- English translation
Even paradise isn't worth entering if nobody else is there.
- Literal wording
A paradise with no people in it is not to be trodden.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying holds that no place, however lovely or abundant, can satisfy a person who must live in it alone. Its closing image of ground no foot treads means a place left unvisited and unsettled, not one where walking is forbidden; an empty paradise turns lonely and forbidding.
More broadly, it affirms that human beings depend on one another. Company, neighbors and community are treated as more essential to a good life than material pleasures, so solitude spoils even the finest surroundings.
- When it is used
Use it when stressing that companionship outweighs comfort: a setting, however pleasant or plentiful, stays unvisited and unappealing if there is no one to share it. It speaks to the worth of people around us rather than to the quality of the place itself.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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