- English translation
When one valid claim confronts an equal claim, they offset each other.
- Literal wording
If the right comes upon the right, it kills it.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying applies when each of two parties has a comparable entitlement against the other. Pursuing only one demand achieves little, because the answering claim stands against it and removes its practical force.
It presents the matter as reciprocal obligation, not as proof that either side has no right. Its point is that claims matching in kind and amount should be weighed together rather than treated as a one-way demand.
- When it is used
Use it when two people hold comparable claims against one another and a demand by either side is answered by the other's corresponding entitlement. It suits situations where balancing obligations of the same kind and amount makes a separate one-sided demand futile.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: When one valid claim confronts an equal claim, they offset each other.