ProverbWisdom
English origin
English originThe nearer the bone the sweeter the meat.
Meaning: Proximity to difficulty yields greatest reward; best results come from reaching hardest depths.
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.
Explore another collection: Untranslatable Words
Words that capture a feeling or idea English needs a whole sentence for.
- Schadenfreude The guilty little pleasure of taking satisfaction in someone else's misfortune.
- Wabi-sabi Finding beauty in imperfection, impermanence, and the worn or incomplete.
- Tsundoku Buying books and letting them pile up unread — a habit, not a crime.
Keep exploring