Great spenders are bad lenders.
Meaning: Those who squander their own resources lack the discipline to manage others' borrowed money responsibly.
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 Perseverance
- Take time by the forelock. — Seizing opportunities requires swift action before they slip away or pass beyond your gra…
- Time assuages the greatest grief. — Prolonged suffering diminishes naturally as days pass, healing wounds that seem unbearabl…
- Never fish in troubled waters. — Pursuing opportunities amid chaos or conflict will likely yield poor results and entangle…
- Never make troubles of trifles. — Small annoyances magnified through worry waste energy better spent on genuine problems.
- Where there's a will, there's a way — Determination will help you find a solution.
- Practice makes perfect — Repeated practice leads to mastery.
From our idioms
- Conter fleurette — To woo someone with sweet talk.
- Des manœuvres florentines — Devious, elaborately indirect political scheming.
- De bonne foi — Sincerely, without intent to deceive.