Behind every great man is a great woman
Meaning: Significant male achievement typically depends on crucial female support, often unrecognized or uncredited.
Origin: The first known printing is in a Texas newspaper in 1946, where a football quarterback said, "They say behind every great man there's a woman," suggesting it was already familiar. It credits wives and partners with an unseen share in men's success, and has been debated since for keeping women behind rather than beside.
More proverbs about Human Nature
- Clothes don't make the man — External appearances cannot determine a person's true character, integrity, or worth.
- Every man has a price — Self-interest ultimately overcomes principle when temptation or desperation grows large e…
- He laughs best that laughs last — Final triumph matters more than immediate advantage or temporary mockery.
- It's a man's world — Women historically faced systemic exclusion from power, property, and opportunity in male…
- Success has many fathers, failure is an orphan — Kennedy in the context of the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961).
- There's many a good tune played on an old fiddle — Worn-out tools and aging people retain their value and capability despite visible deterio…
From our tongue twisters
- Blaukraut bleibt Blaukraut und Brautkleid bleibt Brautkleid. — A 'bl' / 'br' brain-twister.
- Trentatré trentini entrarono a Trento tutti e trentatré trotterellando. — An unbroken stampede of 'tr' and 't'.
- 東京特許許可局 (Tōkyō tokkyo kyokakyoku) — A machine-gun of 'kyo' / 'kyoku' sounds.