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01:14 Apr 22, 2019

Russian to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings / Experience

Russian term or phrase: лучше с умным потерять чем с дураком найти

>the meaning can only be fully understood trough direct experience
> I am looking for something like:
it's better to lose it with a wise (man) than find/get it with a fool
in meaning but I want it to sound better
> I am not looking for the close authentic British/American sayings
unless they match the meaning exactly

yusosov KudoZ activity Questions: 10 (1 open) (2 without valid answers) Answers: 3
Local time: 09:26

Summary of answers provided

'Tis better to lose with a wise man than to win with a fool.

DTSM

“A fool's paradise is a wise man's hell.”

IrinaN

Summary of reference entries provided

A wise enemy is better than a foolish friend.

Turdimurod Rakhmanov

Discussion entries: 2

Answers

11 hrs confidence:

“A fool's paradise is a wise man's hell.”

Explanation:

― Thomas Fuller

Но контекстик бы не помешал.

IrinaN
United States
Local time: 02:26
Native speaker of:

Russian
PRO pts in category: 8

The asker has declined this answer

11 hrs confidence:

'Tis better to lose with a wise man than to win with a fool.

Explanation:
https://books.google.by/books?id=AbJ1tVGmiTgC&pg=PA353&lpg=P...

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Note added at 11 час (2019-04-22 12:37:35 GMT)
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https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GGRV_enBY751BY752&ei=8b...

DTSM
Local time: 10:26
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Russian

The asker has declined this answer

Reference comments

3 hrs

Reference: A wise enemy is better than a foolish friend.

Reference information:
I think it is close to this saying:
A wise enemy is better than a foolish friend.
Although the one who is wise is your enemy, they are useful,
A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends
https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/a-wise-enemy-is-better-than...

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Note added at 3 hrs (2019-04-22 05:11:24 GMT)
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Здесь дословно не нужно перевести,
In the target English translation the Russian word "потерять" should be replaced by "enemy". But the meaning is the same.

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Note added at 4 hrs (2019-04-22 05:15:47 GMT)
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And the Russian verb "найти" should be replaced by the English noun "friend"

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Note added at 13 hrs (2019-04-22 14:31:06 GMT)
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Yes, it it is a different unrelated category,
another version:
It's foolish to deal with a fool

Turdimurod Rakhmanov
Kyrgyzstan
Native speaker of:

Uzbek,

Kirghiz
PRO pts in category: 4

Note to reference poster

Asker: "лучше с умным потерять чем с дураком найти" talks about the wise vs the idiot in finding/loosing. "A wise enemy is better than a foolish friend" is about enemies and friends which are a different UNRELATED category. I asked this question not because it is easy, but because it is really difficult to convey meaning from one cultural background Slavic(rus/uks/pol/...) to another Anglo-Saxons(us/uk/ca/au). In the Slavic culture the idiot is not an obviously an enemy or a friend he/she is a different unrelated general category. I hope this helps.

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