- English translation
Save from today's meal for tonight, and no enemy will have the pleasure of mocking your need.
- Literal wording
Whoever spares his midday meal for his supper, his enemies do not gloat over him.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying praises careful management of resources. Contrasting an earlier meal with a later one, not fixed hours, it says a person who sets aside part of what they have now, instead of consuming everything at once, keeps a reserve and can meet their own needs without asking others for help.
It also points to the social cost of carelessness. Someone who runs out and must depend on others gives ill-wishers a chance to rejoice at their misfortune. Prudent saving therefore protects both material security and personal dignity against the satisfaction of rivals.
- When it is used
Suitable when encouraging thrift, budgeting, or saving part of present resources for later needs, especially to warn that waste invites dependence on others and mockery from rivals. It fits advice to someone spending freely or praise for someone who plans ahead.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: Save from today's meal for tonight, and no enemy will have the pleasure of mocking your need.