That's but an empty purse that's full of other men's money.
Meaning: Borrowed wealth brings no security; true richness comes from what you genuinely 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 Wisdom
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From our tongue twisters
- Flyg, fula fluga, flyg! Och den fula flugan flög. — An 'fl' cluster repeated through three different vowels — y, u and ö, all of them front r…
- De koetsier poetst de postkoets met postkoetspoets. — Turns on the gap between the Dutch 'oe' and 'o', with a run of 'ts' and 'p' stops layered…
- Wij smachten naar achtentachtig prachtige nachten. — Five words carrying the Dutch guttural 'cht', the sound foreigners find hardest to produc…