“Catch a man a fish, and you can sell it to him. Teach a man to fish, and you ruin a wonderful business opportunity”

—  Karl Marx

Attributed to Marx (possibly in jest) in W. C. Privy's Original Bathroom Companion (2003).
Misattributed

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Oct. 1, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Catch a man a fish, and you can sell it to him. Teach a man to fish, and you ruin a wonderful business opportunity" by Karl Marx?
Karl Marx photo
Karl Marx 290
German philosopher, economist, sociologist, journalist and … 1818–1883

Related quotes

Ron English photo

“Sell a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will put you out of a job.”

Ron English (1959) American artist

Ron English's Fauxlosophy (2016)

Laozi photo

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

Laozi (-604) semi-legendary Chinese figure, attributed to the 6th century, regarded as the author of the Tao Te Ching and fou…

This quotation has been misattributed to Laozi; its origin is actually unknown (see "give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime" on Wiktionary). This quotation has also been misattributed to Confucius and Guan Zhong.
Misattributed

Desmond Tutu photo
Meg Cabot photo
Trevor Noah photo
Scott Adams photo
David Lynch photo

“Ideas are like fish.
If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you've got to go deeper.”

David Lynch (1946) American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor

Introduction, p. 1
Catching the Big Fish (2006)
Source: Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity
Context: Ideas are like fish.
If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you've got to go deeper.
Down deep, the fish are more powerful and more pure. They're huge and abstract. And they're very beautiful.

Stephen Colbert photo

“Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Give a man a sub-prime fish loan and you're in business, buddy.”

Stephen Colbert (1964) American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor

A parody of the "Give a man a fish..." proverb alluding to the subprime mortgage crisis of the aughts on The Colbert Report (14 May 2008)

Tad Williams photo

“Binabik had taught him to do only what he could at any given time. “You cannot catch three fish with two hands,” the little man often said.”

Tad Williams (1957) novelist

Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, To Green Angel Tower (1993), Part 2, Chapter 24, “The Graylands” (p. 540).

Eugene Field photo

“Oh, you who've been a-fishing will indorse me
when I say
That it always is the biggest fish you catch that
gets away!”

Our Biggest Fish http://books.google.com/books?id=odM-AAAAYAAJ&q=%22Oh+you+who've+been+a-fishing+will+indorse+me+when+I+say+That+it+always+is+the+biggest+fish+you+catch+that+gets+away%22&pg=PA184#v=onepage, st. 4
A Little Book of Western Verse (1889)

Related topics