- English translation
Better to lose your eyes than your good sense.
- Literal wording
Losing one's sight is easier than losing one's insight.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying weighs two kinds of loss against each other. Blindness is a real hardship, yet it does less damage than losing inner vision: the discernment, sound judgment, and moral awareness that let a person understand and know right from wrong, not mere cleverness. Clarity of mind and conscience is ranked above bodily senses.
It is often pointed at someone whose eyes work perfectly but whose choices show no judgment, as though stumbling in the dark. It can also affirm that a person who cannot see may still be guided well by understanding, since real direction comes from the mind, not from eyesight.
- When it is used
Use it when someone with good eyesight acts rashly, ignores plain warnings, or shows poor moral judgment, or when praising wisdom over outward ability. It can be a sharp rebuke or quiet observation, but should never make light of blindness or belittle blind people.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: Better to lose your eyes than your good sense.