Chi troppo vuole nulla stringe in Italian
| Literal translation | He who wants too much grasps nothing |
| Meaning | If you want too much, you end up with nothing |
| IPA pronunciation | /ki ˈtrɔppo ˈvwɔːle ˈnulla ˈstrindʒe/ |
Chi troppo vuole nulla stringe
Grasp all, lose all
Where does this come from? It is thought that this proverb comes from Aesop’s fable The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs (it’s actually a hen in Italian, La gallina dalle uova d’oro!). In this tale, a farmer has a goose that lays one golden egg a day. Wanting to be rich quick, the farmer ends up killing the goose to open it up and get ahold of all the golden eggs in its belly. Problem is, there are none!
For example, you can say…
Mattia ha voluto tentare la fortuna per l’ennesima volta e ha perso tutto il jackpot. Chi troppo vuole nulla stringe!
Mattia tried his luck for the nth time and lost the entire jackpot. Grasp all, lose all!
➡️ Related lessons
- Volere (to want)
- Stringere (to grasp, to hold tight)
- Chi (who)
- Troppo (too much)
- Nulla (nothing)
- Modal verbs
- All Italian expressions
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