Live not to eat, but eat to live.
Meaning: Prioritize survival and health through eating, rather than making food consumption your life's primary purpose.
Origin: Ancient writers credited Socrates with it: bad men live that they may eat, while good men eat that they may live. Molière gave it a comic turn in The Miser (1668): when the steward Valère quotes the maxim, the stingy Harpagon is so delighted by an excuse to feed his guests less that he wants it written up in letters of gold.
More proverbs about Wisdom
- Eat a bit before you drink. — Consuming food before alcohol slows intoxication and prevents impaired judgment from clou…
- Eating and drinking takes away one's appetite. — Indulging excessively in immediate pleasures dulls desire for future satisfaction and gro…
- You cannot hide an eel in a sack. — Obvious truths inevitably reveal themselves despite attempts at concealment, just as a li…
- Rub your sore eye with your elbow. — Attempting the impossible wastes effort; some problems lack practical solutions.
- Give it plenty of elbow grease. — Sustained physical effort and hard work can overcome obstacles that seem intractable or r…
- That's but an empty purse that's full of other men's money. — Borrowed wealth brings no security; true richness comes from what you genuinely own.