Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater

Meaning: Don't discard something valuable while getting rid of unwanted things.

Origin: German proverb (Das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten) dating to the 16th century.

Translations

• French: Il ne faut pas jeter le bébé avec l'eau du bain (literally: Don't throw the baby with the bathwater)
• Spanish: No tires el grano con la paja (literally: Don't throw out the grain with the chaff)
• Japanese: 角を矯めて牛を殺す (Tsuno wo tamete ushi wo korosu) (literally: Killing the ox by straightening its horns)

More proverbs about Wisdom

• Rob Peter to pay Paul — Solve one problem by creating another.
• You can't have your cake and eat it too — You can't enjoy two mutually exclusive things simultaneously.
• Better safe than sorry — It's wiser to be cautious than to take unnecessary risks.
• A rose by any other name would smell as sweet — The essence of something doesn't depend on what it's called.
• Kill two birds with one stone — Accomplish two tasks with a single action.
• Don't bite off more than you can chew — Don't take on more than you can handle.

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