Better an empty house than a bad tenant.
Meaning: An absent home causes less damage than one inhabited by someone destructive or unreliable.
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 Morality
- Enough is as good as a feast. — Contentment with sufficiency brings the same satisfaction as abundance without the excess.
- A bad excuse is better than none at all. — Offering some explanation, however flawed, preserves dignity better than silent admission…
- A single fact is worth a ship-load of argument. — Concrete evidence settles disputes more effectively than prolonged debate or rhetoric alo…
- Fair and softly go far in a day. — Steady, moderate effort sustains progress better than rushed, forceful action that exhaus…
- A fair face may hide a foul heart. — Physical beauty deceives; assess character through actions and behavior, not appearance a…
- As good to be out of the world as out of the fashion. — Social irrelevance destroys one's sense of existence as thoroughly as physical death.