•a hungry person cannot do their job properly · a plan goes nowhere if it cannot be backed up by concrete action
Etimoloji
A variant (with seisaalla instead of pystyssä) can be found in Henrik Florinus: Wanhain suomalaisten tawaliset ja suloiset sananlascut ("The Proper and Graceful Proverbs of the Old Finns", 1702): Ei tyhjaͤ ſaͤcki, ſeiſoalla pyſy. Compare Estonian tühi kott ei seisa püsti.