Trust your friends, but cut the cards
Meaning: Verify even trusted relationships through precautions; friendship doesn't eliminate the need for safeguards against deception.
Origin: Adapted from the American humorist Finley Peter Dunne, whose Irish bartender Mr. Dooley advised in Mr. Dooley's Philosophy (1900): "Thrust ivrybody — but cut th' ca-ards." Trust people, but guard against being cheated.
More proverbs about Morality
- You attract more flies with honey than vinegar — Kindness and pleasantness persuade people more effectively than hostility or harshness.
- Good ale is meat, drink, and cloth. — A hearty drink can seem to nourish, refresh, and warm you all at once.
- Steal the goose, and give the giblets in alms. — Token charity from what you stole does nothing to redeem the theft.
- Anger is short-lived in a good man. — A good person's anger passes quickly and leaves no lasting grudge.
- Where bad's the best, naught must be the choice. — When all options are flawed, refusing to participate entirely becomes the wisest decision.
- Better be alone than in bad company. — Solitude preserves your integrity better than compromising yourself through associations…
From our tongue twisters
- Der Cottbuser Postkutscher putzt den Cottbuser Postkutschkasten. — A jaw-breaking compound-noun 'ts/tsch/sch' marathon — the German love of compound words w…
- Hinter Hermann Hannes Haus hängen hundert Hemden raus. — A relentless 'h' aspirate drill — every word opens with the same breathy attack.
- Tigre contro tigre, tigre contro un'altra tigre. — Pure 't/ig/re' drill — short and merciless; the double-g demands a crisp Italian stop.