Meaning & Analysis
A well from which water is regularly drawn is less likely to run out of water, as the continuous use encourages the underground spring to keep replenishing it.
Insights
The Value of Practice
Human talents, skills, and knowledge flourish with regular use and practice. If left dormant, they diminish and fade, much like an unused well running dry.
Generosity Breeds Abundance
Generosity and the act of sharing do not deplete one's resources (whether knowledge, kindness, or wealth) but instead stimulate their renewal and growth.
Intellectual Vitality
An active and engaged mind remains fertile and creative. Intellectual and creative vitality depend on constant exercise and expression of ideas.
Productivity through Activity
In an economic sense, resources that are actively circulated and utilized generate productivity and wealth. Hoarded or stagnant assets become unproductive.
Naturalistic Observation
Rooted in pre-industrial hydrology, the proverb reflects the observation that using a resource can stimulate its replenishment. This naturalistic wisdom provides a powerful foundation for its metaphorical applications to human potential and economic activity.
Psychology of Scarcity vs. Abundance
The proverb challenges the psychological 'scarcity mindset'—the fear that using a resource will deplete it. It argues for an 'abundance mindset,' where the very act of using or giving one's talents and resources leads to their growth and renewal.
Philosophical and Moral Resonance
This concept aligns with philosophical and religious teachings, such as the Aristotelian idea that virtues are developed through practice, or the biblical Parable of the Talents, where abilities must be used to multiply, not hoarded.
Use Improves Quality
The related proverb, 'Drawn wells have sweetest water' (W263), adds a qualitative dimension. Use not only prevents depletion (quantity) but also improves the resource (quality), making skills sharper and knowledge clearer.
Rhetorical Devices
Metaphor
The proverb uses the concrete image of a well as a metaphor for abstract concepts like talent, knowledge, or generosity, making the idea tangible and relatable.
Paradox
It contains a paradox: the intuitive idea that using something depletes it is inverted. The proverb claims that *not* using the well causes it to dry up, creating a memorable and thought-provoking statement.
Aphoristic Statement
The proverb's simple, declarative structure gives it the weight of an undeniable natural law, enhancing its persuasive force.
Transcription
Quotations
Your want of vse should rather make your body like a Well; the lesser t'is drawne, the sooner it growes dry.
Milk stil your Fountains, and your Springs, for why? The more th'are drawn, the lesse they wil grow dry.
*Puteus si hauriatur melior evadit .. All things, especially mens parts, are improved and advanced by use and exercise.
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.