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Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
The proverb I want to discuss about is related to a situation in which someone wants to risk all his / her life in a dangerous situation. for such a situation there is a phrase in English which becomes to a famous proverb in English.
Proverb #87
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
Meaning: Do not put all your resources in one possibility.
Let’s start out explanation with a conversational example:
Stanley: What are you doing these days?
Jeffry: I got a loan and started a new business.
Stanley: Are you satisfied with its income?
Jeffry: It’s not so bad, but I invested all my money for this business and I hope to make a lot of profit.
Stanley: But you need to be so careful in your business and don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Jeffry: It’s not so bad, but I invested all my money for this business and I hope to make a lot of profit.
So I guess you can understand the meaning of this phrase in the above example. Based on the words of Jeffrey who says he has invested all his money in a business, Stanley suggests him not to that and he uses the phrase “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” for this suggestion which is a poplar English proverb.
Let’s check the meaning and explanations of this proverb in some popular dictionaries to understand its meaning better:
“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket“
Oxford:
Don’t risk everything on the success of one venture.
Cambridge:
informal – to depend for your success on a single person or plan of action
Merriam-Webster:
To risk all one has on the success or failure of one thing
Based on the explanations which were mentioned for this proverb in most of the dictionaries, the following meaning can be understood from this proverb :
not to make everything dependent on one thing
not to depend for your success on a single plan
not to concentrate all efforts into one area
not to put all your resources into one thing
Always have a back-up plan for any important decision or opportunity
The origin of the proverb is not clear, but it is seems to be attributed to “Don Quixote”, a book written by Miguel Cervantes, in the early 1600s. This phrase is usually used as an advice to tell some one if he / she put all his / her resources in one place, the resources may face the potential risk of losing, disappearing, wasting, or any similar bad situation. So this proverb sounds an advice mostly when applying for opportunities and jobs. In other words if you have many places and plans for doing what you want to do with your decisions or investments then you can change your plans or move to other plans or opportunities.
Let’s take a look at some examples about this idiom to understand it better:
If you want to be succeed in your business, you need to be more tactical and not put all your eggs in one basket.
She is going to apply for several jobs while she can’t rely on just one company, so she doesn’t put all my eggs in one basket.
I need to acquire new skills and I shouldn’t put all my eggs in one basket.
The new presidential candidate will not hope just to his party fans while he believes he shouldn’t put all his eggs in one basket.
