Có của thì khôn như rái, không của thì dại như lư

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Having wealth makes one clever, but lacking it makes one foolish

Literally: Having property makes clever like a monkey, not having property makes foolish like a buffalo

Examples

Anh ấy có của thì khôn như rái, không của thì dại như lư, thật đáng thươngHe is clever when he has money, but foolish when he doesn't, it's pitiful

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Headword listed in the vdict.com proverb dictionary index (discovery source; headword only — no source content copied). Entered as candidate 2026-08-05; definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-05; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “Có của thì khôn như rái, không của thì dại như lư” mean?

Having wealth makes one clever, but lacking it makes one foolish Literally: Having property makes clever like a monkey, not having property makes foolish like a buffalo

Is “Có của thì khôn như rái, không của thì dại như lư” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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