The best horse needs breaking, and the best child needs teaching.
Meaning: Even the most naturally gifted require discipline and guidance to develop their potential fully.
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
- In a calm sea every man is a pilot. — Fair conditions mask incompetence; true skill emerges only when facing genuine difficulty.
- A man can do more than he can. — Ambition and self-belief often exceed our actual capabilities, yet this gap drives human…
- Many can pack the cards that cannot play. — Those lacking skill can arrange circumstances to their advantage, yet fail when execution…
- A cat loves fish, but she's loth to wet her feet. — Desire for something doesn't overcome reluctance to pay its necessary cost or risk.
- Children and fools have merry lives. — Ignorance of life's burdens allows the young and simple-minded to experience uncomplicate…
- Children and chickens must be always picking. — Constant activity and foraging—whether physical or mental—keeps the young healthy, alert,…
From our tongue twisters
- Czy rak trzyma w szczypcach strzęp szczawiu? — Four different Polish sibilant clusters — trz, szcz, strz, szcz — in a single short quest…
- Ząb, zupa zębowa; dąb, zupa dębowa. — Drills the nasal vowels ą and ę, which only differ from plain a and e by the nasal hum.
- Far, får får får? Nej, får får inte får, får får lamm. — får means both 'sheep' and 'gets' — seven identical-looking words carrying two different…