Who has no bread to spare should not keep a dog.
Who has no bread to spare should not keep a dog.
Meaning in plain English
Taking responsibility for a dependent requires some provision for its needs. The dog and spare bread make care more than the wish to have a companion.
Example
Before agreeing to care for a neighbour’s pet, someone checks the instructions, time and supplies needed throughout the absence.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
The speaker connects keeping a dog with having something available to feed it. As a broader image, an undertaking involving another’s dependence brings continuing obligations. Consider time, suitable resources and reliable help, not only the pleasure of beginning. Bread is the source’s image, not advice about an animal’s diet. The saying also does not make poverty a moral failing or prove that only wealthy people can care well. Examine the actual arrangement and support available.
When to use it
Use it to consider the continuing provision required by a responsibility for a dependent.
Keep in mind
The bread is a metaphor, not diet guidance; resources and support should be assessed without shaming poverty.
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 201; Spanish section, paragraph 4190; source wording: A quien no le sobra pan, no crie can.
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 ↗