he that is worst may still hold the candle
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Even the least capable person can still contribute or assist
Literally: a worse person holding a candle
Examples
He may not be the best, but he that is worst may still hold the candle in this project
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 “he that is worst may still hold the candle” mean?
Even the least capable person can still contribute or assist Literally: a worse person holding a candle
Is “he that is worst may still hold the candle” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.