Every man is best known to himself.
Meaning: Self-awareness surpasses external judgment; only you know your true intentions, struggles, and character beneath surface appearances.
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 Human Nature
- Happy is the man that has a hobby. — Pursuing activities purely for pleasure provides fulfillment and emotional wellbeing beyo…
- Hope deferred maketh the heart sick. — Prolonged unfulfilled expectations erode emotional resilience and breed despair rather th…
- If it were not for hope, the heart would break. — Despair without possibility of improvement destroys the human spirit; hope sustains us th…
- A hungry horse makes a clean manger. — A desperate situation compels thorough action where comfort permits negligence.
- A hungry man, an angry man. — Physical deprivation erodes patience and civility, making irritability inevitable.
- In the husband wisdom, in the wife gentleness. — Complementary virtues in partnership: husbands provide rational guidance while wives offe…
From our idioms
- over de brug komen — to hand over money or pay what is owed.
- in het water vallen — for a plan or undertaking to fail or fall through.
- uit de voeten maken — to flee or scram hastily.