A bird can roost upon but one branch.
Meaning: Individual focus and commitment matter more than scattered efforts across multiple simultaneous pursuits.
Origin: Recorded in A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, an undated collection published in London by Whittaker & Co. around 1880 and credited to Thomas Preston. Its earlier history hasn't been traced.
More proverbs about Wisdom
- A rotten apple injures its companions. — Corruption spreads through proximity; one person's moral decay threatens the integrity of…
- A rugged stone grows smooth from hand to hand. — Repeated human contact and use gradually refine even the roughest nature into something p…
- There is no rule without an exception. — Absolute rules inevitably encounter situations where their strict application breaks down…
- He that runs fastest gets the prize. — Swift action and competitive urgency often secure advantages before slower competitors ca…
- Sadness and gladness succeed each other. — Life's emotional states naturally alternate, so neither despair nor joy remains permanent.
- Make not your sail too large for your ship. — Ambition must match your actual resources, or you'll capsize under the weight of your own…
From our idioms
- deal someone in — To include someone in something, especially a card game.
- diamond in the rough — An unpolished or unsophisticated person that has potential.
- divide the spoils — To give portions of the goods captured during a war to the winners of the war.