- English translation
Don't waste your tears on someone who has run out of money; save them for someone whose business has ground to a halt.
- Literal wording
Don't weep over the one whose money has emptied out; weep over the one whose condition has come to a stop.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying ranks two misfortunes against each other. Running out of cash, a loss of funds rather than total ruin, is treated as a recoverable blow, while a livelihood that has stalled, with trade gone dead and no customers coming, is the deeper calamity. A stalled livelihood cuts off the very means by which lost money could be earned back.
More broadly, it urges people to judge hardship by whether the source of income still works, not by the size of a momentary loss. An empty purse can be refilled as long as business keeps moving. A frozen livelihood leaves nothing to refill it with, so that is where real concern belongs.
- When it is used
Fitting when consoling someone over a financial setback, or when pointing out that a person whose work or trade has dried up deserves more sympathy. It can also caution against fixating on a lost sum while ignoring whether one's earning capacity remains intact.
- Register
- colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: Don't waste your tears on someone who has run out of money; save them for someone whose business has ground to a halt.