A saying indicating how some professionals don't apply their skills for themselves

Question

Some made-up examples:

Is there an established saying for these situations?

Brian Hooper · Accepted Answer · 2011-10-29 20:28:31Z

up vote 11 down vote accepted

"The cobbler's children are always the worst-shod"

is the saying I've heard most often to describe this phenomenon. Some variants are listed here.

answered Oct 29 '11 at 20:28

Brian Hooper
13.3k237100

1

The variation I've often heard on this is "The cobbler's children always go barefoot." – Joel Brown Oct 30 '11 at 3:15

Andrew Neely · Answer 2 · 2011-10-29 20:42:06Z

up vote 3 down vote

I've always heard ...

The carpenter's house always needs work.

Another is...

The preacher's kids are always the wildest.

answered Oct 29 '11 at 20:42

Andrew Neely
2,391315

kiamlaluno · Answer 3 · 2011-11-18 16:33:32Z

up vote 2 down vote

One proverb is, "Physician, heal thyself."

edited Nov 18 '11 at 16:33

kiamlaluno
28.7k763171

answered Oct 29 '11 at 21:46

Tom Au
4,7971727

	Or relatedly, "Doctors make the worst patients." Which, judging by my grandfather during the last few years of his life, holds very much true (in that he kept trying to self-medicate and wouldn't cooperate with his doctor's treatment plan). But he still lived to be 99, so I guess it's hard to complain. – fluffy Oct 30 '11 at 5:51
	@fluffy, your comment should be an answer. – Andrew Neely Oct 31 '11 at 12:08
	Well, it's not quite an answer to the original question, in that it's more about someone who is one profession resenting someone else of that profession doing the work for (or in this case to) them. – fluffy Oct 31 '11 at 17:16

3 Answers