Scald not your lips in another man's pottage.
Meaning: Don't suffer harm by meddling in others' affairs or accepting their risky situations as your own.
Origin: Recorded in A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, an undated collection published in London by Whittaker & Co. around 1880 and credited to Thomas Preston. Its earlier history hasn't been traced.
More proverbs about Human Nature
- Self love's a mote in every man's eye. — Vanity blinds us to our own faults while we scrutinize others' imperfections.
- Being born in a stable does not make a man a horse. — Humble origins cannot determine one's ultimate character or potential; circumstance of bi…
- The subjects' love is the king's lifeguard. — A monarch's security depends ultimately on their people's loyalty and goodwill rather tha…
- A poor man's table is soon spread. — A meager meal requires less preparation than a lavish feast.
- A man may dig his grave with his teeth. — Indulgence in food and drink ultimately destroys one's health and shortens one's lifespan.
- A tradesman who gets not loseth. — Idle craftsmen squander their skills and livelihood through inaction rather than active w…
From our tongue twisters
- Se la serpe si avvicina alla siepe del serpente, il serpente scappa dalla siepe. — A sibilant 's/se/si/sci' minefield; both words (serpe and serpente) slither through the s…
- Chi è Ciccio Capece? Ciccio Capece è un capocaccia che caccia con la cacciaballa. — A 'c/ci/ccia' onslaught — Italian's hard and soft c in the same sentence, non-stop.
- O rato roeu a roupa do rei de Roma; a rainha com raiva roeu o resto. — An unstoppable 'r' trill drill — every key word begins or ends with the Portuguese r.