ventre affamé n'a point d'oreilles

French

Etymology

Literally, “a hungry belly has no ears”. From the fable Le Milan et le Rossignol by Jean de La Fontaine.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɑ̃tʁ a.fa.me n‿a pwɛ̃ d‿ɔ.ʁɛj/

Proverb

ventre affamé n’a point d’oreilles

1. words are wasted on a starving man; a hungry man is an angry man (you can't reason with someone who is hungry)