give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime
Etymology
The oldest English-language use of the proverb has been found in Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie's (1837–1919) novel, Mrs. Dymond (1885), in a slightly different form:
"[…] if you give a man a fish he is hungry again in an hour. If you teach him to catch a fish you do him a good turn."
The origin of this thought is highly contested. I have seen claims that that the adage is Chinese, Native American, Italian, Indian, or Biblical. Sometimes it is linked to Lao-Tzu, Maimonides, or Mao Zedong.
Proverb
It is more worthwhile to teach someone to do something (for themselves) than to do it for them (on an ongoing basis).
