<P> You ca n't have your cake and eat it ( too ) is a popular English idiomatic proverb or figure of speech . The proverb literally means `` you can not simultaneously retain your cake and eat it '' . Once the cake is eaten , it is gone . It can be used to say that one can not or should not have or want more than one deserves or is reasonable , or that one can not or should not try to have two incompatible things . The proverb 's meaning is similar to the phrases `` you ca n't have it both ways '' and `` you ca n't have the best of both worlds . '' </P>
have your cake and eat it too mean
you can not simultaneously retain your cake and eat it