Teaching someone how to do something is more helpful to them in the long run than just doing it for them. The full proverb is "give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." A: "I don't want to teach Billy how to drive!" B: "Well, I know you're sick of driving him around, and this is a solution. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime!" I'm trying to show my grandfather how to use his new computer, so that he won't call me with questions every time he tries to use it—teach a man to fish and all that.