a fool and his money are soon parted

English

Etymology

First appears c. 1587 in the publication Defense of the Government of the Church of England as If they pay a penie or two pence more for the reddinesse of them..let them looke to that, a foole and his money is soone parted. An earlier 1573 quote by Thomas Tusser reads "A foole and his money be soone at debate: which after with sorow repents him too late."

Proverb

a fool and his money are soon parted

1. It is easy to obtain money from foolish people.
2. It is difficult or unlikely that careless and irresponsible individuals will maintain their hold on acquired wealth.

Translations

it is easy to get money from foolish people

• French: aux idiots l’argent file entre les doigts (Fools' money slips through their fingers), aux idiots l’argent brûle entre les doigts (Fools' money burns through their fingers)
• Japanese: 鴨が葱を背負って来る (ja) (kamo ga negi o shotte kuru)
• Portuguese: dinheiro de tolo já sai do bolso
• Russian: у дурака́ в карма́не дыра́ (u duraká v karmáne dyrá) (fool's pocket has a hole)

it is difficult or unlikely that foolish people maintain their hold on acquired wealth

• Kikuyu: warĩire athĩnirie waigire (one who had eaten bothered one who had stored)

See also

• nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people
• there's a sucker born every minute

References

• Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, →ISBN, p. 103.
• John Simpson, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs, 1983, Oxford University Press. →ISBN, p. 84