casting pearls

The traditional saying is to avoid casting your pearls before swine.

This is true, but a little rough around the edges. It’s unlikely that anyone was going to try that literally, and as far as analogies go, it’s a pretty insulting one. 

Maybe you could update it: don’t cast your pearls before elephants.

Again, not advice anyone would take, but at least elephants are beautiful, intelligent, if very, very large. Majestic creatures who are simply incapable of appreciating something so delicate.

You could take the whole thing one step further and ask: why do you need to cast your pearls at all? What if you kept them in hand, showed them to people who could appreciate them, and if they ask, hand them over gently?

Thank you. Let’s have a great day.