Throw stones in a glass house Idioms by The Free Dictionary

Table Of Content

• Related Idioms and Proverbs
• What Does ‘Those Who Live In Glass Houses Shouldn’t Throw Stones’ Mean?
• People (who live) in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
• throw stones in a glass house
• Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones
• Historical Examples of ‘Those Who Live In Glass Houses Shouldn’t Throw Stones’ in Print
• Why do we say "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones"?
• Meaning of “Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”

One example could be a wealthy person criticizing another for not donating enough of their money to charity, while the first person hasn’t donated anything either. By putting that accusation out there, they are very likely going to find their own glass house falling down around them. All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.

Related Idioms and Proverbs

Alternatively, one might use the phrase to remind their unfaithful partner not to criticize them too harshly as they themselves are guilty of the same misdeed. Another way to say this is that people who are vulnerable shouldn’t attack other people.

What Does ‘Those Who Live In Glass Houses Shouldn’t Throw Stones’ Mean?

People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones is a proverb. We will examine the meaning of the proverb people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, where the expression came from, and some examples of its use in sentences. Did someone say to you, ‘Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones,’ and you’re wondering what it means?

People (who live) in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

For every one I throw at someone else's glass house, I try to throw one at the equivalent place on my house. For example, when I criticize someone else's approach I try to find an analog to their approach in my approach. Likewise, when I get angry at someone's bad behavior I try to temper my temper with recollections of my comparably bad behavior. Add people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

throw stones in a glass house

But, that being said, there are certainly possible uses for it in writing. For example, a speaker might remind someone about “stones and glass houses” rather than using the entire phrase. “Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones” is a common and popular proverb that has been used for centuries. The phrase is most easily used in among family, friends, and close colleagues, although due to its pedigree and widely relatable premise, can also be found in speeches and papers. “Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones” is used to remind people not to criticize others for a flaw that you yourself possess.

Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones

Throwing stones at other people's glass houses, I express the value I place on my fallible yet evolving, improvable and improving powers of judgment. By pairing the stones aimed at their houses with stones aimed at mine, I actively devalue my natural, inevitable but limiting and limitable self-serving double standards. At least that's the goal, my formula for speaking my mind not obnoxiously. I throw them in pairsOne at mine; one at theirsHolding me to my standards helps hone. By throwing stones at my own house, I discover the weaker windows, places where there's room for improvement and therefore where I need to do some home repair and remodeling. I get a taste of that when I talk about extremist rhetoric from one political party and it's over-eager defenders snap back at me that the other political party uses rhetoric too.

I aim to be a discerning weasel-connoisseur able to identify and judge even the subtlest weasel. By this time, the phrase is almost exactly that which is most commonly used today. This evolution from the 1300s to the 21st century is not unusual. Don’t throw stones at your neighbors, if your own windows are glass.

Why do we say "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones"?

Yes, indeed we all do and I can cite chapter and verse about the other party's rhetoric, but that doesn't obviate questions of degree. To take an unrelated extreme example a mass murderer cannot justify his murder spree by pointing out that those who judge him squash bugs and eat chicken. It's a distorted version of fairness that assumes that all responsibility for all problems must ultimately be evenly shared. There's been a rumor on the psych circuit that one shouldn't be judgmental, disingenuous and paradoxical advice since the rumor is itself a judgment that one shouldn't do something. I think judgment is inescapable and so it's best to hone it rather than disavow it disingenuously.

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Before they know it, their own issues are likely going to be exposed. “Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones” can be used in a variety of scenarios. As a proverb, it appears in historical literature dating back to the 1300s, confirming its relatability to a wide swathe of the English-speaking world. One might use the phrase to warn a friend of relative that what they’re doing may come back around to bite them. By metaphorically throwing stones, one is opening themselves up to criticism they likely want to avoid. Using the Google Books Ngram Viewer, we see that ‘those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones’, and variations of this phrase have been in use since the tool’s timeline began in 1800.

The proverb appears to date back to ‘Troilus and Criseyde’ by Geoffery Chaucer, which was written in 1385 in Middle English. This epic poem tells a story against the backdrop of the Siege of Troy, chronicling the tale of two tragic lovers. Some say this is Chaucer’s best work, and the phrase “all good things must come to an end” is also said to originate in this work. […] who that hath a head of verre, From cast of stones ware him in the werre.

In this article, we’ll take a look at the meaning, origin, examples, and more. The saying "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" is used to say that people who have faults should not criticize other people for having the same faults. Besides, giving feedback and throwing stones are not the same thing. The advice not to throw stones is suspiciously redundant, advice as tautological as "don't do bad things," when bad things are by definition what you shouldn't do. Instead of not throwing stones, I try to throw stones in pairs.