- English translation
While they were alive they gave us no peace, and when they died they left us nothing.
- Literal wording
They lived and gave us no rest; they died and left us no inheritance.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying condemns someone who loaded others with draining demands throughout life, then left them nothing at death. Its weight comes from pairing the two halves together: relentless burden while living, an empty legacy afterward. Neither half alone carries the full complaint.
It is a bitter grievance, not a neutral comment on hard work. The complaint is that people gave labor without any return, so the hardship they endured in life went unrewarded when the demanding person died.
- When it is used
Suited to sharp criticism of someone who exhausted others with demands while alive and left them nothing at death. Applied to a named person, it reads as a direct accusation, so it is risky in polite company.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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