Actions should suit circumstances or resources. Also common as the metaphorical phrase
to cut one’s coat according to one’s cloth.
1546 J. HEYWOOD Dialogue of Proverbs I. viii. C1 I shall Cut my cote after my
cloth. 1580 LYLY Euphues & his England II. 188 Be neither prodigall to spende all, nor
couetous to keepe all, cut thy coat according to thy cloth. 1778 G. WASHINGTON
Writings (1936) XIII. 79 General McIntoch.. must.. yield to necessity; that is, to use a
vulgar phraze, ‘shape his Coat according to his Cloth’. 1951 ‘P. WENTWORTH’ Miss
Silver comes to Stay xxxvii. ‘You must cut your coat according to your cloth.’ .. ‘My
trouble is that I do like the most expensive cloth.’ 1974 T. SHARPE Porterhouse Blue iii.
I’m afraid the.. exigencies of our financial position do impose certain restraints. .. A case
of cutting our coats to suit our cloth. circumstances; poverty; thriftcut see also (participial adjective) a SLICE off a cut loaf isn’t missed; (verb) DIAMOND
cuts diamond; MEASURE seven times, cut once; MEASURE twice, cut once; THINK twice,
cut once.