverb draws attention to this distribution of benefits and burdens. Calling a change good or bad without naming who experiences it can hide the conflict. A useful response asks what each person loses, what each gains and whether the burden can be reduced. Recognising different interests does not itself settle which arrangement is fair.
When to use it
Use it when people describe the same change in opposite terms.
Keep in mind
Another person’s benefit does not justify avoidable harm. Different interests still require a fair decision.
Edsverb editorial interpretation · agent reviewed · 2026-10-05. This explains the saying; it does not establish its historical origin.
- Source
- A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857)
Printed page 11; French section, paragraph 211; source wording: Ce qui nuit à l’un duit à l’autre.
Read the original context ↗ - Attribution confidence
- traditional · historical anthology
Preserved as printed; independently unverified. - Historical coordinate
- Undated
No reliable date supplied by the collection. - Rights & edition
- Public domain (United States)
Translations and rights may differ elsewhere.
Provenance and licences ↗