English

Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

Phrase

blind leading the blind

1. (idiomatic) A situation in which an unqualified person is attempting to guide, advise, or train others.

   Grandma teaching you to drive is like the blind leading the blind.

   • 1843, James Fenimore Cooper, Wyandotte, ch. 5:

     "The Lord preserve us from evil times. . . . Without his grace, we are the blind leading the blind."

   • 1896, Amelia E. Barr, A Knight of the Nets, ch. 2:

     "I have been giving them some good advice."

     "Good advice!" laughed Janet. "Between you and Jamie Logan, it is the blind leading the blind, and nothing better."

   • 1995 March 1, John F. Dickerson, "Aging: Never Too Old," Time (retrieved Aug 2014):

     Instructor George Breathitt asked an audience of 300 computer enthusiasts in Louisville, Kentucky, how many seniors in the group would like to teach other seniors about computers. A younger member of the audience quipped disdainfully, "Wouldn't that be the blind leading the blind?"

Translations