a candle loses nothing by lighting another candle
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Sharing knowledge or skills doesn't diminish one's own
Literally: a candle being used to light another
Examples
By teaching others, a candle loses nothing by lighting another candle
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 candle loses nothing by lighting another candle” mean?
Sharing knowledge or skills doesn't diminish one's own Literally: a candle being used to light another
Is “a candle loses nothing by lighting another candle” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.