- English translation
Whoever has right on their side can look anyone straight in the eye.
- Literal wording
The owner of the right, his eye is strong.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying holds that being in the right gives a person inner firmness. Here a "strong eye" is approving: it means confidence grounded in a just claim, not the brazenness the phrase can suggest elsewhere. Someone whose claim is just need not drop their gaze or hesitate before the other party. The cause itself supplies the courage.
It also implies a contrast: shame and evasiveness belong to the one who is in the wrong. A rightful claimant may therefore pursue what is owed openly and persistently, treating the demand as legitimate rather than as an imposition that calls for apology.
- When it is used
Say this to reassure someone hesitant to press a legitimate claim, whether against a debtor, a creditor, or an adversary in a dispute. It can also explain why a person with a valid grievance speaks plainly and without embarrassment before the other party.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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