Out of debt, out of danger.
Meaning: Freedom from financial obligations eliminates the vulnerability that creditors and desperation create.
Origin: An old English piece of household wisdom whose first appearance has not been traced. For centuries debt could mean prison, so being clear of it was quite literally being safe. It is the thrifty counterpart of "he goes a-sorrowing who goes a-borrowing."
More proverbs about Challenge
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- Make not the devil blacker than he is. — Don't exaggerate someone's faults or paint them worse than reality warrants.
- He needs must go that the devil drives. — Desperation compels action when circumstances leave no choice but obedience to dire neces…
- The devil is not always at one door. — Misfortune strikes unpredictably from different directions, so vigilance must extend ever…
- You may draw him which way you will, with a twine thread. — Gentle persuasion guides willing hearts more effectively than force ever could.
- A drowning man will catch at a straw. — Desperation drives people to grasp at even the most fragile solutions when facing catastr…
From our tongue twisters
- Erre con erre cigarro, erre con erre barril; rápido ruedan los carros sobre los rieles del ferrocarril. — The definitive Spanish rr drill — unrelenting double-r from start to finish.
- Parangaricutirimícuaro — Not a sentence but a single word — a legendary 22-letter pronunciation challenge from a r…
- Dans ta tente ta tante t'attend. — A gentle 'ta / ten / tan / t'' warm-up that sounds faster than it reads.