- English translation
The one people envy today is the one they will someday comfort.
- Literal wording
Whoever the people envied, they consoled him.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying observes that good fortune seldom lasts. Someone whose wealth, standing, or happiness draws envy today may lose it as time turns, and those who once envied them will later come to console them.
It reflects on how unstable fortune is. Envy makes little sense when the envied position is temporary, and a person admired now may, after a reversal, become someone others pity. The point is an observation about change, not a wish for anyone's downfall.
- When it is used
Said when someone's enviable success or comfort has turned to hardship, or as a sober caution against resenting or admiring another's good fortune too much. It can gently temper someone praised for present luck, without wishing them harm.
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- Colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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