Grasp no more than thy hand will hold.

Meaning: Overreaching beyond your capacity leads to losing everything you might have secured.

Origin: From 'A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases' (1870). Public domain.

More proverbs about Challenge

• A great dowry is a bed full of troubles. — Excessive wealth given in marriage creates domestic conflict rather than harmony or secur…
• Green wood makes a hot fire. — Unseasoned effort burns intensely but wastefully, consuming energy without producing last…
• Grief pent up will burst the heart. — Unexpressed sorrow accumulates internally until it causes emotional and physical harm.
• The mill cannot grind with the water that is past. — Dwelling on past opportunities wastes energy; focus your effort on present circumstances…
• Better be half hanged than ill wed. — Marriage to the wrong person brings lasting torment worse than a swift, terrible death.
• There are many ways of killing a dog beside hanging him. — Multiple methods exist to achieve the same harmful outcome, so don't fixate on one partic…

← Back to Proverbs

Loading the full interactive collection…