They love too much who die for love.
Meaning: Excessive devotion to another person destroys the lover, making self-sacrifice a sign of imbalance rather than virtue.
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
- Lovers live on love, as larks on leeks. — Romantic sentiment alone cannot sustain life; practical nourishment remains essential des…
- Give a man luck, and throw him into the sea. — A fortunate person survives even desperate circumstances through chance alone, regardless…
- A man at five may be a fool at fifteen. — Early promise in childhood offers no guarantee of wisdom or competence during adolescence.
- A man must sell his ware at the rate of the market. — Accept prevailing conditions rather than resist them; pricing yourself against market rea…
- Marriage halves our griefs, and doubles our joys. — Shared burdens become lighter while shared happiness multiplies through the intimate part…
- No man is his craft's master the first day. — Expertise requires sustained practice and time; immediate mastery is impossible regardles…
From our idioms
- молоко на губах не обсохло (moloko na gubakh ne obsokhlo) — a very young or inexperienced person; someone barely past infancy.
- C'est pas tes oignons — That's none of your business.
- C'est la fin des haricots — It's all over; there's no hope left.