- English translation
If you are tired of someone’s company, you should be the one to step aside.
- Literal wording
The one who has grown weary of his companion should make room.
- Meaning and lesson
When companionship has become burdensome to one person, that person should take responsibility for creating distance. The saying rejects making the other person leave merely because one has lost patience with them.
Its standard is fairness: the dissatisfied party should not shift the cost of separation onto someone else. “Making room” means yielding space or stepping away, not necessarily a literal move, and does not require continued closeness where separation is necessary.
- When it is used
Used to criticize someone who wants another removed from a shared setting simply because they no longer enjoy their company. It advises the dissatisfied person to depart or make distance themselves, especially when the other has an equal right to remain.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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