Proverb

[stoogmeister]

In the kingdom of the blind the one eyed man is king. What does this mean?

[andy hughes]

The proverb refers to the notion that anyone with an advantage over a group of others is likely to thrive. The explanation is in the proverb - if everyone is blind, the man with even one eye has an advanatge over everyone else, and becomes the king. It is used to imply that even a slight advantage is just that - an advantage.

[stoogmeister]

I always thought it meant the leader is the person with the best credentials in the group but that doesn't necessarily make them a good leader. The one eyed man still has only one eye.

[andy hughes]

True, he does only have one eye, but as the proverb points out, he is the one with sight in a kingdom of blind people, so i reiterate, even a slight advantage is ... an advantage.

[stoogmeister]

However, someone with 2 eyes would have better vision. Everything is relative. In a kI'm not saying you're wrong, maybe you're right that the original meaning was your one. I'm just saying it could be interpreted differently.

[mikewith]

I wrote a short answer on a question about the rather wonderful story of the same name (HG Wells) here: http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/DisplayAnswers.go?q
uestion_id=9679&category_id=18&index=0

[FionaS]

I'm with Stoogmeister - I have always thought this to be a disparaging term along the lines of if compared to all the idiots you're not as idiotic as them...but you're still an idiot

[iselda]

I go along with Andy Hughes, the one eyed man has the advantage over the blind. However little, it still is an advantage.