Of evil grain no good seed can come.

Understand the thought

Meaning in plain English

Poor foundations are unlikely to produce a good result. Grain and seed turn the connection between a starting point and its outcome into a growing image.

What the words are saying

The saying looks backward from a hoped-for result to what was used to begin it. If the starting material or purpose is unsound, later effort may carry the problem forward rather than remove it. It can be applied to a plan based on false information or a project begun through deceit. Its absolute wording should not become a theory that people are permanently determined by ancestry or past mistakes. A useful reading examines a particular foundation and asks whether it needs changing before work continues.

Everyday example

A group checks a proposal’s unreliable figures before trying to build a detailed plan around them.

When to use it

Use it to question an unsound starting assumption or method.

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Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.