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  What it means

  Literally “Stolen things do not fatten you.” The proverb means that ill-gotten gains bring no real benefit or satisfaction — what you steal or obtain dishonestly will not truly nourish you or make you prosperous. Poles use it to express the moral principle that dishonesty ultimately does not pay off, often in response to theft, cheating, or corruption.

  English equivalent

  Ill-gotten gains never prosper.

  Vocabulary

  • kradzione — stolen (past passive participle, here used as a noun: 'stolen things')
  • tuczyć — to fatten, to make fat; figuratively to enrich or nourish
  • nie tuczy — does not fatten (third person singular negated present)

  Grammar note

  The subject 'kradzione' is a nominalised past passive participle functioning as a neuter noun meaning 'that which has been stolen.' This is a common pattern in Polish proverbs. The verb 'tuczyć' is imperfective and used in the present tense to state a general truth.

  Cultural context

  The agricultural imagery (fattening livestock) roots the proverb in Polish rural tradition, where a well-fed animal represented genuine prosperity earned by honest work. Today it is used in a broad moral sense and appears in everyday speech, journalism, and discussions of corruption with a neutral-to-serious register.

  Beginner

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