He had enough to keep the wolf from the door.
Meaning: Survival requires only minimal resources; having just enough to prevent destitution satisfies necessity.
Origin: The wolf stands for hunger and want, prowling outside. The poet John Skelton used it before 1529, an earlier form kept the wolf from the gate, and John Heywood's 1546 collection has "to keep the wolf from the door." It has kept its meaning ever since: earning just enough to survive.
More proverbs about Perseverance
- A woman's work is never at an end. — Domestic labor multiplies infinitely, offering no natural stopping point or completion un…
- They that will not work in heat, must hunger in frost. — Refusing effort during favorable conditions guarantees hardship when circumstances turn d…
- The world was never so dull but if one won't another will. — Opportunity always finds a willing participant if the first person refuses it.
- This world is nothing except it tend to the next. — Earthly pursuits lack purpose unless they cultivate spiritual growth and eternal salvatio…
- There needs a long time to know the world's pulse. — Understanding society's true nature requires patient, sustained observation rather than h…
- When things get to the worst, they'll mend. — Despair blinds us to recovery; suffering naturally exhausts itself and reverses.