Fair words will not keep a cat from starving.
Meaning: Flattery and pleasant speech cannot substitute for concrete necessities like food and survival.
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 Communication
- Good words cool more than cold water. — Kind speech soothes anger and distress more effectively than external comfort ever could.
- Good words fill not a sack. — Eloquent speech alone cannot sustain you; you need material provisions and practical acti…
- Many words will not fill a bushel. — Excessive talk produces nothing tangible; abundance of speech cannot substitute for concr…
- Soft words hurt not the mouth. — Gentle speech costs nothing to speak and risks no harm through careless words.
- Wounds may heal, but not those made by ill words. — Physical injuries fade while harsh speech leaves permanent emotional scars impossible to…
- Say no ill of the year till it is passed. — Withhold judgment on circumstances until their full course concludes, as premature critic…
From our untranslatable words
- Shinrin-yoku — Immersing yourself in the atmosphere of a forest — soaking up its calm through all your s…
- Waldeinsamkeit — The serene, faintly mystical feeling of being alone in the woods, at peace with nature.
- Meriggiare — To take a quiet midday rest in a cool, shaded spot, escaping the fierce afternoon sun.