bring one's own hide to market

Meaning

Verb

• To create one's own fate, as a result of one's chosen character and actions; to experience the appropriate consequences of one's behavior.

Origin

• Probably from a German proverb, notably adapted by Karl Marx to describe the exploited worker who must sell himself, or his "own hide", in the labor market:
• : 1867, Karl Marx, trans. Samuel Moore and Edward Aveling, Capital, vol. 1 ch. 6:
• :: [T]he possessor of labour-power follows , timid and holding back, like one who is bringing his own hide to market and has nothing to expect but — a hiding.