man shall not live by bread alone

English

Alternative forms

• man does not live by bread alone, man does not live on bread alone, man shall not live on bread alone, one does not live by bread alone

Etymology

From the King James translation of Luke 4:4 (“And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God”) or Matthew 4:4 (“But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God”), which are paraphrases of Deuteronomy 8:3.

Proverb

man shall not live by bread alone

1. People need more than food and shelter to live a fulfilling life.
   • 1957 April 12, Eugene Carson Blake, The Foreign Aid Program: Hearings Before the Special Committee to Study the Foreign Aid Program. United States Senate, Eighty-Fifth Congress, First Session, page 558:

     Another basic religious and moral consideration is that in foreign aid we actually go beyond material realities. “Man shall not live by bread alone.”

   • 1965 February 26, Gustave O. Arlt, National Arts and Humanities Foundations […] United States Senate, Eighty-Ninth Congress, First Session, page 326:

     (1) Why is it in the national interest to provide Federal support for the humanities and the arts? […] The first of these three questions was answered succinctly 2,000 years ago: “Man shall not live by bread alone.”

   • 1975 February 28, Stanley Knowles, Canada, House of Commons Debates: Official Report. First Session—Thirtieth Parliament, 24 Elizabeth II, volume 4, page 3690:

     I am as anxious as anyone, perhaps more than many in this House, for dollars to be spent in places where they are needed, particularly in the field of old age pensions and other forms of social security. But […] man shall not live by bread alone. I suggest that the concern for preserving the various cultures of an area like Cape Breton Island is a concern that this House does well to consider.

Translations

Translations

• Arabic: لَيْسَ بِٱلْخُبْزِ وَحْدَهُ يَحْيَا ٱلْإِنْسَانُ (laysa bi-l-ḵubzi waḥdahu yaḥyā l-ʔinsānu)
• Finnish: ei ihminen elä ainoastaan leivästä
• Hungarian: nemcsak kenyérrel él az ember
• Japanese: 人はパンのみにて生くる者に非ず (hito wa pan nomi ni te ikuru mono ni arazu)
• Latin: nōn in sōlō pāne vīvit homō
• Polish: nie samym chlebem żyje człowiek (biblical)
• Portuguese: nem só de pão viverá o homem
• Russian: не хле́бом еди́ным жив челове́к (ru) (ne xlébom jedínym živ čelovék)