“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime"

Question

What do you think of this statement?
what it means actually?

Answer 1

This statement is right. It means that if you simply give food to a poor, needy man, it is the least you can do for him. He will not be hungry today, However, he will get hungry tomorrow again. If you teach a man to get food by himself or, in other words, to earn money to get food and other things he needs, it means a real, full-scale help to him for his lifetime.

Answer 2

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RE:
“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime"
What do you think of this statement?
what it means actually?

Answer 3

This statement means that if you teach someone a job or skill such as fishing then he can fish everyday and thus eat daily and live a long life. However, if you just gave him a fish he could only eat for one day. An analogy for today's society might be if you teach a man to make pizza then he can make it everyday and sell it so he can live a nice life but if you just give him pizza he can only eat it one day and it doesn't change his life. Concisely it means don't just give someone something that will be gone in a day instead give them a skill that can provide for them financially for a life time.

Answer 4

This statement comes from the Bible but it really doesn't matter where it comes from as it a philosophy that is helpful to us all regardless of our religious affliliations (or lack of same).

"To feed a man a fish" means meeting his needs right now. Do we need to help out with immediate needs? Sure! If a person is starving to death, is it really all that helpful to him if you are showing him how to plant corn that will grow months from now? No! (Not in this minute anyhow.)

"Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime" means it is better to teach the man how to catch those fish so when you are not around tomorrow and the many tomorrows that follow he will know how to do it for himself. Is this important to learn? Absolutely!

So, I think the statement is a good statement and its the one upon which parenting and education are founded. As both a parent and a teacher, I believe in this statement whole-heartedly but I also feel that many people downplay the first part a little too much. We can not look past the immediate need that our child or student has without addressing it but at the same time we must also realize that the solution that we come up with in the moment (feeding them today) is only the bandaid until the more longlasting solution (teaching them to fish) is taught (i.e. write, read, learn, grow, accept, challenge, love,understand, etc.).

Answer 5

This statement is key to today's world where people are growing dependency on handouts. I advocate for teach a man to fish and they will make a livelihood for them and their families and at the same time contribute to the community by creating a job(s) that support other families. The chain or sustainability then grows and we are enhancing a world without poverty where all will have life and have it in abundance!

Answer 6

It means help people learn to stand on their own feet, instad of keeping them dependent on daily handouts. Easier said than done, mind you, for a lot of reasons (many not so complimentary to the people being helped).

Don't know a reliable etymology of the phrase. The most popular is that it is a Chinese proverb, but it looks more like something made up by Madison Avenue. It is definitely not from the Bible.

Answer 7

This statement is soo truthful.

It means that if you do something for somebody its great. You are giving them a wonderful gift and that will statisfy for a very short while. But when you teach someone to do something you have given the person the ability to now do the thing for themself...which will give to them forever.

So if you just give some one something. Great.
But once you have tought them how to aquire, understand it. You have given that person the new ability to fend for themself!!!!

Answer 8

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Answer 9

this is one of the wisest statements ever made. why? Look at the first part: Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. It says that if you give a human an object he wants, he will not gain the necessary knowledge to be able to get it himself. Teach: to give another knowledge. Give a man knowledge on how to get things for himself, and he will be able to get food - fish - for himself. its like writing an essay for your kid. write it for him, he wont learn how to write essays. teach him how to write it, and he will be set and will be able to write essays on his own.

Answer 10

You can help someone only so much, but by giving him the knowlege to "fish", you have given him the ability to help himself.