To set the wolf to keep the sheep.
Ovem lupo committere.
Proverbs on a similar topic
- When the word is out it belongs to another.
- The world is full of fools.
- Do not throw the baby out with the bathwater.
- It takes two to make a bargain.
- After us the deluge.
- A fool may throw a stone into a well which a hundred Wise men cannot pull out.
- Fools make feasts, and Wise men eat them.
- It is not the beard that makes the philosopher.
- Better the foot slip than the tongue.
- Fools rush in where angles fear to tread.
- A word and a stone let go cannot be called back.
- He cannot speak well that cannot hold his tongue.
- Empty vessels make the greatest sound.
- Ignorance is the mother of impudence.
- A great head and a little wit.
- If you sing before breakfast, you'll cry before night.
- If an ass goes a travelling, he'll not come home a horse.
- Give a fool rope enough, and he will hang himself.
- If the beard were all, the goat might preach.
- A fool will laugh when he is drowning.
- The brains don't lie in the beard.
- The head grey, and no brains yet.
- Make not your sauce till you have caught the fish.
- Send not a cat for lard.
- He that sends a fool means to follow him.
- A grey head is often placed on green shoulders.
- Sweet appears sour when we pay.
- If all fools wore feathers we should seem a flock of geese.
Related proverbs
Similar proverbs in another language
Latin
- Ovem lupo committere. To commit a sheep to the wolf.
- Lupos apud oves linquere custodes. Leave the wolves with the sheep.
- Lupus ovium custos. The wolf is the keeper of the sheep.
French
- Enfermer le loup dans la bergerie. Lock the wolf in the sheepfold.
- Donner la brebis à garder au loup. Give the sheep to the wolf to guard.
- Il ne faut pas mettre le loup berger. Don't let the wolf lead the sheep.
- Est mauvais berger qui aime le loup. A bad shepherd is one who loves the wolf.
- Le loup est devenu berger. The wolf has become a shepherd.
German
- Man muß dem Wolfe nicht die Schafe zum Hüten geben. You don't have to give the wolf the sheep to herd.
- Dem Wolf die Schafe anbefehlen. Commanding the sheep to the wolf.
- Aus einem Wolf wird kein Schafhirt. A wolf does not become a shepherd.
Czech
- Není dobré stáda vlku poručiti. It is not good to slaughter a wolf.
- Poruč psu koblihy. Order the dog donuts.
- Slaninu psu svěřiti. To trust the bacon to the dog.