proverb · Words worth keeping
Soldiers in peace are like chimneys in summer.
Soldiers in peace are like chimneys in summer.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying compares soldiers in peacetime with chimneys in summer. It pictures a role appearing less needed when the condition associated with its usual use is absent.
What the words are saying
Peace and summer provide the quieter setting for each image. As an analogy, a resource may seem idle when an immediate demand recedes. This does not prove that the role has no value or establish the full duties of soldiers. A useful application asks whether something is truly redundant, held in readiness or useful in another way.
Everyday example
A group reviews a seasonal resource’s purpose instead of assuming that reduced immediate use makes it worthless.
When to use it
Use it as an explicit analogy about demand and apparent idleness.
What it does not mean
The comparison is not a complete account of military roles or a policy conclusion.
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 1466 · Soldiers
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English