Don't burn your bridges
Meaning: Don't destroy relationships you might need later.
Origin: A military image: an army that burned the bridges behind it after crossing a river could not retreat, and the story is often told of Julius Caesar. The figurative saying — do not destroy relationships you may need later — is recorded from the 19th century.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
- French: Ne brûle pas les ponts derrière toi (literally: Don't burn the bridges behind you)
- Spanish: No quemes los puentes (literally: Don't burn the bridges)
- Japanese: 退路を断つな (Tairo wo tatsu na) (literally: Don't cut off your retreat)
- German: Man soll nicht alle Brücken hinter sich abbrechen (literally: One should not break down all the bridges behind oneself)
More proverbs about Wisdom
- Pearls before swine — Giving something valuable to those who can't appreciate it.
- Hindsight is 20/20 — Past decisions are always clearer in retrospect.
- Let sleeping dogs lie — Don't stir up trouble that has settled down.
- An apple a day keeps the doctor away — Regular healthy habits prevent illness.
- There's method in the madness — Apparent chaos may have an underlying purpose.
- The devil is in the details — Small details can cause major problems.
From our tongue twisters
- El perro de San Roque no tiene rabo porque Ramón Ramírez se lo ha robado. — A rolled-'r' workout — every word demands the vibrating trill.
- Erre con erre cigarro, erre con erre barril; rápido ruedan los carros sobre los rieles del ferrocarril. — The definitive Spanish rr drill — unrelenting double-r from start to finish.
- Parangaricutirimícuaro — Not a sentence but a single word — a legendary 22-letter pronunciation challenge from a r…