preach to the converted

preach to the converted

To try to convince someone about something that they already support; to state one's opinion to those who are already most receptive to it. You're preaching to the converted here—we all have kids and understand how busy life can get. Honestly, you're preaching to the converted, but I just don't have any money to donate.
See also: convert, preach, to
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

preach to the converted

Try to convince someone who is already convinced, as in Why tell me smoking is bad when I gave it up years ago? You're preaching to the converted. [Mid-1800s]
See also: convert, preach, to
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

preach to the converted

advocate something to people who already share your convictions about its merits or importance.
See also: convert, preach, to
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

preach to the conˈverted

(American English also preach to the ˈchoir) tell people to support a view or an idea when they already support it: Why do they keep telling us about the importance of women in industry? They’re preaching to the converted here.
See also: convert, preach, to
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

preach to the

choir/converted
To argue in favor of a viewpoint already held by one's audience.
See also: preach, to
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive ?
Our politicians are happy to lecture healthcare professionals about the benefits of prevention over cure (they preach to the converted as clinical evidence would support this!) and we would ask all those with a political input regarding Woodhall Faskine to follow this principle.
Comments no help in push for better health
It was clear to me that party supporters filled many pews - something Paul quickly figured out - and we jokingly agreed a church is as good a place as any to preach to the converted!
The gloves are off as election fight begins; ELECTION fever is sweeping the country and JOANNE DOUGLAS sampled it at first-hand on a cold and wet night in Golcar
Our collective challenge is not to preach to the converted but to reach out to all businesses, large and small, and show them what an apprenticeship can offer.
SKILLS WALES
IT'S that time of year again folks, when a plethora of acts take to the altar and preach to the converted.
VOICES OF 8; LET'S GET INTIMATE
Sure, Bruce Springsteen has her on his iPod and Joan Baez took her on tour in the States, but the Oxford singer/songwriter seems content with her lot to preach to the converted and retain her creative freedom.
REVIEW; Thea Gilmore
But, always the same, Brand will only ever preach to the converted.
RUSS IS JUST BIG MOUTH
It would surely have made eminent sense for the law to have been drafted in such a way that the displaying of such signage was not necessary where an employer could demonstrate it had decided for itself long since of the benefits of a no-smoking environment, without the need to preach to the converted and without the need for yet more wasted millions of pounds of taxpayers' money.
Letter: Signs detract from image
On the other side of the political divide, however, the pic will preach to the converted through limited theatrical exposure, homevid sell-through, and private screenings by various activist groups.
The Big Buy: Tom Delay's Stolen Congress
As the winner of first prize for compost at the Newcastle Allotment Show last weekend, I now feel qualified to preach to the converted. Don't leave great gaps in your compost bins for ventilation, use close boarding, there'll still be enough draught getting in the gaps to ventilate.
Dig this
But Navasky doesn't buy the argument that magazines like The Nation merely preach to the converted. He notes that journals of opinion have been critical in helping to end slavery, bring about women's suffrage, promote civil rights, and end the Vietnam War.
The man who saved the nation
'What Damon doesn't realise is that we don't want to preach to the converted
Live 8 organisers hit back at Albarn 'exclusive' charge
Cuban-born curator Osvaldo Sanchez, formerly director of the Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil and the Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporaneo (both in Mexico City), who worked with a team of cocurators on "inSite_01" before taking the helm three years ago, recognizes that artists' "interventions" tend to blend into the urban fabric and foster individual art careers or preach to the converted (and well-traveled) art-world insider rather than shake up complacent or intimidated local populations.
Over the border: Nico Israel on "inSite_05"
I don't want to preach to the converted, I don't want to speak to the person who is already growing their own beansprouts.
On the phone with.. DR Gillian McKeith; TV's You Are What You Eat expert on getting her homeland off the mayo and onto healthy mung beans
CONCLUSION: Tis is a difficult and challenging book but one that would only preach to the converted and isn't willing to allow others to take it on and maybe believe in what it has to say.
REVIEW: The Companion Species Manifesto: Dogs, People, and Significant Otherness
If we only preach to the converted, then the show is just a celebration--which is cool in itself of course, but it would be great if it were to become something more than that, something with influence.
GEORGE MICHAEL
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