"it's an ill bird that fouls its own nest" meaning in English

See it's an ill bird that fouls its own nest in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proverb

Head templates: {{head|en|proverb|head=it's an ill bird that fouls its own nest}} it's an ill bird that fouls its own nest
  1. A condemnation of anyone who damages his or her own interests, reputation, or group. Related terms: don't shit in your own nest, foul one's own nest
    Sense id: en-it's_an_ill_bird_that_fouls_its_own_nest-en-proverb-2wbQkk-K Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English proverbs, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries
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      "examples": [
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          "ref": "1872, John Ruskin, The Eagle's Nest:",
          "text": "They say it's an ill bird that fouls its own nest. My own feeling is that a well-behaved bird will neither foul its own nest nor another's, but that, finding it in any wise foul, it will openly say so, and clean it.",
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          "ref": "1893, Robert Louis Stevenson, Catriona:",
          "text": "It's an ill bird that fouls his own nest, and we are all Scots folk and all Hieland.",
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          "ref": "2005, Richard Ostrofsky, Sharing Realities: Toward an Epistemology of Conversation, →ISBN, page 173:",
          "text": "The saying, “It's an ill bird that fouls its own nest” expresses the most universal of ethical norms, and is probably the source of all such norms.",
          "type": "quote"
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          "ref": "2013, Charles Macnab, Understanding the Thomas D'Arcy McGee Assassination, →ISBN:",
          "text": "He admitted then to having had, for two years, “documents in [his] possession sufficient to have destroyed [the Fenians operating in Montreal], but [he had] thought it was an ill bird that fouled its own nest.",
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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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