- English translation
A person of low standing cannot climb above those who are truly his betters.
- Literal wording
The eye does not rise above the eyebrow.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying mocks a person of low standing who tries to place himself above someone more distinguished. The speaker treats the attempt as out of place, since it runs against the accepted order of rank.
The image carries the point: the eye sits below the brow and does not rise over it, so the aspiration is presented as a fixed matter of position rather than effort. The saying may be heard as a plain claim of impossibility or as a rebuke of presumption; the wording alone does not settle which.
- When it is used
Use this saying when someone of modest standing presumes to rank above a more accomplished person in a way that is plainly out of place. It suits pointed comment in conversation, where the speaker wants to mark the gap in rank without argument. It is not aimed at ordinary ambition.
- Register
- colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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