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

That pleaded with a nation, already gaining a name for being sordid, not to cast pearls before swine, and to forsake caring for the morrow, because such care was the mark of the Gentile world—the distinguishing sign between Gentile and Jew?

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

I had always made it a rule to reprove sin whenever an opportunity offered; but I soon found out what it meant to cast pearls before swine.

From Project Gutenberg

If we cast pearls before swine, my boy, we must not be surprised to find them taken for the seeds of cabbage-heads.

From Project Gutenberg

Herewith I pause, for why should I cast pearls before swine?

From Project Gutenberg