--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is not helpful to help a friend by…" description: "\"It is not helpful to help a friend by putting coins in his pockets when he has got holes in his pockets.\" — Elizabeth Bowen" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa0/elizabeth-bowen-1197_friendship_it-is-not-helpful-to-help-a-friend-by-pu_3180040.png" --- # It is not helpful to help a friend by putting coins in his… ![“It is not helpful to help a friend by putting coins in his pockets when he has got holes in his pockets.” quote by Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa0/elizabeth-bowen-1197_friendship_it-is-not-helpful-to-help-a-friend-by-pu_3180040.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa0/elizabeth-bowen-1197_friendship_it-is-not-helpful-to-help-a-friend-by-pu_3180040.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa0/elizabeth-bowen-1197_friendship_it-is-not-helpful-to-help-a-friend-by-pu_3180040.png) > “It is not helpful to help a friend by putting coins in his pockets when he has got holes in his pockets.” [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Helping superficially without addressing root problems is ineffective; true aid fixes underlying issues. **In simple terms:** Fix the hole, not just add coins. Key Takeaway Address core problems, not just symptoms. Themes help empathy effectiveness problem‑solving Mood thoughtful analytical empathetic Type advice philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - friend in crisis - financial advice - community support - policy design Key Concepts systemic thinking compassion practical aid Questions to Reflect On - What underlying issue needs fixing? - When is a small help enough? A Different Perspective May be seen as dismissive of small gestures that matter. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Coins Pockets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coins-pockets-5823153/) [Friend Putting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friend-putting-5823155/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Helpful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helpful/) [Holes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holes/) [Holes Pockets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holes-pockets-5823152/) [Pockets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pockets/) [Pockets Got](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pockets-got-587770/) [Putting Coins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/putting-coins-5823154/) ## Related quotes > [I'm I'll muthafucka I don't need a meal. 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It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whit-stillman/i-think-it-s-really-good-and-helpful-to-have-the-people-you-most/) [Whit Stillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whit-stillman/) > [Let positive, strong, helpful thoughts enter into your brains from very childhood. Lay yourselves open to these thoughts, and not to weakening and paralysing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/let-positive-strong-helpful-thoughts-enter-into-your-brains-from-very/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [What really concerns me is for Christians to understand the fundamentals of evangelism in a way that is helpful in the contemporary scene.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-dever/what-really-concerns-me-is-for-christians-to-understand-the/) [Mark Dever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-dever/) > [ The young man \[Turgot\] destined for an ecclesiastical career was placed within walls carefully designed to keep out all currents of new thought; his… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-dickson-white/the-young-man-turgot-destined-for-an-ecclesiastical-career-was-placed/) [Andrew Dickson White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-dickson-white/) ## More by Elizabeth Bowen > [Temperamentally, the writer exists on happenings, on contacts, conflicts, action and reaction, speed, pressure, tension. Were he acontemplative purely, he would not write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/temperamentally-the-writer-exists-on-happenings-on-contacts-conflicts/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [“Are you really an orphan? Yes, I am, said Portia a shade shortly. Are you? No, not at present, but I suppose it's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/are-you-really-an-orphan-yes-i-am-said-portia-a-shade-shortly-are-you/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [It is not our exalted feelings, it is our sentiments that build the necessary home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/it-is-not-our-exalted-feelings-it-is-our-sentiments-that-build-the/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [Every love has a poetic relevance of its own; each love brings to light only what to it is relevant. 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That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I never believed in trying to do anything. Whatever I set out to do I found I had already accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/i-never-believed-in-trying-to-do-anything-whatever-i-set-out-to-do-i/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [“ever day Maureen is Selfish To her friend and Family One she get mad at her friend and family and She need to Grad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-andeson/ever-day-maureen-is-selfish-to-her-friend-and-family-one-she-get-mad/) [Maureen Andeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-andeson/) > [I'm trying to write a film with my friend. I'd love to get the thrill of speaking actors making my work even funnier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-howard/i-m-trying-to-write-a-film-with-my-friend-i-d-love-to-get-the-thrill/) [Russell Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-howard/) > [I gave my archive to Emory University because there's a really dear friend who teaches there, Rudolph Byrd, and he's the editor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/i-gave-my-archive-to-emory-university-because-there-s-a-really-dear/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [Friends are like stars you can't always see them, but you know they're there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unknwon/friends-are-like-stars-you-can-t-always-see-them-but-you-know-they-re/) [Unknwon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/unknwon/) > [I've been writing songs since I was 10 years old and always had a penchant for rhyming. I started listening to hip hop through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hoodie-allen/i-ve-been-writing-songs-since-i-was-10-years-old-and-always-had-a/) [Hoodie Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hoodie-allen/) > [If you love some one for who they are not for there body or how many friend so when you say I love you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unknow/if-you-love-some-one-for-who-they-are-not-for-there-body-or-how-many/) [Unknow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/unknow/) > [“But my best friend from college was silent for a long time. She, of all of my friends, had seen the parade of sad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-groff/but-my-best-friend-from-college-was-silent-for-a-long-time-she-of-all/) [Lauren Groff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-groff/) > [You smile upon your friend to-day, To-day his ills are over; You hearken to the lover's say, And happy is the lover. 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