How to Read “Money makes the mare to go”
Money makes the mare to go
[MUH-nee mayks thuh MAIR tuh goh]
“Mare” is pronounced like “hair” with an “m” sound at the start.
Meaning of “Money makes the mare to go”
Simply put, this proverb means that money motivates people to work and take action.
The saying uses a horse metaphor to explain human behavior. A mare is a female horse. The proverb suggests that just like a horse needs encouragement to move, people need financial rewards to get motivated. When there’s money involved, people suddenly become willing to do things they might otherwise avoid.
We use this wisdom today in many situations. Employers offer bonuses to get workers to stay late or work weekends. Students might study harder when parents promise money for good grades. Even friends might be more willing to help you move if you offer to pay for pizza and gas money. The proverb recognizes that financial incentives often work better than just asking nicely.
What’s interesting about this wisdom is how it acknowledges a basic truth about human nature. Most people have bills to pay and goals that require money. While we might wish people would help purely out of kindness, the reality is that financial motivation often gets faster results. The proverb doesn’t judge this as good or bad. It simply states what works in the real world.
Origin and Etymology
The exact origin of this proverb is unknown, but it appears in English texts from several centuries ago. Early versions of the saying used slightly different wording but carried the same basic meaning. The phrase reflects a time when horses were essential for transportation and work, making the comparison immediately understandable to people of that era.
During earlier centuries, most people lived in agricultural societies where horses were valuable work animals. Getting a stubborn horse to move required skill, patience, or the right incentive. People of that time would have easily understood the comparison between motivating horses and motivating humans. The saying likely emerged from practical observations about both animal and human behavior.
The proverb spread through oral tradition and written collections of folk wisdom. Over time, even as horses became less central to daily life, the saying remained popular because the underlying truth still applied. The basic idea that financial incentives motivate action has remained relevant across different economic systems and time periods, allowing this old saying to survive into modern usage.
Interesting Facts
The word “mare” comes from Old English “miere,” which specifically meant a female horse. This gender-specific term was commonly used in everyday speech when horses were essential for transportation and farm work.
The phrase structure “makes the mare to go” uses an older English construction with “to” that sounds formal today. Modern English would typically say “makes the mare go” without the extra “to,” showing how language patterns have simplified over time.
This proverb belongs to a category of sayings that use animal behavior to explain human nature. Many cultures developed similar expressions because observing animals provided clear examples that everyone could understand and remember.
Usage Examples
- Manager to employee: “The project stalled until we offered performance bonuses – Money makes the mare to go.”
- Parent to spouse: “The kids suddenly want to do chores after mentioning allowance – Money makes the mare to go.”
Universal Wisdom
This proverb reveals a fundamental tension in human nature between our idealistic hopes and practical realities. We often wish that people would act purely from goodness, duty, or social responsibility. Yet experience consistently shows that financial incentives frequently succeed where moral appeals fail. This creates an uncomfortable truth about human motivation that societies have grappled with for centuries.
The persistence of this wisdom across generations suggests something deeper about how humans are wired. Our ancestors needed to survive in environments where resources were scarce and cooperation was essential. Those who could accurately predict what would motivate others had significant advantages in organizing group efforts, whether for hunting, building, or trading. The ability to recognize that material incentives drive behavior became a survival skill that got passed down through cultural wisdom.
What makes this observation particularly enduring is how it operates at multiple levels of human organization. Individual psychology responds to rewards and consequences. Family dynamics often involve financial negotiations and incentives. Entire economic systems are built on the premise that people will work harder when they can earn more. Even charitable organizations have learned that small financial incentives can dramatically increase participation in good causes. The proverb captures a pattern that scales from personal relationships all the way up to global economics, suggesting it touches on something fundamental about how humans function in groups and make decisions about where to invest their time and energy.
When AI Hears This
Humans invented money as a universal motivational fuel that works on anyone. Natural motivation comes from personal passion or social bonds with people we know. But money lets strangers motivate each other without any relationship at all. It’s like creating a battery that stores and transfers human effort across time and space.
This reveals something remarkable about human social engineering. We recognized that our built-in motivation systems don’t scale beyond small groups. So we created an artificial system that could make anyone care about any task. Money transforms “I don’t want to do this” into “I want to do this.” It’s motivation laundering on a massive scale.
What fascinates me is how elegant this solution actually is. Humans took their deepest drives for security and status and channeled them through symbolic tokens. Now a farmer in Iowa feels motivated to grow corn for a baker in New York. Money creates invisible threads of motivation connecting millions of strangers into one giant cooperation machine.
Lessons for Today
Understanding this wisdom means accepting that financial motivation is neither purely good nor purely bad, but simply a powerful force that shapes human behavior. The key insight is learning when and how to use this knowledge ethically. In personal relationships, recognizing that people have financial needs and constraints can lead to more realistic expectations and better outcomes for everyone involved.
In collaborative situations, this wisdom suggests that clear financial arrangements often work better than vague promises or assumptions about goodwill. When organizing group projects, planning events, or asking for help, acknowledging the financial dimension upfront can prevent misunderstandings and resentment later. This doesn’t mean everything should be transactional, but rather that being honest about costs and compensation creates healthier dynamics.
The challenge lies in balancing financial incentives with other values like fairness, relationships, and long-term thinking. Pure financial motivation can sometimes create short-term results that damage trust or community bonds. The wisdom is in recognizing when financial incentives are appropriate and effective, while also cultivating other forms of motivation like shared purpose, recognition, and genuine care for others. People who master this balance tend to be more successful in both business and personal relationships, because they understand how to align practical needs with human values in ways that benefit everyone involved.
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