a bad workman always blames his tools

English

Alternative forms

• a bad carpenter blames his tools
• a poor workman blames his tools

Proverb

a bad workman always blames his tools

1. It is not the tools we use that make us good, but rather how we employ them.

Translations

not the tools but how they're employed

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 一个坏的工人总是指责他的工具 (yīgè huài de gōngrén zǒng shì zhǐzé tā de gōngjù)

• Dutch: een kwaad werkman heeft altijd slecht getuig
• Finnish: kyllä sika syitä löytää, välillä on maa jäässä, välillä kärsä kipeä
• French: à méchant ouvrier, point de bon outil (fr)
• German: wenn der Reiter nichts taugt, hat das Pferd Schuld (if the rider is no good, it's the horse's fault)
• Icelandic: árinni kennir illur ræðari (is) (a bad rower blames his oar)
• Japanese: 下手な職人は、いつも道具に文句をつける (heta na shokunin wa, itsumo dōgu ni monku o tsukeru)
• Malay:

  Rumi: tak tahu menari dikatakan lantai jongkang-jongket, tak tahu menari dikatakan tanah tinggi rendah, tak tahu menganyam pandan disalahkan

  Jawi: تق تاهو مناري دکاتاکن لنتاي جوڠکڠ-جوڠکيت, تق تاهو مناري دکاتاکن تانه تيڠݢي رنده, تق تاهو مڠاڽم ڤندن دسالهکن

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Polish: złej baletnicy szkodzi rąbek przy spódnicy
• Russian: плохо́му танцо́ру и я́йца меша́ют (ru) (ploxómu tancóru i jájca mešájut) (bad dancer is impeded even by (his own) balls), не́ча на зе́ркало пеня́ть, ко́ли ро́жа крива́ (néča na zérkalo penjátʹ, kóli róža krivá) (don't blame the mirror if your mug is skewed), ма́стер глуп — нож туп (máster glup — nož tup) (if the worker is stupid, his knife is blunt)