Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater
Meaning: Don't discard something valuable while getting rid of unwanted things.
Origin: A German proverb, das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten, first recorded in Thomas Murner's satire Narrenbeschwörung (1512). Thomas Carlyle brought it into English in the 19th century. It warns against discarding something valuable along with what is unwanted.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
- 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)
- German: Das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten (literally: To pour out the child with the bath)
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.