teach a man to fish

teach a man to fish

proverb Teaching someone how to do something is more helpful to them in the long run than just doing it for them. The full proverb is "give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." A: "I don't want to teach Billy how to drive!" B: "Well, I know you're sick of driving him around, and this is a solution. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime!" I'm trying to show my grandfather how to use his new computer, so that he won't call me with questions every time he tries to use it—teach a man to fish and all that.
See also: fish, man, teach
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • it takes a village
  • village
  • the best-laid plans
  • the best-laid plans go astray
  • the best-laid plans of mice and men
  • best-laid plans go astray, the
  • for want of a nail
  • For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse ...
  • better bend than break
  • tomorrow never comes
References in periodicals archive
GIVE A MAN A FISH AND HE WILL EAT dinner that night, but teach a man to fish and he will be able to feed himself forever.
A dance educator of a different stripe. (The Teach--Learn Connection)
Run by the international development charity Teach A Man To Fish and sponsored by Educating Africa, the competition has a top prize of $10,000, two runner-ups of $5,000, and awards $1,000 to the best entrant from every country in Africa.
Teach A Man To Fish, a UK-based charity, started the competition to showcase the innovative educational organisations in Africa that are successfully addressing educational challenges.
Competition awards innovative approaches to education