The pot called the kettle black

A person tends to blame another for the faults he has himself.

The soot from an open fire blackens the kooking utensils placed upon it, and the pot becomes no less blackened than the kettle. It has therefore, no right to criticize the kettle, and neither have we the right to condemn others for behaving the same way as we do ourselves.

Mr Hardwick was standing at the window of his office when his visitor arrived.

‘See those workmen over there?’ he said. ‘They’re supposed to be mending the road, but they’ve been standing round doing nothing for half an hour. I know that for a fact, because I’ve been watching them.’

‘Really?’ said the visitor. ‘And how much work have you been doing during that half-hour? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!’