Put a snake in your bosom, and when it is warm it will sting you.

Meaning: Harboring someone you know to be dangerous, once comfortable, will inevitably betray your trust.

Origin: From 'A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases' (1870). Public domain.

More proverbs about Challenge

• Better be ill spoken of by one before all, than by all before one. — Public criticism from a single person is preferable to private gossip spreading through m…
• He that will steal an egg will steal an ox. — Small moral breaches signal willingness to commit greater crimes when opportunity and sta…
• He that will steal a pin will steal a better thing. — Small moral compromises create a slippery slope toward committing greater wrongs.
• Little sticks kindle the fire, but great ones put it out. — Small initial efforts build momentum, while overwhelming force can extinguish fragile pro…
• He that will not go over the stile must be thrust through the gate. — Stubbornness in resisting one path merely ensures forced submission through a harder, mor…
• Trust not still water nor a silent man. — Stillness can mask danger; silence often conceals intentions, schemes, or untapped depths…

← Back to Proverbs

Loading the full interactive collection…