Critics are like brushers of other men's clothes.

The proverb pictures criticism as attention paid to someone else’s efforts. Like a person brushing another’s coat, the critic works on what belongs to another person.

It suggests that finding and removing faults is a lesser contribution than making the thing being judged. Its point is not that every criticism is useless, but that a critic should not mistake scrutiny for creation.

Use it to push back against someone who readily picks apart another person’s work while offering little of their own. Because it discounts the value of criticism, it can sound unfair when the feedback is thoughtful and helpful.