a beggar can never be bankrupt
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Someone with nothing to lose has nothing to fear
Literally: a person asking for charity cannot go insolvent
Examples
He's already lost everything, so he's willing to take the risk, after all, a beggar can never be bankrupt
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “a beggar can never be bankrupt” mean?
Someone with nothing to lose has nothing to fear Literally: a person asking for charity cannot go insolvent
Is “a beggar can never be bankrupt” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.