proverb · Words worth keeping
Cloudy mornings turn to clear evenings.
Cloudy mornings turn to clear evenings.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
An unpromising beginning need not determine how the rest of an experience develops. The cloudy-morning image encourages leaving room for improvement, while it should not be treated as a weather forecast or a promise that every difficulty ends well.
Example
A first rehearsal is confused, but the group clarifies its cues and finds that the later run is easier to follow.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
The saying moves from a cloudy morning to a clear evening, giving the day a different ending from its beginning. Figuratively, a difficult first stage can be followed by a more workable later one. A useful reading resists turning an initial impression into a settled prediction before more of the situation is known. Some difficulties continue, and improvement may need support, changes or time rather than mere waiting. The proverb offers a hopeful possibility, not certainty. Its weather image is also not dependable meteorological guidance. The point is to consider what can still change without denying the conditions that currently make an undertaking hard.
When to use it
Use it when an early setback is being taken as proof that the whole experience must fail.
Keep in mind
Improvement is possible rather than guaranteed; the image is not a weather forecast.
An interpretation of the words, not a claim about their 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
- Date unknown
- Culture
- English