Meaning & Analysis
A person who feels the need to praise themselves likely lacks good neighbors or companions who would offer such praise genuinely.
Insights
Self-Praise as Social Failure
Implying that those who boast about themselves are not surrounded by supportive or honest people—either due to isolation, distrust, or bad character—hence they must create their own accolades.
Social Validation and Self-Worth
Suggests that authentic recognition should come from others, not oneself. If one must self-promote, it implies a lack of communal validation, hinting at deeper social disconnection or neediness.
Moral Commentary on Vanity
Criticizes vanity and self-congratulation, framing them as symptomatic of either moral weakness or a failure to cultivate trustworthy relationships that might otherwise reflect one’s worth.
Communal Ethos and Reputation
In early modern societies, one’s reputation was built through communal voice. This proverb critiques those who bypass social consensus, suggesting that self-praise is both unseemly and unconvincing in a culture that values humility and peer affirmation.
Neighbor as Moral Mirror
The proverb positions neighbors not only as physical co-dwellers but as moral mirrors. Their silence—or their absence—reveals truths about a person’s standing, character, or likability more sharply than self-assertion ever could.
Enduring Literary Resonance
Shakespeare's plays repeatedly echo this sentiment, ridiculing characters who must commend themselves for lack of others’ approval. The proverb thus taps into a rich literary tradition of mocking self-promotion as both comic and pathetic.
Rhetorical Devices
Irony
The irony lies in the act of self-praise being presented as a signal of social deficiency. Instead of demonstrating worth, it reveals a lack of social endorsement and possibly of humility.
Metonymy
‘Neighbors’ stand in for society at large; their presence or absence metaphorically represents one’s social credibility and moral context.
Inversion
The proverb subverts the expected dynamic: rather than boasting being a sign of strength, it’s depicted as a symptom of weakness or alienation—flipping conventional assumptions.
Transcription
Quotations
Men . . In theyr olde prouerbes often comprehende That he that is amonge shrewyd neyghbours May his owne dedes laufully commende.
He that praiseth him selfe lacketh louyng neighbors:
The common prouerbe, which saieth, that he maie rightly praise hym selfe, whom none other bodie will.
Those are tearmed houshold witnesses, who perhaps praise themselves, for lacke of good neighbours.
He that of himselfe doth brag, bost and vaunt, Hath yll neighbours aboute him, to set him aflaunt.
The praise were great, spoke from another's mouth: But it should seem your neighbours dwell far off.
You dwell by ill neighbours, Richard, that makes yee praise your selfe.
I commend, commend myself to ye, lady. —In troth, sir, you dwell far from neighbours, that are enforced to commend yourself.
Hee that praiseth himselfe hath ill neighbours.
I am none of those which are faine to commend themselves for want of good neighbors to doe it.
(He ha's ill neighbours).
Who commendeth himself, wanteth good neighbours.
It seemeth he hath ill neighbours.
To have ill neighborhood, viz. to commend ones own self.
He dwells by ill neighbours, [far from neighbours] that's).
You live beside ill Neighbours.
(who is).
Shakespeare Citations
But soft! methinks I do digress too much, Citing my worthless praise.
There's not one wise man among twenty that will praise himself.
I commend my duty to your lordship. —Yours, yours. [Exit Osric.] He does well to commend it himself; there are no tongues else for's turn.
Cross References
Annotations
- This is meant of one that prayseth himselfe too much.
- Spoken when People commend themselves, for if they deserv'd Commendation, their Neighbours would commend them.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.