- English translation
If someone did not care for me when I was poor, their affection after I prosper is not sincere.
- Literal wording
Whoever does not love me in my worn clothes will not love me in my broth.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying distrusts affection that appears only after a person's circumstances improve. Someone who ignored or rejected a person in hardship cannot convincingly claim the same personal attachment once comfort, status, or abundant food arrives.
It contrasts loyalty to the individual with attraction to what that individual can provide. Its reference to broth signals improved means and plentiful food, rather than a particular dish, and it judges late-coming friendliness as self-interested when absent during earlier hardship.
- When it is used
Use it when prosperity brings new admirers, or when an old acquaintance becomes warm only after gaining access to someone's resources. It can express hurt and skepticism while stressing that genuine regard should remain steady through poverty and ease; addressed directly, it may sound confrontational.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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