Catch not at the shadow and lose the substance.
Meaning: Pursuing trivial distractions causes you to forfeit what truly matters and holds real value.
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
- The finest shoe often hurts the foot. — Beauty and perfection in appearance frequently come at the cost of comfort and practical…
- God tempers the wind to the shorn sheep. — Hardship diminishes in proportion to one's vulnerability, or mercy matches misfortune.
- Short and sweet like a donkey's gallop. — Brief moments of intensity fade quickly, so appreciate their value without expecting perm…
- Every one can tame a shrew but he that hath her. — Only those outside a difficult relationship can judge or manage it; those within suffer i…
- Few people are out of the reach of slander. — Most individuals lack sufficient obscurity or virtue to escape false accusations and mali…
- Slander leaves a score behind it. — Spoken harm creates lasting damage that the victim carries long after the words fade.
From our compliments & insults
- Testa di rapa — A blockhead who isn't thinking.
- Du hast doch einen Vogel — You're a bit out of your mind.
- Du gehst mir auf den Keks — You're getting on my nerves.