Drink water like an ox, wine like a king of Spain.
Meaning: Quench thirst with plain necessity; reserve indulgence for rare, celebratory moments.
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 Challenge
- He who drinks when he is not dry, will be dry when he has no drink. — Wasteful indulgence during abundance ensures deprivation when scarcity arrives.
- Drive not a second nail till the first is clenched. — Complete each task fully before beginning another, ensuring solid progress rather than sc…
- It is ill meddling with edged tools. — Dabbling with dangerous instruments without skill or caution invites injury and regret.
- An empty purse fills the face with wrinkles. — Poverty's hardships and anxieties visibly age a person through stress and deprivation.
- If you must have an evil, choose a little one. — Small harms wisely accepted spare you from greater suffering later.
- That which is evil is soon learnt. — Evil habits spread faster than good ones because humans naturally gravitate toward the ea…
From our idioms
- brûler ses dernières cartouches — to exhaust one's final resources or use one's last arguments in desperation.
- ne s’être pas regardé — to judge others harshly while being blind to one's own equal or greater faults.
- ne pas tourner rond — to be unwell or not functioning properly.