You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink
Meaning: You can offer help, but you can't force someone to accept it.
Origin: Among the oldest proverbs still in English use. A 12th-century collection of Old English homilies asks who can water a horse that will not drink of its own accord, and John Heywood included the saying in his 1546 collection. The point is that you can give someone an opportunity, but not the will to take it.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
- French: On ne peut pas forcer quelqu'un à faire ce qu'il ne veut pas (literally: You can't force someone to do what they don't want)
- Spanish: Puedes llevar un caballo al agua, pero no obligarlo a beber (literally: You can take a horse to water, but not force it to drink)
- Japanese: 馬を水辺に連れて行けるが水を飲ませることはできない (Uma wo mizube ni tsurete ikeru ga mizu wo nomaseru koto wa dekinai) (literally: You can lead a horse to water but can't make it drink)
- German: Man kann ein Pferd zur Tränke führen, aber nicht zum Saufen zwingen (literally: You can lead a horse to the watering trough, but you cannot force it to drink)
More proverbs about Human Nature
- Misery loves company — Unhappy people seek others who are also suffering.
- Out of sight, out of mind — We tend to forget things or people we don't see.
- A cat has nine lives — Cats (or resilient people) survive many dangerous situations.
- All's fair in love and war — Normal rules don't apply in romance or conflict.
- A friend in need is a friend indeed — True friends show their worth during difficult times.
- The squeaky wheel gets replaced — Constant complainers may be removed rather than accommodated.
From our tongue twisters
- Ibsens ripsbusker og andre buskvekster. — An 'sb / sk / busk' cluster trap that jams the tongue between the bushes.
- Rødgrød med fløde. — The legendary soft-d and rounded 'ø' test — the phrase Danes use to spot a non-native ins…
- Nồi đồng nấu ốc, nồi đất nấu ếch. — A tonal drill that swaps vowels and tones (đồng/đất, ốc/ếch) while the rhythm stays stead…