What goes around comes around
Meaning: Your actions will eventually return to affect you.
Origin: An American expression thought to have grown out of African-American speech in the mid-20th century. Its earliest known appearance in print is in a 1974 book by Eddie Stone, and it spread widely in the 1970s. It is often compared to karma, though it has no direct link to Hindu or Buddhist teaching.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
- French: On récolte ce que l'on sème (literally: You reap what you sow)
- Spanish: Lo que siembras, cosechas (literally: What you sow, you harvest)
- Japanese: 因果応報 (Inga ōhō) (literally: Cause and effect retribution)
- German: Wie man in den Wald hineinruft, so schallt es heraus (literally: As one calls into the forest, so it echoes back)
More proverbs about Morality
- Don't put all your eggs in one basket — Don't risk everything on one venture.
- Two wrongs don't make a right — Responding to wrongdoing with more wrongdoing is never justified.
- Honesty is the best policy — Being truthful is always the right approach.
- You reap what you sow — Your actions determine your outcomes.
- An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind — Revenge only creates more suffering.
- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you — Treat people the way you want to be treated.
From our compliments & insults
- Sei in gamba — You're sharp, capable, and on the ball.
- Sei un tesoro — You're a darling — precious to have around.
- Du bist ein Schatz — You're a sweetheart.