familiarity breeds contempt

English

Proverb

familiarity breeds contempt

1. The more acquainted one becomes with a person, the more one knows about his or her shortcomings and, hence, the easier it is to dislike that person.
   • 1822, William Hazlitt, chapter 1, in Table-Talk:

     “For a person to read his own works over with any great delight, he ought first to forget that he ever wrote them. Familiarity naturally breeds contempt.”

   • 1894, H. Rider Haggard, chapter 25, in The People Of The Mist:

     This was the beginning of evil, for if no man is a hero to his valet de chambre, much less can he remain a god for long in the eyes of a curious woman. Here, as in other matters, familiarity breeds contempt.

Translations

if you know someone very well, you stop respecting them

• Galician: a confianza dá noxo
• Italian: confidenza toglie riverenza
• Spanish: donde hay confianza, da asco
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Thai: เล่นกับหมาหมาเลียปาก เล่นกับสากสากต่อยหัว (lên-gàp-mǎa-mǎa-liia-bpàak lên-gàp-sàak-sàak-dtɔ̀i-hǔua)
• Vietnamese: Chơi chó, chó liếm mặt; chơi gà, gà mổ mắt