God helps those who help themselves
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Also seen as: God helps them that help themselves · the Lord helps those who help themselves · the Lord helps those that help themselves · God helps them who help themselves
Meaning · English
One must take action to solve their problems
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “God helps those who help themselves” mean?
One must take action to solve their problems
Is “God helps those who help themselves” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.