you cannot put the same shoe on every foot

proverb

A method or technique that works in one situation does not necessarily work in all situations.

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Meanings

proverb
  1. A method or technique that works in one situation does not necessarily work in all situations.

    Publilius Syrus said it a long time ago: You can't put the same shoe on every foot.

    2014, James Gunn, Some Dreams Are Nightmares, →ISBN
    2 more examples

    Application of the adage that "you cannot put the same shoe on every foot" produces no hardship whatsoever, since the terms of the trust may be made exactly to fit the business to be undertaken.

    1921, John Harold Sears, Trust Estates as Business Companies, →ISBN, page 416

    What I tell these misinformed inmates is that you cannot put the same shoe on every foot.

    2012, Jayson Williams, Humbled Letters from Prison, →ISBN, page 230

Origin

Coined by Publilius Syrus.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

you cannot put the same shoe on every foot. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/you%20cannot%20put%20the%20same%20shoe%20on%20every%20foot

MLA

“you cannot put the same shoe on every foot.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/you%20cannot%20put%20the%20same%20shoe%20on%20every%20foot. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “you cannot put the same shoe on every foot,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/you%20cannot%20put%20the%20same%20shoe%20on%20every%20foot.

Source: you cannot put the same shoe on every foot on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.