ProverbWisdomEnglish origin

Better be the head of an ass than the tail of a horse.

Meaning: Leading a humble domain grants more authority and respect than serving in an exalted position.

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.

Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, and Chinese

  • French: Mieux vaut être tête de chien que queue de lion (literally: Better be the head of a dog than the tail of a lion)
  • Spanish: Más vale ser cabeza de ratón que cola de león (literally: Better to be a mouse's head than a lion's tail)
  • Japanese: 鶏口となるも牛後となるなかれ (Keikou to naru mo gyūgo to naru nakare) (literally: Rather be the beak of a rooster than the rear of an ox)
  • German: Lieber der Erste im Dorf als der Zweite in Rom (literally: Rather the first in the village than the second in Rome)
  • Italian: È meglio essere testa d'anguilla che coda di storione (literally: Better the head of an eel than the tail of a sturgeon)
  • Chinese: 宁为鸡口，无为牛后 (Nìng wéi jī kǒu, wú wéi niú hòu) (literally: Better a rooster's beak than an ox's rear)

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