pull the ladder up after oneself

present singular third person pulls the ladder up after oneself · participle present pulling the ladder up after oneself · participle past pulled the ladder up after oneself · past pulled the ladder up after oneself

1. alternativeidiomaticAlternative form of pull the ladder up behind oneself.

   Basically if you are on the up, don't pull the ladder up after you!

   2014, Nicola Wells, "Belief To Succeed", InBUSINESS, Quarter One 2014, page 51

   2 more examples

   “There are a lot of people who have achieved success, but then pulled the ladder up after them,” [John M.] Connors added.

   2012 May 1, Reid Oslin, “Long-time Trustee James Cleary Dies”, in The Boston College Chronicle, Chestnut Hill, MA, page 6

   It is un-American to pull the ladder up after you; the American way is to pass it down to the next person, and silence is complicity when it comes to this.

   2018, Ciaran Staunton, quoted in "Hibernia: Quote Unquote", Irish America, June/July 2018, page 31