"Blood is thicker than water" is a German proverb (originally: Blut ist dicker als Wasser.), which is also common in English speaking countries. It generally means that the bonds of family and common ancestry are stronger than those bonds between unrelated people (such as friendship).
It first appeared in the medieval German beast epic Reinhart Fuchs (c. 1180 'Reynard the Fox') by Heinrich der Glîchezære, whose words in English read, 'Kin-blood is not spoilt by water.'
In 1412, the English priest John Lydgate observed in 'Troy Book,' 'For naturally blood will be of kind/ Drawn-to blood, where he may it find.'
By 1670, the modern version was included in John Ray's collected 'Proverbs,' and later appeared in Sir Walter Scott's novel 'Guy Mannering' (1815) "Weel - Blud's thicker than water - she's welcome to the cheeses." and in English reformer Thomas Hughes's 'Tom Brown's School Days' (1857).
The phrase was first attested in the United States in 'Journal of Athabasca Department' (1821)."
On 25 June 1859, U.S. Navy Commodore Josiah Tattnall, in command of the American Squadron in Far Eastern waters, made this adage a part of American history when explaining why he had given aid to the British squadron in an attack on Taku Forts at the mouth of the Pei Ho River, thereby infringing strict American neutrality.
More recently, Aldous Huxley's 'Ninth Philosopher's Song' (1920) gave the saying quite a different turn with 'Blood, as all men know, than water's thicker / But water's wider, thank the Lord, than blood.'
"Blood is thicker than water." Today, it is interpreted as meaning that blood-related family members are to be considered as more important than anyone else. However, the original meaning is, "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb," or, "My relationship with those to whom I am joined in covenant is to be considered of more value than the relationship with a brother with whom I may have shared the womb."
"How Shall I Know?" The Blood Covenant by R. Richard Pustelniak (Congregational Leader, Beit Avanim Chaiot) October 1, 1994
"Blood is thicker than holy water" is a quote from Mario Puzo's The Family, wherein the Borgia pope emphasizes that familial obligation are more important than religious ones.
Famous quotes containing the words blood, thicker and/or water:
“The blood of Abraham, God’s father of the chosen, still flows in the veins of Arab, Jew, and Christian, and too much of it has been spilled in grasping for the inheritance of the revered patriarch in the Middle East. The spilled blood in the Holy Land still cries out to God—an anguished cry for peace.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“What if this cursed hand
Were thicker than itself with brother’s blood,
Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens
To wash it white as snow?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“I pray thee, cease thy counsel,
Which falls into mine ears as profitless
As water in a sieve.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)