Tis easy to find a staff to beat a dog.
Meaning: Finding excuses to punish someone you already dislike requires no effort or genuine justification.
Origin: Erasmus included the Latin form in his Adagia: qui vult caedere canem, facile invenit fustem — whoever wants to beat a dog easily finds a stick. Anyone determined to punish someone will always find an excuse.
More proverbs about Wisdom
- Where bees are there is honey. — Productive effort naturally yields rewards; seek out where activity and industry flourish.
- He that hires the horse must ride before. — The person who pays for something bears responsibility for using it first or bearing its…
- Trash and trumpery is the highway to beggary. — Frivolous spending on worthless goods inevitably leads to financial ruin and poverty.
- When two ride together one must ride behind. — Hierarchies emerge naturally when people work jointly; someone must defer or follow the o…
- Let the best dog leap the stile first. — Merit should determine priority; the most capable should lead the way.
- The better the day, the better the deed. — Good fortune amplifies moral responsibility—prosperity demands virtue, not vice.
From our compliments & insults
- Tu as une cervelle de moineau — You're scatterbrained and forgetful.
- Без царя в голове (Bez tsarya v golove) — Foolish and reckless — with no one in charge upstairs.
- Cabeça de alho chocho — A forgetful scatterbrain whose thoughts won't stay put.