This proverb, a fish rots from the head down, means that when organizations or nations fail, or become corrupt, the leadership is to blame; weaknesses and other problems come from leaders.
This saying appears in many nations and languages and is probably quite ancient, although nobody knows where it started. Some claim that the oldest example is in the writings of the philosopher Erasmus, who died in 1546, but this is conjecture.
An alternative version of this proverb is a fish stinks from the head down.
More Examples of “A Fish Rots from the Head Down” in a Sentence
- As the old Russian proverb goes, “a fish rots from the head down”.
- “The fish rots from the head down and we know how rotten the head of Fifa was and we now have to find out just how much of the organisation has been infected.”
- Like a fish that rots from the head down, the GOP’s problem begins at the top.
- They say a fish rots from the head—but that wasn’t true in this case.
- In exact contrast to the mafia aphorism that the fish rots from the head down, reforming bank executive pay has to start with the CEO.