English · Proverb Candidate

physician, heal thyself

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Fix your own problems before helping others

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Hãy giải quyết vấn đề của mình trước khi giúp đỡ người khác

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: a doctor curing themselves

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.

Equivalents & related

Near equivalent tránh vỏ dưa gặp vỏ dừa out of the frying pan, into the fire Tiếng Việt Near equivalent out of the frying pan, into the fire To move from a bad situation to an even worse one English · via tránh vỏ dưa gặp vỏ dừa Near equivalent one's heart out to sing or perform with great emotion and energy English · via tránh vỏ dưa gặp vỏ dừa

Lighter cards are two steps away in the meaning graph — equivalents of equivalents, reached via the entry shown on the card.

Common questions

What does “physician, heal thyself” mean?

Fix your own problems before helping others Literally: a doctor curing themselves

Is “physician, heal thyself” formal or informal?

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

What is the closest equivalent?

“tránh vỏ dưa gặp vỏ dừa” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.