mal de moitos, consolo de todos

Galician

Etymology

Attested since 1370. Approximately, "misfortune of many, comfort of all" (other alternative forms say "comfort of fools").

Proverb

mal de moitos, consolo de todos

1. (idiomatic) misery loves company; two in distress make sorrow less
   • 1370, R. Lorenzo, editor, Crónica troiana, A Coruña: Fundación Barrié, page 403:

     Et porque diz o prouerbio "mal de moytos cõforto he", por ende os troyãos auj́ã grã cõforto da morte dos quatro rreys que perderã, por aquelles outros sete que os gregos alý perderã..

     And because the proverb says "two in distress make sorrow less [misfortune of many comfort is]", so the Trojans had great comfort of the dead of the four kings they had lost because of the another seven that the Greek had lost there.

References

• “mal de moytos” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
• “mal de moitos, consolo de todos” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.