A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back when it begins to rain.

The line is a sardonic metaphor about credit: lenders are most willing to extend help when you least need it (“fair weather”) and most likely to withdraw it when you do (“rain”). It captures the asymmetry of financial risk—banks prefer borrowers who already appear safe, and they tighten terms when conditions deteriorate. As a piece of social commentary, it also reflects a broader skepticism about institutions that present themselves as supportive but act primarily to protect their own interests. Although often linked to Robert Frost, the sentiment functions more as a general proverb about banking than as a distinctly Frostian poetic observation.