- English translation
I would rather handle my own affairs than lower myself by begging someone else for help.
- Literal wording
Instead of calling a servant “my master,” I will take care of my need with my own hand.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying rejects help obtained only by speaking or behaving in a servile, self-abasing manner. The speaker chooses personal exertion, however burdensome, rather than submit to another person in order to secure a favor.
Its deliberately inverted form of address—calling a servant “my master”—intensifies the image of humiliation within a historical social hierarchy, rather than endorsing that hierarchy. It values self-reliance and dignity when dependence would require obsequiousness.
- When it is used
Use it when someone prefers to handle a matter alone rather than seek help through fawning or language that compromises their dignity. It emphasizes independence in the face of a demeaning exchange, not contempt for people in subordinate social positions.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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