You cannot know wine by the barrel.
Meaning: Judging quality requires direct tasting, not trusting containers or external appearances.
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 Wisdom
- Sow beans in the mud, they'll grow like wood. — Planting seeds in unpromising conditions—poor soil, hardship—produces unexpectedly sturdy…
- Beans should blow before May doth go. — Beanflowers must bloom early in May or the crop will fail to mature before frost arrives.
- Tis easy to find a staff to beat a dog. — Finding excuses to punish someone you already dislike requires no effort or genuine justi…
- 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.
From our tongue twisters
- Trentatré trentini entrarono a Trento tutti e trentatré trotterellando. — An unbroken stampede of 'tr' and 't'.
- 東京特許許可局 (Tōkyō tokkyo kyokakyoku) — A machine-gun of 'kyo' / 'kyoku' sounds.
- Si six scies scient six cyprès, six cents scies scient six cents cyprès. — An 's' / 'si' minefield.