Those who have the means to enjoy something often lack the desire, while those who desire it lack the means. It captures life's fundamental irony of mismatched fortune and need.
This proverb emerged from the mercantile culture of medieval Milan, where the city's wealth was concentrated among a merchant class that had everything yet took it for granted. Milan's position as a trading hub on the Po Valley routes meant that commerce defined social status — those who had money often lost their appetite for pleasure, while the poor hungered for what they could not afford. The saying became proverbial shorthand for the frustrations of inequality observed daily in the city's bustling markets around the Broletto, the old merchant quarter. It resonates with the Lombard character, pragmatic and unsentimental, which prefers honest observation of injustice to romantic idealism. Today the phrase is still used in Milanese conversation to express wry resignation at life's contradictions.
Recorded in Milanese dialect collections from the 18th century; the symmetrical structure reflects the rhetorical style of Lombard oral literature shaped by centuries of merchant guild culture.
A retired banker complaining about his health
Ho tutti i soldi del mondo, ma non posso più mangiare quello che voglio. Chi ha i dent ha pan e chi ha pan ha i dent.
I have all the money in the world, but I can no longer eat what I want. Those with teeth have bread and those with bread have teeth.
A young worker envying his older boss
Lui ha la villa e l'auto di lusso, ma non ha più figli piccoli con cui goderla. È proprio vero: chi ha i dent ha pan.
He has the villa and the luxury car, but no longer has young children to enjoy it with. It's so true — those with teeth have bread.
A grandmother talking about youth and energy
Da giovane avevo l'energia ma non i soldi; ora ho i soldi ma non l'energia. Chi ha pan non ha i dent.
When I was young I had energy but no money; now I have money but no energy. Those who have bread have no teeth.
Friends discussing a lottery winner with poor health
Ha vinto un milione ma ha scoperto di avere il diabete. Chi ha i dent ha pan e chi ha pan ha i dent — sempre così.
He won a million but found out he has diabetes. Those with teeth have bread and those with bread have teeth — always like this.