proverb · Words worth keeping
All beginnings are hard.
All beginnings are hard.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying calls every beginning hard. It gives difficulty at the outset a place in the experience of starting.
What the words are saying
All makes the claim broader than any particular example establishes. A qualified application can recognise uncertainty or initial learning without assuming that every start is equally difficult. The phrase does not prove that later stages become easy or that reluctance is always misplaced.
Everyday example
A newcomer allows time to learn an unfamiliar process rather than treating initial uncertainty as proof of inability.
When to use it
Use it to discuss the particular difficulty of a beginning.
What it does not mean
Not every beginning is hard, and later stages may remain difficult.
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
- Contributor-provided proverb reference
Supplied reference A; unit 238; PDF page 38
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.