Proverb Expansion
The proverb advises us not to borrow anything from others. It also tells us to keep away from lending things to others. When we give a loan to a friend, we lose the loan as well as the friend. Both borrowing and lending are undesirable qualities. We should try to live within our means. A borrower sells himself into the hands of a money-lender. The borrower is a slave to the lender. Borrowing upsets our economic balance and we develop the habit of borrowing again and spending beyond our means. We will then be living in the clutches of debt. So we should avoid borrowing as far as possible. As far as lending is concerned, often it turns friends into enemies. When we give a loan to our friend, he may not sometimes give it back. When we lend money and things to others, we are losing friends. Most often things lent to others are not returned. Thus we lose wealth and friends. So the sensible and wise thing is never to be a borrower or a lender.