One bad apple can spoil the whole bunch
Meaning: Corruption spreads contagiously; a single morally compromised person can undermine an entire group's integrity.
Origin: A rotting apple gives off ethylene gas, which speeds the ripening and decay of the apples around it, so one bad fruit really can spoil a barrel. The saying is found among 14th-century Latin proverbs, Chaucer quotes it in The Cook's Tale, and Benjamin Franklin printed "The rotten apple spoils his companion" in 1736.
More proverbs about Wisdom
- On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog — Online anonymity removes social accountability, allowing anyone to misrepresent themselve…
- Other days, other ways — Circumstances change, so rigid adherence to past methods becomes foolish; adapt your appr…
- Pitchers have ears — Small vessels amplify sound, so careless words spoken nearby may reach unintended listene…
- Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely — Unchecked authority inevitably erodes moral judgment, making total control the most dange…
- Proverbs should go in pairs — Wisdom gains strength through comparison; a single example proves less convincing than tw…
- Rules are made to be broken — Breaking established rules often brings unforeseen consequences that outweigh the tempora…
From our tongue twisters
- Бабин біб розцвів у дощ, буде бабі біб у борщ. (Babyn bib roztsviv u doshch, bude babi bib u borshch.) — A bilabial 'b / bib / bor' drill that ends in a very Slavic splash of borscht.
- She sells seashells by the seashore. — The definitive 's' versus 'sh' alternation — the tongue has to switch place of articulati…
- Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. — A relentless 'p' plosive drill; a peck is an old dry measure of about nine litres.