Courage.

Meaning: A reasonable request may open an opportunity that remains closed if you never ask. The possibility of refusal need not prevent a polite enquiry.

Meaning: The loudest threats do not always signal the greatest ability or intention to cause harm. Noise alone is an unreliable measure of strength.

Meaning: The saying combines endurance of present difficulty with hope for something better. It can support patience during a bounded setback, but hope does not guarantee improvement and bearing evil should never require accepting abuse, danger or preventable wrongdoing.

Meaning: The back and its burden form an image of carrying responsibilities or difficulty. Read cautiously, the saying can encourage confidence in responding to a particular task; it cannot prove that every load is bearable or that hardship was assigned for someone’s benefit.

Meaning: A person may achieve more than an initial estimate suggests. The apparent contradiction encourages reconsidering a limit, without denying real constraints or demanding that someone exceed a safe and sustainable capacity.

Meaning: A person of modest status can still take notice of someone powerful. Rank should not be used to deny ordinary attention or dignity to those below it.

Meaning: Avoiding an attempt can also avoid the particular failure associated with it. The climbing image may explain caution or criticise inaction, depending on context; it does not decide whether the risk is worth taking.

Meaning: A difficult situation may still contain something useful or hopeful. Looking for a benefit can help you respond without pretending that the difficulty is good.

Meaning: The saying links cowardice with cruelty, suggesting that fear may be expressed through harm to others. Its word always makes an unjustified universal claim: fear is not proof of cruelty, and harmful conduct should be assessed through actions and their effects.

Meaning: Cowardice is pictured as avoiding being noticed, especially where a person does not want an action or refusal scrutinised. The saying can question evasiveness, but choosing privacy or feeling afraid does not by itself establish cowardice or wrongdoing.

Meaning: The saying connects cruel rule with fear, suggesting that domination can make both ruler and subjects watchful. It invites scrutiny of coercive conduct, but it is not a universal account of another person’s motives or proof that fear always reveals cruelty.

Meaning: Keep room for another attempt when a setback makes a worthwhile purpose seem finished. The expression encourages perseverance, without forbidding rest, changing course or accepting that an undertaking may need to end.

Meaning: Someone overlooked or unsuccessful may yet have a favourable moment. Present circumstances need not define every later opportunity, though a good turn is not guaranteed.

Meaning: The end of one opportunity can leave room to pursue another. A closed route need not mean that every worthwhile direction is closed.

Meaning: Continuing through a difficulty can keep a person from treating it as final defeat. The saying values endurance, without proving that persistence guarantees success or that changing course means someone has failed.

Meaning: The saying encourages courage in seeking a hoped-for relationship, but frames a woman as a prize to win. A constructive reading values honest initiative while rejecting conquest: another person’s consent, interest and freedom to decline remain essential.

Meaning: A decisive first step can provide an advantage in a difficult undertaking. Read the battle image figuratively; initiative is not a justification for violence, coercion or rushing past necessary preparation.

Meaning: Decisive action can create opportunities that hesitation misses. Courage may help someone benefit from an opening, though it cannot control luck or guarantee success.

Meaning: A threatening advantage does not always remove every possibility of response. The fox-and-chicken image recognises that the weaker party may still have an option, without guaranteeing escape or blaming someone who cannot avoid harm.

Meaning: A person who begins behind others may still obtain the desired result. The trailing-dog image leaves room for changed circumstances and a later opportunity, without guaranteeing a reversal or making preparation and timely action irrelevant.

Meaning: An urgent unmet need can make a seemingly formidable barrier feel surmountable. Hunger breaking stone walls is an exaggerated picture of desperation or determination.

Meaning: Strong willingness can help someone search for a route through a difficult task. The saying celebrates resolve through exaggeration, rather than proving that determination removes every limit or that an unsuccessful person did not want the result enough.

Meaning: Brazen or disrespectful behaviour is not proof of bravery. Judge courage by the purpose and responsibility of an action rather than by how confidently someone disregards others.

Meaning: As long as life continues, a worthwhile possibility may remain. The saying encourages perseverance when a person feels that a setback has ended every chance.