Talk:he who can, does, he who cannot, teaches

RFD discussion: June–December 2018
Procedural completion of an incomplete RfD by User:Maaduu2017. This saying is actually originally a quotation from the play  by (see Man and Superman). I have, personally, no clear opinion as to whether this saying merits inclusion or not; the short reason "gibberish" provided by the original nominator, however, clearly has no merit. --Lambiam 13:19, 28 June 2018 (UTC)


 * A profound statement like this isn't gibberish. Shown as an alternative form of which survived RFV earlier this year. Classified as a proverb, I'm not sure about that, but if it is kept the source of the quotation should be included. But it could just as easily be included as a quotation at  for instance. DonnanZ (talk) 15:00, 28 June 2018 (UTC)
 * I can't see how the phrase is anything but SoP. Contrast a true proverb like, which is metaphorical. — SGconlaw (talk) 16:26, 28 June 2018 (UTC)
 * Counterpoint: a penny saved is a penny earned is not metaphorical, but clearly proverbial. - TheDaveRoss  16:29, 28 June 2018 (UTC)
 * So it shouldn't be considered a proverb. The statement may not always be true anyway, consider a motorcycle instructor who rides along with his pupils. I think we can delete this, but save the quotation elsewhere. DonnanZ (talk) 17:28, 28 June 2018 (UTC)


 * Not gibberish. Though there might be other spellings and some might be better. E.g. one can also find: "He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches.", "He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches(.)" [the second dot is optional -- or it might at least sometimes be a matter of different quotation styles as "TEXT." vs. "TEXT".], "He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches. He who cannot teach, teaches teachers.".
 * Proverbs are often SOP, yet they are included as they're proverbs. Thus, if attestable (WT:RFVE) and an actual proverb (verifiable through citations and usages or through inclusion in proverb dictionaries?), it should stay -- or many proverbs should be deleted as they are SOP.
 * Source or origin (George Bernard Shaw, Maxims, 1903?) can be added in the etymology section. -80.133.107.120 12:31, 1 July 2018 (UTC)


 * I'd say keep. finds e.g. Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs 2015. But I admit that this not a clear-cut case. As for OneLook dictionaries as proverb sources, "a rolling stone gathers no moss" is in oxforddictionaries.com, but not in M-W . On a marginal note, the nominator User:Maaduu2017 looks like another user of User:TNMPChannel, who had a run of proverb creation, some of which were bad but some of which were fine; when some of their proverbs were nominated, they seemed to have an overreaction and started to RFV or RFD their own creations. --Dan Polansky (talk) 09:20, 3 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Delete, doesn't seem extremely proverbialised. Per utramque cavernam 11:12, 18 November 2018 (UTC)
 * Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs 2015 does not agree with you. --Dan Polansky (talk) 10:59, 24 November 2018 (UTC)
 * I've never heard this version of the proverb, but I've heard other phrasings and I agree that it is a proverb. We have an entry for those who can't do, teach. —Granger (talk · contribs) 11:42, 24 November 2018 (UTC)
 * Delete; a slightly gnomic formulation does not an idiom make. ←₰-→ Lingo Bingo Dingo (talk)  13:58, 11 December 2018 (UTC)