cứu vật vật trả ơn, cứu nhơn nhơn trả oán

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Meaning · English

Save a beast and it repays kindness; save a man and he repays spite — gratitude, the animals' virtue.

Literally: rescue a creature, it returns favor; rescue a person, he returns grudge

Examples

Giúp nó rồi nó kiện mình, cứu nhơn nhơn trả oán.Helped him, and he sued me — save a man, harvest a grudge.

Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)

Sources & notes

Discovered via Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.

Common questions

What does “cứu vật vật trả ơn, cứu nhơn nhơn trả oán” mean?

Save a beast and it repays kindness; save a man and he repays spite — gratitude, the animals' virtue. Literally: rescue a creature, it returns favor; rescue a person, he returns grudge

Is “cứu vật vật trả ơn, cứu nhơn nhơn trả oán” formal or informal?

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