- English translation
Grasping for more whittles away what you already have.
- Literal wording
Greed makes little of what has been gathered.
- Meaning and lesson
The proverb warns that an appetite for ever more tends to erode what a person has already secured. Excessive wanting leads people into reckless choices, and those choices end up costing them part or all of their existing gains.
It also works as a moral judgment on grasping behavior. The greedy person is cast as their own worst enemy: contentment protects one's holdings, while insatiable craving defeats the very aim of accumulating wealth.
- When it is used
Suitable as a warning to someone tempted to risk secure gains for a larger payoff, or as a rueful comment after an overreach has backfired. It works in everyday talk about money, trade, or ambition and carries a mildly reproachful, cautionary tone.
- Register
- Colloquial Arabic proverb
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: Grasping for more whittles away what you already have.