you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink

English

A horse drinking water.

Proverb

you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink

1. You can show someone how to do something, but you can't make them do it.

Translations

you can show someone how to do something, but you can't make them do it

• Catalan: ja pots xiular si l'ase no vol beure
• Cebuano: madala nimo ang baka sa suba apan dili nimo mainom
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 牛唔飲水唔撳得牛頭低／牛唔饮水唔揿得牛头低 (yue) (ngau⁴ m⁴ jam² seoi² m⁴ gam⁶ dak¹ ngau⁴ tau⁴ dai¹, literally “if a cow does not drink water, one cannot press its head down”)

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 牽馬到河邊容易，逼馬喝水難／牵马到河边容易，逼马喝水难 (qiān mǎ dào hébiān róngyì, bī mǎ hēshuǐ nán) (literal, non-idiomatic)

• Danish: man kan tvinge hesten til truget, men man kan ikke tvinge den til at drikke
• Dutch: met onwillige honden is het slecht hazen vangen (It's bad to catch hares with unwilling dogs)
• Finnish: voit viedä hevosen veden ääreen, mutta et voi pakottaa sitä juomaan
• French: on ne saurait faire boire un âne qui n’a pas soif (fr) (You can't force a donkey to drink when he's not thirsty)
• German: man kann den Gaul zur Tränke führen, aber saufen muss er selber
• Hindi: हम किसी को कुछ करने का अवसर दे सकते पर उनपर उसे करने के लिए दबाव नहीं बना सकते (ham kisī ko kuch karne kā avsar de sakte par unapar use karne ke lie dabāv nahī̃ banā sakte)
• Italian: puoi portare un cavallo all'acqua ma non puoi farlo bere
• Japanese: 馬を水辺に導く事は出来るが馬に水を飲ませる事は出来ない (うまをみずべにみちびくことはできるがうまにみずをのませることはできない, uma o mizube ni michibikukoto wa dekiru ga uma ni mizu o nomaserukoto-wa dekinai) (literal, non-idiomatic)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: du kan lede en hest til vannet, men du kan ikke tvinge den til å drikke

• Polish: możesz konia doprowadzić do wodopoju, lecz pić za niego się nie da
• Portuguese: você pode levar um cavalo até a água, mas não pode fazê-lo beber
• Russian: мо́жно привести́ ло́шадь к воде́, но нельзя́ заста́вить её пить (móžno privestí lóšadʹ k vodé, no nelʹzjá zastávitʹ jejó pitʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: ged a bheirte a' bhó dhan doras mhór rachadh i fhéin dhan bhàthaich
• Telugu: గుర్రాన్ని చెరువుదాకా లాక్కెళ్ళవచ్చు గాని, దానిచేత నీళ్ళు తాగించలేము (gurrānni ceruvudākā lākkeḷḷavaccu gāni, dānicēta nīḷḷu tāgiñcalēmu)

See also

• there are none so blind as those who will not see