proverb · Words worth keeping
Don’t try kicking against the wind.
Don’t try kicking against the wind.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The instruction warns against kicking against the wind. As an explicit analogy, it questions an effort aimed at a force that the chosen action cannot usefully change.
What the words are saying
The mismatch between kicking and wind makes futility the image’s focus. A qualified application can ask whether a method fits the obstacle. It should not imply that every difficult situation must be accepted or supply a literal test of what is possible outdoors.
Everyday example
A team changes an ineffective approach to a constraint rather than repeating the same unhelpful action.
When to use it
Use it to examine whether a method addresses its actual obstacle.
What it does not mean
Difficulty does not prove futility or require passive acceptance.
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 223; PDF page 36
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.