English · Proverb Candidate

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.

👁 Views 0 today 0 past 7 days 0 this month 0 all time