Meaning & Analysis
The person being addressed is aware of socially correct and polite behavior but chooses to practice it only sparingly, if at all.
Insights
Knowledge vs. Action
The proverb symbolizes the universal gap between knowledge and action. It critiques those who possess wisdom, moral understanding, or skills but fail to apply them in practice, highlighting that potential is meaningless without execution.
Critique of Hypocrisy
It serves as a pointed critique of hypocrisy or willful negligence. The subject's rudeness is not born of ignorance but of a conscious choice, making the transgression more significant and revealing a flawed character.
Social Correction
The saying functions as a tool of social correction. By framing the criticism as 'you know better', it simultaneously admonishes the poor behavior while appealing to the person's intelligence and better nature to encourage improvement.
Social Performance and Conduct
Rooted in the Early Modern period, a time of rising social mobility and emphasis on courtly conduct, the proverb reflects the tension between possessing theoretical knowledge of etiquette—a marker of education and status—and the actual performance of it. The failure to 'use' manners was not just a personal failing but a social one.
The Knowing-Doing Gap
The proverb masterfully captures the psychological 'knowing-doing gap'—the common human frailty of understanding the correct course of action but failing to implement it due to apathy, willful defiance, or lack of discipline. It highlights the difference between intellectual awareness and behavioral integrity.
Classical Allusion and Wit
The 1580 quotation by Lyly, referencing the Athenians, elevates the proverb from a simple folk saying to a piece of learned wit, drawing on classical stereotypes of intellectualism devoid of practical virtue. This suggests its use in educated circles to deliver a sophisticated rebuke.
Rhetorical Devices
Antithesis
The proverb is built on the direct contrast between 'know' and 'use', creating a powerful antithesis that sharply highlights the disconnect between a person's knowledge and their behavior.
Direct Address
The use of the second-person 'You' makes the proverb a direct and personal address, functioning as a targeted accusation or piece of advice rather than a general observation.
Understatement
The phrase 'use but a few' is a form of litotes or understatement. Instead of saying 'you use none' or 'you are rude', this softer phrasing adds a layer of dry, ironic wit to the rebuke.
Transcription
Quotations
Good syr, it semeth ye haue seen more good maners, than ye haue borne awaye.
As the common saying is they may know we haue skill of good maners though we litle vse them.
Thou like our Athenians, knowest what thou shouldest doe, but like them, neuer dost it.
They are greatly to blame, which knowing howe to doe well, doe it not.
You have good Manners, but you bear them not about with you.
You have good Manners, but never carry them about you.
Cross References
- See T. 426, p. 223.
- W160 He tells me my way and does not know it himself.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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