Meaning & Analysis
When pride is in control or leading (in the saddle), shame inevitably follows close behind (on the crupper, the rear part of a saddle).
Insights
Inevitable Consequences
The proverb metaphorically states that arrogance or overbearing pride always brings disgrace, humiliation, or regret in its wake.
Cause and Effect
It dramatizes the natural sequence in which pride (the apparent leader) is immediately followed by negative consequences, making the relationship between vice and downfall visually vivid.
Historical Symbolism
Drawing on equestrian imagery, the saddle represents control or mastery, while the crupper (the rear part of the saddle) symbolizes what inevitably follows. Attributed to King Louis XI, this proverb has appeared in various forms across European cultures to reinforce the warning that pride is inseparable from its consequences.
Social Commentary
Beyond the individual, the proverb warns that when pride dominates a society or leader, disgrace or collective loss of honor is likely to follow.
Psychological Reflection
Highlights the blindness of pride—those 'in the saddle' rarely perceive the shame or downfall that is already attached to their journey.
Rhetorical Devices
Extended Metaphor
The proverb uses the vivid metaphor of a horse and rider, making pride and shame participants in a shared, inescapable journey.
Antithesis
Sets pride (elevation, control) against shame (humiliation, aftermath), sharpening the proverb’s moral warning.
Personification
Attributes agency to abstract qualities (pride rides, shame follows), animating them as actors in a drama.
Transcription
Quotations
This [Louis XI of France] is the same King that was woonte to saye, when pryde rydeth, damage and shame go behynde.
While pride gallops, poverty rideth behind on the crupper.
King Lewis the Eleventh was wont to say, When pride rides in the Saddle, shame and confusion rides in the crupper.
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.