None but fools and fiddlers sing at their meat.
Meaning: Eating while singing wastes attention on both nourishment and music, showing poor judgment in prioritizing serious matters.
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 Morality
- Sorrow and bad weather come unsent for. — Misfortune arrives without invitation, so accepting its inevitability brings more peace t…
- Sorrow is good for nothing but sin. — Dwelling in grief without purpose breeds despair that leads to destructive choices.
- He goes a-sorrowing, who goes a-borrowing. — Debt burdens the borrower with anxiety and obligation that outweighs the temporary relief…
- One man may better steal a horse than another look over the hedge. — Injustice favors the bold and powerful while punishing the humble for minor transgression…
- Haste makes waste, and waste makes want, and want makes strife between the good man and his wife. — Rushing through tasks creates careless errors that deplete resources, breeding household…
- Better go to bed supperless than to rise in debt. — Missing one meal causes less harm than owing money that disrupts your future financial fr…