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

"I answer," he said with set face and flashing eyes, "that I will not cast pearls before swine."

From Pearl-Maiden by Haggard, Henry Rider

No, my dear Gneisenau, one must not cast pearls before swine.

From Napoleon and Blucher by Mühlbach, L. (Luise)

Is not this to cast pearls before swine?

From The World's Great Sermons, Volume 01 Basil to Calvin by Kleiser, Grenville

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

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