It is always good when a man has two irons in the fire. (Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher)
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
It is beneficial to have multiple options or possibilities
Literally: having two metal irons heating in the fire
Examples
He applied for two jobs, so it is always good when a man has two irons in the fire
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 “It is always good when a man has two irons in the fire. (Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher)” mean?
It is beneficial to have multiple options or possibilities Literally: having two metal irons heating in the fire
Is “It is always good when a man has two irons in the fire. (Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher)” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.