cast pearls before swine

Idioms  

1. Give something of value of someone who won't appreciate it, as in The old professor felt that lecturing on Dante to unruly undergraduates would be casting pearls before swine. This term comes from the New Testament (Matthew 7:6), appearing in Tyndale's translation (1526). It was repeated often by writers from Shakespeare to Dickens and remains current.

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Example Sentences

We may find, that we have cast pearls before swine.

From The Growth of Thought As Affecting the Progress of Society by Withington, William

Some would not rightly appreciate the value of your frankness, and never cast pearls before swine.

From Charlotte Bront? A Monograph by Reid, T. Wemyss

I am always a little angry that my friends don't do something better on such occasions; but why cast pearls before swine?

From Early Letters of George Wm. Curtis by Cooke, George Willis

On her face was the look of one who has cast pearls before swine.

From Okewood of the Secret Service by Williams, Valentine

Every one knows the expression to cast pearls before swine, and its meaning, "to give good things to people who are too ignorant to appreciate them."

From Stories That Words Tell Us by O'Neill, Elizabeth (Elizabeth Speakman)