A friend in need is a friend indeed.

A drowning man catches at a straw.

The maxim indicates that in a desperate condition a man will try to do anything to save himself. He will try to use all the available resources at hand and try with full will to save himself. A cornered cat will fight back to save himself. Similarly a desperate man will try to do anything to save himself.


In our life should never consider any petty thing as meager and avoid it. It may be a great support on a crisis as a drowning man catches at a straw.


A drowning man is a very desperate man and will do anything to stay afloat and so when he sees a straw he tries to catch hold of it and save himself. He knows that the straw will not be able to support his weight and he cannot survive. So a desperate man is capable of any measures and he will do anything to save himself.


Once an ant fell into a pond. It was about to be drowned into the water and struggled for life. A kind hearted hunter dropped a leaf just beside the ant and the ant slowly jumped on the leaf and thus saved itself. Though it could not escape from the danger of drowning, it tackled the situation and took the support of the small leaf to save itself.


In the similar manner if a well-educated and highly talented person has no job of his status, without feeling frustration and disappointment, he must seek a small job to ease the critical situation and take a sigh of relief.


Add fuel to fire.

The above maxim says that when fuel is added to fire, the fire glows brightly with flames. Some actions are like adding fuel to the fire creating a problem in an already problematic situation.


If a fire is lighted on for a destructive purpose it should be put out immediately. If it is not put out immediately and more fuel is added, the destruction increases and disaster is inevitable. We all know anger is a bad thing and it should be avoided. When a man gets angry he uses hard and irritating words and anger accelerates and so there are bad consequences. When a student is performing badly in studies he should be encouraged to do better. But instead if he is discouraged saying that he is not fit for studying he will not improve his performance and will also lose his confidence. This is the negative implication of this proverb and there is also a positive implication. It means when fuel is added fire in a lamp it keeps up the flame and helps us to dispel darkness.


A friend in need is a friend indeed.

The quality of friendship is stressed in this proverb. It means that a true friend is known at the time of crisis. A true friend is always ready to help even when he is not in a position to help. He is also ready to risk his life to help his friend.


In a story there were two friends Damian and Pythias. Damian was arrested for calling the king a tyrant and he was sentenced to death. But Damian wanted to meet his family in a distant place. So his friend Pythias agreed to take his place and undergo the death sentence in case Damian doesn’t turn up. But Damian turns up just before the sentence and keeps his word. This friendship between Damian and Pythias is the kind of friendship stressed here.