ProverbHuman NatureEnglish origin

Poverty makes a man acquainted with strange bed-fellows.

Meaning: Difficult circumstances force people to associate with those they'd normally avoid or reject.

Origin: A variation on Shakespeare's The Tempest, where the jester Trinculo, sheltering from a storm under the monster Caliban's cloak, says: "Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows."

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