proverb · Words worth keeping
After clouds comes clear weather.
After clouds comes clear weather.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
A difficult period can give way to a better one. Clouds and clear weather provide an image of change, offering perspective without promising when improvement will come or suggesting that practical help is unnecessary.
What the words are saying
The clouds represent a period when things appear difficult or obscured, and clear weather represents relief or a more favourable situation. Figuratively, a setback need not define every later experience. The saying can offer hope when someone is considering what may become possible after a hard stage. Its certainty should not be turned into a timetable or a reason to dismiss ongoing problems. Some conditions persist unless people receive help or make a change, and waiting alone is not always useful. The practical reading allows for improvement while attending to what can be done now and what support the situation needs.
Everyday example
After a disrupted rehearsal period, a group arranges additional practice and keeps open the possibility of a better performance rather than treating the setback as final.
When to use it
Use it when offering hope that a difficult stage need not determine what follows.
What it does not mean
This is a figurative encouragement, not a forecast or guarantee; present needs and support still deserve attention.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases
Entry 274 · Clouds
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English
