Words worth understanding
Start with the thought in plain English. Then explore the imagery, a practical example, when to use it, and what the saying does not mean.
4,000 entries with editorial explanations. The wider collection also contains entries still awaiting an individual interpretation.
proverb · Traditional
After beginning a commitment, someone may decide to take it further rather than stop at a small involvement. The saying expresses determination, but the first step alone does not make a larger commitment sensible.
Read the explanation and example ↗quote · Unresolved attribution · printed work: Hitopadesa
Real loyalty sometimes means warning someone without waiting to be invited, especially when they are making a mistake, facing trouble or running out of time.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying calls courage useless before love and death. It emphasises experiences that determination alone may not control.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Laughing at one’s own misfortune called an art values humour in responding to difficulty. The saying presents one possible way of relating to a setback.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Fear of the unavoidable called folly questions how one responds to what cannot be prevented. The saying recommends a different relation to limits.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Asking the time even when it is late suggests that taking stock remains worthwhile. The supplied reading connects this with beginning again.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying makes moving mountains possible by carrying small stones. As an analogy, a large undertaking is broken into modest contributions.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying singles out the first step as difficult. It places the obstacle at the moment of beginning rather than describing the whole undertaking.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying values the fight in a dog above the dog’s size. As a wider analogy, determination is given more importance than outward scale.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying starts a thousand-mile journey with one step. It makes beginning a large task seem possible through a small initial action.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Learning from tears and winning with laughter contrasts painful experience with a hoped-for later achievement. It offers learning as a possible response to difficulty.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying gives a person a role in shaping their life. It emphasises choices and participation in what happens next.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
Something difficult or dangerous to obtain usually carries a substantial cost. The lion’s skin represents a prized result whose acquisition cannot simply be assumed cheap.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
People may challenge or belittle someone only after that person can no longer respond with their former power. The birds and dead lion highlight opportunistic boldness, without condemning legitimate criticism or treating powerful people as beyond scrutiny.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A reasonable request may open an opportunity that remains closed if you never ask. The possibility of refusal need not prevent a polite enquiry.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Humans living on hope alone and other animals unable to do so gives hope an exceptional role. The saying elevates an imagined human capacity.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
What someone feared may have been worse than what actually happened. The comparison can bring perspective after an event, without deciding in advance that a concern is groundless or dismissing the distress of being frightened.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Urgent circumstances can draw an unexpected effort from someone. The trotting older woman makes the contrast between usual pace and immediate need vivid.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A Hordes-man not to be counted dead even after a body is seen exaggerates persistence and uncertainty. The saying resists an easy conclusion that someone has been defeated.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Keep room for another attempt when a setback makes a worthwhile purpose seem finished. The expression encourages perseverance, without forbidding rest, changing course or accepting that an undertaking may need to end.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying warns against testing water’s depth with both feet. As an analogy, it cautions against committing fully before understanding a risk.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying postpones defeat until someone gives up inwardly. It treats determination as decisive in continuing an undertaking.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
No pain paired with no gain links a worthwhile result with difficulty or effort. The saying presents discomfort as a condition of achievement.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Strong willingness can help someone search for a route through a difficult task. The saying celebrates resolve through exaggeration, rather than proving that determination removes every limit or that an unsuccessful person did not want the result enough.
Read the explanation and example ↗