ProverbMorality
English origin1795
English origin1795Don't bite the hand that feeds you
Meaning: Don't harm those who help you.
Origin: The image of a dog snapping at its master is old, but the best-known early use is political. Edmund Burke, in Thoughts and Details on Scarcity — written for Prime Minister William Pitt in 1795 and published after Burke's death in 1800 — warned that people taught to look to the government for bread would, at the first shortage, "turn and bite the hand that fed them." It has since settled into everyday use for ingratitude toward anyone who supports you.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
French: Il ne faut pas mordre la main qui vous nourrit (literally: One must not bite the hand that feeds you)
Spanish: No muerdas la mano que te da de comer (literally: Don't bite the hand that feeds you)
Japanese: 恩を仇で返すな (On wo ada de kaesu na) (literally: Don't return kindness with enmity)
German: Man soll nicht die Hand beißen, die einen füttert (literally: One should not bite the hand that feeds one)
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