Every man has his hobby-horse.
Meaning: Everyone pursues their own passionate interests regardless of how peculiar others might find them.
Origin: A hobby-horse was a child's toy horse, and riding one came to mean pursuing a favorite pastime or obsession. Laurence Sterne made the idea famous in Tristram Shandy (1759–67), where the retired soldier Uncle Toby rides his hobby-horse of military fortifications.
More proverbs about Human Nature
- Hot love is soon cold. — Passionate affection that ignites rapidly tends to fade equally fast, lacking enduring fo…
- Every man has his humour. — Individual differences in temperament and preference are natural; tolerating varied dispo…
- Jack-in-office is a great man. — Petty officials wielding minor authority often overestimate their importance and competen…
- Let them laugh that win. — Victory vindicates your choices; your ultimate success silences critics and doubters.
- Love is no lack. — Abundant affection enriches life without depleting the giver's supply or worth.
- Love me, love my dog. — Accept someone's flaws and attachments if you truly value them as a person.
From our idioms
- Un écorché vif — Someone painfully hypersensitive to everything around them.
- Se croire sorti de la cuisse de Jupiter — To have an absurdly high opinion of one's own importance.
- Le tonneau des Danaïdes — A hopeless undertaking that consumes everything and is never finished.