Don't give cherries to pigs or advice to fools.

This proverb warns against wasting valuable things—whether material gifts (“cherries”) or immaterial ones (counsel)—on recipients who cannot appreciate or use them. The pairing of “pigs” and “fools” stresses not cruelty but prudence: discernment about audience and timing is part of wisdom. It also implies that advice is not inherently beneficial; offered to someone unreceptive, it can be squandered, provoke resentment, or even be turned against the giver. In a broader ethical sense, the saying encourages allocating one’s resources—time, generosity, and insight—where they can do genuine good, and recognizing that some situations call for restraint rather than persuasion.