In the husband wisdom, in the wife gentleness.
Meaning: Complementary virtues in partnership: husbands provide rational guidance while wives offer compassionate moderation.
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
- A young man idle, an old man needy. — Neglecting work in youth ensures poverty and hardship in old age.
- Ingratitude is the daughter of pride. — Pride blinds people to others' kindness, making them unable to recognize or acknowledge t…
- Woman's instinct is often truer than man's reasoning. — Women's intuitive judgments frequently prove more accurate than men's logical deliberatio…
- Itch and ease can no man please. — Constant comfort breeds dissatisfaction; humans inherently seek challenges to feel engage…
- The wife is the key of the house. — A household's harmony and function depend entirely on the woman who manages its interior…
- All the keys hang not at one man's girdle. — No single person possesses authority or knowledge over all matters; responsibility and ex…
From our idioms
- uit de hand lopen — to become uncontrolled or chaotic.
- achter slot en grendel — imprisoned or confined.
- tussen de oren — in one's mind or thoughts.