Do as you are bidden and you'll never be to blame.
Meaning: Obedience absolves you from responsibility when following orders, shielding you from criticism.
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 Perseverance
- If you cannot bite, never show your teeth. — Avoid displaying aggression or capability you lack; empty threats invite challenge and ri…
- He that is born to be hanged shall never be drowned. — Destiny determines how we meet our end; those fated for one doom escape all others.
- Burn not your candle at both ends at once. — Depleting your resources simultaneously from opposite directions ensures swift exhaustion…
- I'll keep no more cats than will catch mice. — Maintaining only productive resources prevents waste and ensures efficiency in managing y…
- He that chastiseth one, amendeth many. — Disciplining a single person visibly teaches lessons to the broader community watching th…
- When children stand quiet they have done some harm. — Silence from mischievous youth signals they've committed wrongdoing requiring investigati…
From our untranslatable words
- Dietrologia — The conviction that the official account is never the real one — that some hidden motive…
- Attaccabottoni — The person who corners you and holds you in an endless, tedious story you cannot politely…
- Menefreghista — Someone who has made not caring into an entire stance — indifference as a way of life.