The Lord helps those that help themselves
Meaning: Self-directed effort attracts divine favor; passivity alone cannot substitute for personal initiative.
Origin: Not from the Bible, though it is often taken to be. The idea is in Aesop's fable of Hercules and the Waggoner, in which a carter stuck in the mud prays to Hercules and is told to put his own shoulder to the wheel. In English, Algernon Sidney's Discourses Concerning Government (1698) says God helps those who help themselves, and Benjamin Franklin made it famous in Poor Richard's Almanack in 1736 as "God helps them that help themselves."
More proverbs about Wisdom
- The more one learns about people, the more one likes one's pet — Familiarity with human flaws makes the unconditional loyalty of animals more precious.
- The nail that sticks out gets hammered down — Conformity protects individuals; standing apart invites suppression or punishment from so…
- There are plenty of pebbles on the beach — Replaceable individuals or opportunities abound; losing one person or chance matters litt…
- There is no honor among thieves — Criminals cannot trust each other since shared criminal intent provides no moral foundati…
- There's no I in team — Success requires subordinating individual ego to collective goals and shared responsibili…
- The revolution will not be televised — Authentic social change emerges from grassroots action, not passive consumption of media…
From our tongue twisters
- Les chaussettes de l'archiduchesse sont-elles sèches, archi-sèches? — A merciless duel between 'ch' and 's'.
- El cielo está enladrillado, ¿quién lo desenladrillará? — A brutal test of the rolled 'r' and 'l'.
- Blaukraut bleibt Blaukraut und Brautkleid bleibt Brautkleid. — A 'bl' / 'br' brain-twister.