One can never have too much of a good thing.
Meaning: Abundance of beneficial things—love, knowledge, health—enriches life without diminishment or excess.
Origin: The idea of "too much of a good thing" is proverbial from the late 15th century, and the first example in print is Shakespeare's As You Like It (1600), where Rosalind asks, "Why then, can one desire too much of a good thing?" The proverb has always had its contrary — too much of a good thing is exactly what spoils it.
More proverbs about Perseverance
- One never loseth by doing good turns. — Kindness creates invisible returns that eventually benefit the giver, even when no immedi…
- Never split timber against the grain. — Fighting natural resistance wastes effort; success requires working with, not against, in…
- Tis an ill guest that never drinks to his host. — An ungrateful visitor who refuses to reciprocate hospitality shows contempt for their hos…
- He who is not handsome at twenty, nor strong at thirty, nor wise at forty, nor rich at fifty, will never be handsome, strong, rich, or wise. — Life's critical windows for developing key attributes close progressively; missing them m…
- A man never surfeits of too much honesty. — Excessive truthfulness never harms one's character or relationships the way other excesse…
- Tis an ill horse will not carry his own provender. — A creature unwilling to support itself through its own labor proves fundamentally defecti…
From our compliments & insults
- Che rompiscatole — What an insufferable pest — someone who endlessly pesters and never lets you be.
- Testa quadrata — A rigid, inflexible blockhead who refuses to see beyond their fixed ideas.
- È un mammone — An overgrown man who can't make a decision without his mother — the Italian archetype of…