- English translation
Half the town isn't good enough for me, so who on earth would think I'm good enough?
- Literal wording
Half the town does not please me, and I, whom would I please?
- Meaning and lesson
The saying mocks a person who looks down on a large share of the people around them as not good enough, while being plain or unappealing themselves. One verb covers both being pleased and pleasing others, so the closing question turns the speaker's pickiness back on them: such a person is unlikely to win anyone's admiration.
More broadly, it points to the gap between vanity and reality. Someone so impressed with themselves that they reject others freely should first ask what they bring. The self-regard is shown as both excessive and unearned, and the rhetorical question supplies the deflating answer.
- When it is used
Use it to tease or rebuke someone who is disdainful and hard to please, even though they have little to offer themselves. It suits remarks about vanity rather than serious criticism, and it can wound if aimed at a real person's looks.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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