proverb · Words worth keeping
Reconcile yourself to present trials, the future may bring worse.
Reconcile yourself to present trials, the future may bring worse.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying encourages bearing a present difficulty by imagining a worse one ahead. A careful reading keeps perspective without making future fear a reason to tolerate harm.
What the words are saying
Reconciliation with present trials is urged through comparison with a possible harder future. This may help someone recognise what remains manageable, but the imagined future is not evidence that improvement is impossible. A useful interpretation considers available choices and support now. It does not demand gratitude for suffering or discourage action merely because circumstances could conceivably become worse.
Everyday example
Someone acknowledges a temporary inconvenience while still taking a reasonable step to resolve it.
When to use it
Use it to examine perspective without surrendering the possibility of improvement.
What it does not mean
A worse imagined future does not justify abuse or prevent seeking help.
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 1346 · Reconcile
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English