English idiom: Burn the Candle at Both Ends

 Burn the Candle at Both Ends 

‘Burn the candle at both ends’ is such an old phrase. I mean, who burns candles unless there’s a power outage. And can you even picture a candle being burned at both ends?

If the phrase has left you feeling confused, you’ve come to the perfect place. Here , I will teach you what the phrase means and explain how it may have originated. Then we’ll go onto usage of the phrase, including how and when you can use the phrase, before going through some examples of alternative phrases that you can use in its place.

And without further ado, let’s get down to it…

What is the meaning of the phrase ‘burn the candle at both ends’?

The phrase ‘burning the candle at both ends’ dates back to the period before we had electricity, when we had to rely on candles for light whenever there’s insufficient sunlight.

The term was used to describe when someone is trying to do too much in a short period of time, which means that they have to stay up late at night, and get up early in the morning to get it all done.

Following on from that, when someone has to burn a candle late into the night, and then light a candle before sunrise in order to complete a project of some kind, then the candle is likely to burn out, and the individual is also at risk of reaching ‘burn out’.

What is the origin of the phrase ‘burn the candle at both ends’?

The phrase ‘burn the candle at both ends’ originally showed up in the French language: ‘Bruloient la chandelle par less deux bouts’. It first appeared in the English language in the early 17th century, but back then it had a different meaning. It referred to wasting material wealth, since burning a candle at both ends can be considered needlessly wasteful.

However, of the course time, the phrase took on its more modern meaning about overextending oneself in their efforts, as popularised by the poet Edna St. Vincent Millayin her poem ‘First Fig’ published in 1920 where she wrote:

“My candle burns at both ends;

It will not last the night;

But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—

It gives a lovely light!” 

We also have the phrase ‘burn the midnight oil’ which refers to staying up late, and this dates back to at least 1635, since it appears in a poem published at this time titled ‘Emblems’ written by the English author Francis Quarles, the official chronologer to the City of London, who wrote:

‘We spend our midday sweat, our midnight oil,

We tire the night in thought, the day in toil.’

How and when to use the phrase ‘burn the candle at both ends’?

The phrase ‘burn the candle at both ends’ is suitable to describe both personal and professional circumstances. For example, you could use it to describe how you’ve been working long hours on a particular project for work, or equally you can use it to describe how you’ve been putting long hours in for a hobby.

It is generally considered informal language on the whole, and it is also used as a warning. For example, someone might say ‘If you keep burning the candle at both ends, both you and the candle will burn out’.

What can you use in place of the phrase ‘burn the candle at both ends’?

If you’d like to choose an alternative phrase to ‘burn the candle at both ends’ for example if you’re speaking with a non-native English speaker who may be unfamiliar with English idioms, then there are many alternative phrases to choose from. Here are some examples for you.

• Mind you don’t overwork yourself.

• Don’t do hours you don’t get paid for.

• Be careful you don’t burn out putting so many hours in.

• I’m working all the hours God sends to get this job done.

• I’ve been working late into the night and getting up early in the morning for this project.

• This project has had me working late into the night and getting up early in the morning.

Final word

So, to sum up, the phrase ‘burn the candle at both ends’ means working on something late into the night and early in the morning, or generally putting long hours in. The phrase dates back to the use of candlelight prior to the invention of electric light, but the phrase was not truly popularised until the year 1920, when it appeared in a poem by poet Edna St. Vincent Millayin called ‘First fig’.

The phrase is often used as a warning that if someone spends too much time on something, then they are not getting enough rest, and are at risk of reaching burn out.

Knowing from the Lord that he had but "five-times-three" years to finish his work, John Sung burned the candle of his life at both ends without any let up. He died in Peking August 18, 1944 at the age of forty-two, consumed in the Master's service.

40 John Sung Revival Sermons

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE

In the early years of the thirties, "the voice of one crying in the wilderness" of the Church in China began to echo to her sons and daughters in Southeast Asia. It was the voice of a Chinese John the Baptist, the greatest preacher China has ever heard.

The voice of John Sung, preaching repentance and forgiveness of sins through the blood of Jesus Christ, brought thousands, campaign after campaign, to the feet of the Saviour. The voice of John Sung, preaching holiness and dedication, called thousands more to an evangelistic crusade and hundreds into the fulltime ministry. In a brief fifteen years, this apostle of modern China had traversed the length and breadth of his own country and all over Southeast Asia, winning several hundred thousand souls to Christ.

John Sung was born in Hinghwa, Fukien Province in 1901, one of many sons and daughters of a Methodist pastor. A brilliant scholar with a high ambition, he found his way to the United States in 1920. From 1920 to 1926 he applied himself with all his might to the study of science. He graduated with a Ph.D. in chemistry at the head of his class.

At the zenith of success glittering with many honours, there came the Word of the Lord Jesus to him, "For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36).

Remembering his vow of earlier years to serve the Lord, John Sung gave up a lucrative profession to study for the Gospel ministry. He was introduced by a friend to Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Alas! A seminary that taught a "God-is-dead" theology under the care-taking of a principal surnamed (Henry Sloane) Coffin became but a "cemetery" to John Sung's troubled soul. But God showed John Sung the way to salvation and life everlasting as he diligently sought Him, the modernist theologians notwithstanding. This brought such a flood of joy to his quickened soul that he literally burst out to tell his teachers and friends of his newfound salvation.

    Supposing John Sung had lost his mind, the Seminary authorities sent him to a mental hospital. Here he was kept for 193 days, days of bitter suffering, yet of deeper communion with his Lord. During this period, says William E. Schubert his bosom friend, he read his Bible forty times!

    His wilderness days over, John Sung made his way back to China, answering the call of God to minister to his own people. As the ship he sailed in ploughed through the Pacific Ocean, he tossed into the sea all his academic awards, even medals and gold keys, save his doctor's diploma to show his father in filial piety. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it" (Mark 8:35).

The first three years of his labours were years of probation. From 1930 onwards, however, the Lord began to multiply his ministry, more and more, until the close of the decade. Knowing from the Lord that he had but "five-times-three" years to finish his work, John Sung burned the candle of his life at both ends without any let up. He died in Peking August 18, 1944 at the age of forty-two, consumed in the Master's service.

One decade after John Sung's death, his exploits were made known to the English-speaking churches by Leslie T. Lyall through "John Sung, the Flame for God in the Far East." Other English publications on John Sung, such as William E. Schubert's "I Remember John Sung" and numerous articles appearing in magazines and periodicals from time to time have also increased this knowledge, to the edification of saints old and young.

In the Introduction to his book, "I Remember John Sung," veteran missionary William E. Schubert says of China's flaming evangelist:

Dr. John Sung was probably the greatest preacher of this century. I have heard almost all the great preachers from 1910 until now, including R. A. Torrey, Billy Sunday, Henry Jowett, the great holiness preachers, the Methodist bishops, including Bishop Quayle, even Harry Emerson Fosdick, who set a great example of the homiletic art, though I did not agree with him, and finally Billy Graham. Yet John Sung surpassed them all in pulpit power, attested by amazing and enduring results, of which we will give examples later.

A young missionary after reading Schubert's book in which are appended a couple of John Sung's Sermons asked for more. So have other English readers of Dr. Sung's biographies.

Dr. Sung's sermons are published in Chinese by my aunt Miss Alice Doo. With her cooperation and in response to popular request, I have translated a first instalment of twenty sermons (of a total of forty), particularly the shorter ones and those it was my blessing to hear at the peak of his ministry in Singapore in 1935. The reason why Forty Sermons are chosen is that this was the number preached in Singapore during a two-week period, three sermons a day. To go through all forty sermons would give the reader a sampling of the Revival we went through.

These Sermons are called "Revival Sermons", for such they are. The aim of the preacher in these sermons is the breaking down of strongholds of resistance of the unregenerate heart, rebuke of carnal Christians and professional Church workers. The style of John Sung's preaching is eminently expository, verse by verse, under a given theme. But the centrality of any theme is always the Cross --- Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3). Hence the power of his sermons.

Another feature of John Sung's sermon delivery was the coupling of the message with an appropriately chosen Gospel chorus --- one with a catchy tune, Western or Oriental, that helped to drive home the sermon into the hearer's heart. The evangelist usually preached a two-hour sermon. That he was able to keep up the interest of his audience was by the recurrent singing of these choruses. Hence the inclusion of a "Theme Song" at the beginning or end of these translated sermons.

Though much of the power released by the Holy Spirit during the Revival in the thirties could not be preserved on paper, the faithfully recorded words of his sermons are surely a means of grace to lead a new generation to Christ. Nor are some of the things he said without reproach, for after all, he was but an earthern vessel --- but God was pleased to use him for His own glory.

If some souls will be brought into the Kingdom and oldtimer Christians re-quickened through these Sermons in English syllables, the efforts of this translator will not have been made in vain.

    Lord, send the old-time power, the Pentecostal power!

Thy floodgates of blessing on us throw open wide!

    Lord, send the old-time power, the Pentecostal power

That sinners be converted and Thy Name glorified!