Proverbs to Cherish: ‘Many Hands Make Light Work’

The attitude embodied in this proverb can help to lighten the load, for ourselves and also our communities

Working as a team not only lightens the load for everyone, but also fosters a compassionate mindset. (wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock)

If you’re anything like me, you sometimes hoard work. But this is a trait I have managed to improve over time, by realizing that work-hoarding is rooted in ego and a lack of faith, and ultimately isn’t healthy.

Only after giving deep reflection to the proverb “Many hands make light work”—which my wonderful mother said to us kids on a frequent basis—have I realized that it applies not only to encouraging others to share the load, but also to the importance of loosening your grip on your own part and letting others chip in.

This can become a motto that you say not only to your family members and colleagues, but also to yourself. In a few words: Delegate more, trust, and let go.

Granted, I realize that delegating sometimes doesn’t work out and results in extra work for oneself. So you need to know when to apply the idea. When encountering a situation where this could apply, you can try it out in your mind, sit with it, and see how it feels in relation to the task at hand. Personally, when I think of this proverb while feeling overburdened by a large or lengthy task, I feel the burden lightened.

I remain grateful to my mother for introducing “Many hands make light work” into our home while I was growing up. At first, it rubbed us kids the wrong way perhaps, but over time, we grew to appreciate its truth.

Sir Bevis, Dragon Slayer and Proverb Maker

The proverb’s truth probably explains why it has been with us for the past 700 years, starting in the 1300s when a romantic, knightly character began appearing in literature. His name, and the name of his story, was Sir Bevis of Hampton (or, in the original Middle English, Beves of Hamtoun).

Amazingly, his exploits were chronicled in the literature of many, many languages—including Dutch, Russian, Romanian, Polish, Old Norse, Yiddish, and others. (The Russian version of his story, “The Story of Prince Bova,” even influenced the work of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, who is reputed to be the founder of modern Russian literature.)

Bevis was, naturally, a dragon slayer. This colorful character, with his set of adventures, is where we get the proverb “Many hands make light work.”

Since the time the saying first appeared in the Bevis stories, it has been included in collections of proverbs. The most notable collection was John Heywood’s 1546 “A Dialogue Conteinyng the Nomber in Effect of All the Prouerbes in the Englishe Tongue” (fun English, that). This was a comprehensive collection of all English proverbs known at the time.

Some claim that the proverb appeared in Greek and Roman texts, but that’s certainly harder to trace. Regardless, this Heywood was quite an influential fellow, so the proverb’s appearance in his work seems to be what set it on the path for perpetual use.

Heywood was employed at the courts of both Henry VIII and Mary I as a singer, playwright, and musician. His collection of proverbs contains many others that are still with us, including “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” and “All’s well that ends well,” which Shakespeare borrowed later on. So while Heywood can’t be credited for writing these sayings, he did a lot to compile and popularize them.

It’s amazing to think about all the lives and hearts that came together to create these sayings, and of all that happened so that we could inherit them today. Hence, the name of this series: “Proverbs to Cherish.”

Putting the Proverb Into Practice

In my own process of reflecting on this proverb, I first knew it as a way of motivating others to chip in and help, and then thought about it as a way to let go and try not to hoard too much work for myself. But now, I see it also as a way to look at others in my life who might need a hand.

It bears reflection in terms of having a compassionate mindset when seeing others burdened by tasks. For example, with Thanksgiving coming up, maybe the burdens of cooking and setting the table are largely going to fall on one person who isn’t us. Well, we might think about “many hands make light work” and offer to help out.

We can take the proverb with us, in our hearts, and view others’ struggles with greater compassion that way. While I trust that The Epoch Times’ readers are generally generous and charitable people in their communities already, I know that I personally benefit from thinking about this proverb and about how I might help to lighten others’ loads. This is something we can consider when fundraising for a school band, club, or charity, or when it comes to things such as community cleanups.

So, to the kids and all the generations out there: When you see Grandma working so hard to prepare a great Thanksgiving meal, be not only grateful and perhaps helpful at the time, but consider beforehand how you might lighten the work for her. Perhaps you could offer to come early to chop some veggies, or you could cook a simple dish, and so on.

She and everyone in our lives will be grateful if we can have the attitude that “many hands make light work.”