fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me

English

Alternative forms

• fool me once, shame on thee; fool me twice, shame on me

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Proverb

fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me

1. After being tricked once, one should learn from one's mistakes and avoid being tricked in the same way again.

Translations

Translations

• Arabic: لَا يُلْدَغُ الْمُؤْمِنُ مِنْ جُحْرٍ وَاحِدٍ مَرَّتَيْنِ (lā yuldaḡu l-muʔminu min juḥrin wāḥidin marratayni, literally “A believer is not bitten from the same hole twice.”)
• Azerbaijani: eşşək girdiyi palçığa bir də girməz (literally “a donkey would never enter the same mud it has already been in”)
• French: qui me trompe une fois, honte à lui; qui me trompe deux fois, honte à moi, piège-moi une fois, honte sur toi, piège-moi deux fois, honte sur moi
• German: Täusche mich einmal, Schande über dich; Täusche mich zweimal, Schande über mich
• Hungarian: ha egyszer átversz, az a te szégyened. ha kétszer átversz, az már az enyém
• Persian: یک بار گولم زدی، تو خجالت بکش. دوبار گولم بزنی من باید خجالت بکشم.
• Russian: у́мный челове́к два́жды на одни́ и те же гра́бли не насту́пит (úmnyj čelovék dváždy na odní i te že grábli ne nastúpit, literally “a clever man won't step on the same rake twice”)
• Turkish: eşek bile bir düştüğü yere bir daha düşmez (literally “even a donkey will not fall where it once fell”)

See also

• as a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool repeats his folly