A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

When the LAST tree is cut down, the last fish eaten, and the last stream poisoned, you
will realize that you cannot eat money

Native American saying.

1983 H. WASSERMAN America Born and Reborn 277 ‘When you have polluted the

last river,’ goes an Osage saying, ‘when you have caught the very last fish, and when you

have cut down the very last tree, it is too bad that then, and only then, will you realize

that you can not eat all your money in the bank. 1995 New York Times 17 Aug. (online)

‘A Modest Step to Save the Fish’.. brings to mind a prophecy of the Cree Indians: ‘When

the last tree is cut down, the last fish eaten and the last stream poisoned, you will realize

that you cannot eat money.’ 2006 L. S. JOUBERT Scorched: South Africa’s Changing

Climate 203 Once the last tree is cut and the last river poisoned, you will find that you

cannot eat your money. 2007 Sun2Surf 5 Feb. (online) But that may be wishful thinking

in the light of the Cree Indian prophecy that ‘only after the last tree has been cut down,

the last river poisoned, the last fish caught, will man find that money cannot be eaten’.

environment; money

last (noun) see let the COBBLER stick to his last; the COBBLER to his last and the gunner
to his linstock.

last see also (adjective) there are no BIRDS in last year’s nest; the HUSBAND is always
the last to know; the THIRD time pays for all; (adverb) he LAUGHS best who laughs last; he
who LAUGHS last, laughs longest.

lasting see FIRST impressions are the most lasting.

late see (adjective) the EARLY man never borrows from the late man; it is NEVER too
late to learn; it is NEVER too late to mend; it is too late to shut the STABLE- door after the
horse has bolted; (adverb) BETTER late than never.

LAUGH and the world laughs with you; weep and you weep alone

An alteration of the sentiment expressed by HORACE Ars Poetica 101 ut ridentibus
arrident, ita flentibus adsunt humani voltus, men’s faces laugh on those who laugh, and
correspondingly weep on those who weep; cf. ROMANS xii. 15 (AV) Rejoice with them that
do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.